Reclassifying Italian Wine -- and a triple from Acinum

Just when I think I had this whole Italian wine naming convention down pat, I come to learn that those folks have gone and changed the rules on us.

Actually, this happened a few years ago, but the newly named wines are finding their way to our shores now, so we might as well get ourselves good and caught up. So, what’s the story?

As you might remember from this space previously, there are – or more accurately, were -- four basic classifications for Italian wine, based on how and from where the grapes are sourced. The old designations, which you can find on any bottle of Italian wine were:

·         DOC – short for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which means that the wine is made under a certain set of standards for a particular region, like Chianti. There is some flexibility for wine makers working under a “DOC” label. These are generally the standard wines from an area.

·         DOCG – short for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. These wines are made under stricter rules than DOC wines. They are from particular vineyards, have strict aging standards, and tend to be the highest quality wines from a region, like a Chianti Classico.

·         VDT – short for Vino da Tavola, which translates as “table wine” and is…well…exactly that. Generally inexpensive wine made to be drunk young.

·         IGT – short for Indicazione Geografica Tipica. This designation, technically a subcategory of vino da tavola, was created for wines that don’t fall under the general classification system, but are considered of high quality. “Super Tuscan” wines fall into this category.

When I received a set of Italian samples recently, a couple of the bottles were labeled “DOP” – which reminds me of some sort of hair product. A little research led to the discovery that in 2011, the Italian wine industry had changed these designations. The new ones are:

·         VDT – again, table wine, but the primary grape varietal must be listed on the label.

·         IGP – short for Indicazione Geografica Protetta, and is identical in standards to the old “IGT” designation. IGP is now a separate category from VDT. An IGP wine must pass certain standards for aging and quality -- which differentiate it from VDT.

·         DOC and DOCG wines are now both subcategories of DOP. DOP, or Denominazione d'Origine Protetta, is more often now applied to foodstuffs like tomatoes. DOP is basically a guarantee that, yes, an item is actually produced in a particular area of Italy. DOP and DOC are now used somewhat interchangeably, while DOCG is still the mark of highest quality. All DOP wines must now include a vintage, with the exception of sparkling wines.

Or, if you'd prefer a more visual version (click to embiggen):

Many thanks to Italia Wijn!

The DOP and IGP classifications are also used for other Italian foodstuffs like tomatoes, cheese, meats, etc. In those cases, the designation indicates that the items were actually produced in particular regions, using particular standards of quality. IGP is considered less stringent than DOP. Look at a can of real Italian tomatoes next time you’re at the grocery store and you can see what I mean.

The aforementioned samples,from Maggie at Colangelo, are from Acinum wines – a new producer from the Veneto region. “Acinum” is Latin for “Grape,” and these wines are intended to provