Mosey over to Moser for some Italian bubbly

Hello friends! How you holding up out there?

Ringed by the Dolomite Mountains in northeastern Italy, the Trento growing region has proved over the last hundred years or so to be fertile ground for growing grapes to produce sparkling wines. In the mid 1980’s, the growers in this region began organizing themselves around sets of oenological standards.

The result of this organization bore fruit, pardon the pun, in 1993 when the Trento region received DOC status in Italy. As a refresher, DOC is short for Denominazione di Origine Controllata – which refers to the aforementioned standards.

DOC (and its fancier cousin, DOCG) have now been subsumed under the broader “DOP” category – and is still used for familiarity’s sake. However, the winemakers saw an opportunity to broaden their brand, and Trentodoc was born.

The grapes used to make Trentodoc sparkling wine —Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Pinot Bianco, and Pinot Meunier—are harvested by hand, and the “base wine” ages slowly in the bottle on the lees from a minimum of 15 months for a Brut to a minimum of 36 months for a Riserva, and upto 10 years for more refined and mature Trentodoc wines. Trentodoc is available as a white or rosé wine as Brut, Millesimato, and Riserva.

The other major production difference between Trentodoc and many other Italian sparkling wines like Prosecco is the method of carbonation. Most Italian sparklers use the Charmat Method for carbonating, which involves carbonating wine in tanks. Trentodoc sparklers exclusively use what is termed Metodo Classico, which is the same as the Methode Champenoise used in Champagne. In these wines, the wine is carbonated in the bottle while being periodically turned, and the expired yeast is disgorged at the end. (For a more detailed explanation, see here.) Wines made in Metodo Classico tend to be have more balanced flavors and have more carbonation than their Charmatted cousins.

Thanks to a well-timed visit from Drinkerbell the Wine Fairy, a bottle of Moser “51,151” Trentodoc Brut arrived at my door. After election stress, work from home craziness, and not a little cabin fever from lockdown, the Sweet Partner in Crime and I wanted an evening to kick back – and how better to do that than with bubbly, I ask you?

This wine’s nomenclature is an homage to Francesco Moser, a champion Italian cyclist, who held the world “hour record,” which refers to the distance ridden from a stationary start over the course of an hour. Moser rode 51.151 km in his record run. Along with his cycling prowess, he worked in his family vineyards from his youth and, in 1979, along with his brother Diego, established the Moser winery near the village of Gardolo di Mezzo.

We cracked the bottle as the skies darkened in State College. (This means that both of us had left our respective workstations a little bit early this time of year.) Sitting back in our “evening chairs,” we had our first few sips. This 100% Chardonnay sparkler has a lightly fruity nose with some very pleasant floral aromas and a little toast on the back end. The mouthfeel is round and full, with lots of refreshing bubbles. Not as much of that toast and yeast lees flavor carries through to the midpalate, but there’s a collection of fruit: pineapple, mango, and pear. The finish is zippy and cleansing, settling back into a little bit of fresh bread at the very end. All in all, it’s just a super pleasant sparkling wine.

As we got closer to the dinner hour, I manned the stove and put together from some fresh crab ravioli from another central PA institution, Fasta & Ravioli Company, done in a simple white wine sauce. The wine’s flavors married particularly well with the rich shellfish, playing off the meatiness while cutting through the sauce’s butter. While crab is an obvious pairing, shrimp or lobster would be nice. I also tried a little bit we had left over the next day with some braunschweiger on a saltine – a flavor craving I picked up as a kid – and was actually a pretty nice match. While I know liver sausage may not be everyone’s cup of tea, any sort of pâté would be lovely alongside.

I’ve long been a fan of these Metodo Classico wines, if you’ve followed here long enough. They’re excellent budget-friendly substitutes for many Champagnes, and the Moser is no exception. You’ll find this for around $25, which is well-priced for a bottle of this quality
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Proof of Life -- And a Big Box of Rosé

Hello, friends. It’s been awhile.

Honestly, I’m not sure how to restart here, so I’m just going to ramble for a bit.

I intended to have a lot to say this year – was going to revamp things a bit and try to reboot the ol’ blog – but I started a new job at Penn State in October, which drew a lot of my energy, as did the day to day grind of surviving the reign of Der Gropenfűhrer.

2020 rolled around. The Sweet Partner in Crime and I decided to try to reset our respective livers. We more or less successfully completed a Dry January. Admittedly, we cheated a couple of times for special occasions (hey, Holly!) – but we managed to keep to the spirit of things.

Honestly, Dry January wasn’t as tough as I feared…at least for the first two weeks. We whipped up a supply of mocktails that kept us going, but I’ll tell you – the last week or so, until we staggered soberly across the finish line, were a real slog, because there were just some times that a glass of wine would have been perfect. We made it.

I lost some weight. I gained it back. I lost more. I weigh the same now as I did when I was half my current age. I started meditating regularly, which has been revelatory. Charlie and Rosie are still wonderful pups. The Sweet Partner in Crime was named a Fellow by the leading national organization in her field.

Then came COVID.

We went into our homes and, by all indications, started drinking our collective faces off.

Well, except here in Pennsylvania. Because of the crazy liquor laws – beer stores stayed open, but wine & liquor stores were all shuttered. Wine started getting in short supply around these parts. The grocery stores ran out quickly.

Thank goodness for our friends who drive the delivery trucks. Scott, our UPS guy, has been a godsend. Pennsylvania is a much easier place to ship to than our former address.

Which brings us to the actual wine content you’ve come here for, right?

As we were getting hard up for any kind of juice, particularly rosé -- I decided to venture onto Groupon and pull the trigger on a deal I saw for an inexpensive 15 bottle case. I’m happy to report that my experience with Splash Wines was highly positive. My order came with three bottles each of a selection of five rosé:

• Midnight Black Rose (Italy -- Trentino)
  
• “Rosé All Day” Beaujolais Rosé (France – Beaujolais)
• Maison Williams Chase Rosé (France – Provence)
• Domaine Jacourette Rosé (France – Provence)
• Mazzei Belguardo Rosé (Italy – Tuscany)

Ah...good to have you back at the homestead...

Seeing a raft of Italian and French pinkness looking back at me from the box filled me with hope. My major worry when I ordered this grab bag was that these inexpensive wines wouldn’t really be “rosé-ish” – meaning that they’d be overly fruity, slightly sweet, and somewhat heavier in body.

Not the case here at all. I’m not going to do detailed tasting notes on these selections. All of them are fine. Do any of them have flavors that leap from the glass to choirs of angels and transcendent goodness? Of course not. But are they, as a whole, light and crisp with enough flavor to be interesting, perfect for sipping while contemplating (or trying to avoid contemplating) both the excitement of a real social change in this country and the terror of the inevitable pain that will follow as the dying mule of racism kicks back hard? You betcha.

We’ve tried all five of these by now in various contexts. They’re perfectly food-friendly, pull and pop wines that aren’t just plonk. After shipping, the price was about $5/per bottle. At that price point, who’s to complain?

My friends, we’re a long way from the end of our various national turmoils. The levels of dumbassery we keep seeing are only going to increase as people demand that lockdown be lifted so other people can be forced to wait on them. Political ideology is no match for epidemiology, so no matter where you are – be safe, listen to and embrace the experiences of people who don’t look like you, and wear your damned masks.

And, of course, vote against anyone running for office, incumbent or challenger, who won’t do those things. Because not to put too fine a point on it -- they don’t care if you die.

New Discoveries -- Lugana DOC and Turbiana

One of my favorite aspects of Italian wine is that there’s always a new region or varietal to explore. I was recently turned on to wines from the Lugana DOC – and its autochthonal grape, Turbiana.

(In case you’re wondering, “autochthonal” is WineSpeak for “grape native to the region” – and I’ve written about these wonderful discoveries previously.)  

Lugana is a small growing region that lies just south of Italy’s largest lake, Lago di Garda, and is one of Italy’s more popular areas for in-country vacation travel. My colleague Michelle at Colangelo, who sent these samples along to me, vouched for the beauty of the region and the lake itself. She called the wines “unique” – and based on my first experience with them, I’m certainly inclined to agree.

About 95% of all wines made in Lugana are dry whites. As I mentioned, the primary grape grown in the region is Turbiana – and all whites from that region are required to be at least 90% Turbiana in the blend, although most are 100%. Turbiana was known as “Trebbiano di Lugana” for awhile, but genetic studies indicated that it’s not related to that other white grape.

Turbiana is a late-ripening, high acid grape which responds well to oak aging, meaning it can be produced either in a clean “drink young” style or one that could be more age-worthy. On trying this pair of whites, I found it quite interesting how two wines from the same region, same grape could provide such a stark contrast in flavor profile.

The first one we cracked was the younger one – the Armea Vitium 2018 Lugana DOC. ($16) This wine was fairly fruit forward in style. The nose was nicely fragrant, with nicely fragrant warm apple and vanilla aromas. Pears and apples overlaid a backbone of mineral, with a touch of a fruity sweetness. The finish is a bit creamy, with more of that apple flavor lingering for a good long while. Overall, it’s fairly dry and pretty nice to drink on its own.

The other – the Podere Selva Capuzza Menasasso 2015 Lugana Riserva ($20) -- was quite a contrast once you get past the nose. Up front, this wine displayed a similar warm apple and spice flavor, although more on the baking spice end of the scale. The body, though, held a world of difference. There’s far less fruit here initially. Although there was still the apple and pear, it quickly gave way to a wall of flint and a bit of an astringency that reminded me initially of a Muscadet. The finish is sharp and flinty, with a lemony linger. I thought that this wine improved a *lot* once it got some air. I thought the flavors smoothed out quite a bit the next day, so give this one plenty of time to open up. On their own, I still preferred the younger wine.

On the information sheet, one of the recommended pairing was herbed malfatti – which was a dish I’d never heard of. Turns out that they’re small ricotta and spinach balls, mixed with herbs and boiled briefly, served over a plate of sauce. “Malfatti” translates as “badly formed,” which accurately described my first attempt at making these little guys. Pushing through, though – they were quite tasty. The Riserva, I thought, was the better wine with these – although if I had it to do over, I’d have used a white wine and butter sauce instead of my typically fabulous red sauce.

All in all, I thought these were really fascinating whites. They hit a bit of a sweet spot between Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay – which makes them a really nice choice as the weather gets cooler but you still have a hankering for a white. Might be a nice possibility for Thanksgiving, truth be told.

Miss Me?

Hello, friends!

Yes, the Naked Vine is still alive and well -- just transplanted! There's been a lot going on in VineLand over the last several months. The Sweet Partner in Crime traded in her UC Bearcat red and black for the navy and white of the Penn State Nittany Lions. We've been spending a great deal of recent time getting ourselves set up in our new place here in State College.

As any of you who have ever uprooted and headed for a new town know -- moving can be insanely stressful, and moving in the summer means dealing with many days in the warmth. Not to be overly predictable -- but summer means rosé, and a bottle of pink Italian goodness showed up at the homestead recently.

Except, to my surprise, what I had in my hand wasn't technically rosé. Instead, I found myself with a wine style called Ramato -- the Attems 2018 Pinot Grigio Fruili DOC Ramato, to be precise.

What is it? Ramato is a specific term for a rosé-style wine made from Pinot Grigio grapes. The name "Ramato" is from the Italian word for "copper." Pinot Grigio grapes, when ripe, are a greyish-purple, hence their name (and a major differentiation from their cousin Pinot Noir). When pinot grigio pressings are macerated on the grape skins -- which is the process that turns rosé pink -- the resulting juice can turn anywhere from a pale pink to a deep orange, depending on how long the skin contact goes on.

The resulting wine has a different profile than most rosé. There are typically more spice and floral notes on the nose -- and the flavor tends to have more of a stone fruit character.

We popped the Attems while flopping on our deck chairs after a long day of home setup logistics. The bouquet of this wine hit me right out of the box. Many rosé have noses that are so light and delicate as to be almost unnoticeable, but that's certainly not the case here in this glass smelling of peach, grapefruit, and baking spice. The flavor is where the delicacy lies with this wine -- the strawberry and cherry flavors are bounded by minerals. I thought it was incredibly well-balanced and pleasant to drink. The finish had a bit of a peppery note that I found really interesting.

The tech notes on this said it was a "perfect partner" to sweeter cured meats and prosciutto, both of which we happened to have in the fridge, along with some Manchego cheese and marcona almonds. We assembled a little charcuterie tray and went to town. They weren't lying -- this was a great aperitif/appetizer wine.

While most Ramato is Italian in origin, many domestic winemakers who grow Pinot Grigio have been trying the style -- which is certainly worth looking out for as you're wandering down the pink aisle of your local wine shop. (Side note: Central PA can't hold a candle to the wine stores we had in the 859...)

The Attems retails for around $16. A very decent bottle if you're looking for something refreshing.

Naked Vine Double Barrel: A Pair of Prosecco

Not long ago, I spent a very enjoyable afternoon with my Wizardly brother-from-another-mother and his lovely wife, the Breaker of Chains. They'd been in the market for some new furniture -- and when it arrived, I popped by their place to help them do a little interior redecorating.

Since it was mid-afternoon and any sort of design work goes better with alcohol, I brought along a couple of bottles of Prosecco to sample side-by-side. After all, a new comfy sofa is a perfect excuse to crack some bubbly, no?

Prosecco, and sparkling wine in general, has been on a bit of a domestic tear over the last several years. Once largely a celebratory bottle, sparkling wine's showing up as an "ordinary day" beverage more often, driven in a great part by Millennials embracing bubbly. (Since sparkling wine goes wonderfully with anything fatty, avocado toast is a great Prosecco pairing.)

Prosecco has led the way in driving this sales increase, eating into the market share of both Cava from Spain and many domestic sparklers. Sales of the stuff were up almost 25% in 2018, and that trend seems to be holding.

What is Prosecco? To nod at the last couple of columns here, Prosecco is an Italian wine region not far from Venice. For many years, however, the grape from which the wine is made was also referred to, somewhat incorrectly, as Prosecco. The proper varietal name, Glera, is now the primary referent.

Like most sparkling wines, Prosecco can be produced in any number of styles -- from dry to sweet -- based on the amount of residual sugar left after fermentation. There's no need to guess about the level of sweetness. You'll see one of these terms, from driest to sweetest, on the label:

Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Demi-Sec.
Yes, you're reading that correctly -- Extra Dry is slightly sweeter than Brut.

Extra Dry and Brut are the most common styles, and those were the bottles that I brought over for our little design session. We had these to sample:

Tenuta Sant'Anna Prosecco DOC Extra Dry
Bacio Della Luna Prosecco DOC Brut

We tried them side-by-side, first on their own and then as the backbone of mimosas.

The Tenuta was a very easy-drinking bubbly, full of peaches and pears. The Bacio leaned more in a apple and peach direction. On their own, we all preferred the Bacio for its crispness and its more pronounced flavors. "The sparkle makes the flavor really pop," noted the BoC.

As for making mimosas, and I find this to be true with almost all sparkling wine, the extra dry version tends to make for a better balanced cocktail. That little bit of residual sweetness allows the various flavors in a cocktail a little more of a platform to strut their stuff. I thought the Tenuta also would have been a particularly strong choice if you're a summertime chugger of Aperol Spritzes.

You should be able to find either of these wines for just north of $15. Either of them should take care of your bubbly needs nicely.

Naked Vine One-Hitter: Castiglioni Chianti

As I've gotten older and more full of years, my palate's changed a bit. Lighter-styled wines have been finding their way to our table more and more often. As a result, I've been grooving on Chianti -- that famously food-friendly red from Tuscany.

Now, if you're new here, remember that the naming conventions for Italian wines (as well as many European wines in general) are different from here. Many folks I know think that "Chianti" is a grape and "Chianti Classico" means a higher grade of Chianti. Release yourself from those assumptions. Chianti is the region within Tuscany from where the wine hails. (Chianti Classico is a subzone of the Chianti region.)

Chianti is made primarily from the Sangiovese grape -- at least 75% of the blend must be Sangiovese to be considered a Chianti. There are a number of other grapes, that can provide the other 25% of the blend, including red grapes Syrah and Merlot -- and whites like Malvasia and Trebbiano.

Because of this blending diversity, Chianti can be all over the map as far as flavor profile. Leaner, more acidic Chianti tend to have a higher percentage of white grapes blended in. The Chianti I had the chance to try recently -- Castiglioni 2016 Chianti -- was on the other end of the spectrum.

Castiglioni is the original estate of the Frescobaldi wine family. Wine has been produced from its vineyards since the 1300's. Their current version of Chianti is a straight blend of Sangiovese and Merlot. The result is an Italian wine that's a bit more approachable than many Chianti.

I find Chianti to have a bit of a "chalky" background flavor, which might not sound great to drink on its own -- but it actually allows it to mesh in a complementary fashion with just about any type of food. The Castiglioni has less of that chalk flavor because of the merlot in the blend, which masks it with a bigger dose of fruit. Cherry and blackberry are the dominant flavors here. This is a round, full, uncomplicated version of Chianti that can be sipped on its own.

With food, as with many Chianti, it's a much better choice in my estimation. We had this over the weekend alongside a savory lamb stew and it was a very nice accompaniment. It would also be a solid choice with roast chicken, red sauced pasta, or almost any kind of cheese, in my estimation.

Castiglioni Chianti retails for around $15. It's a very decent quaffer. Also, if you're new to Italian wines, this might be a good gateway bottle to start a vinous exploration of the region.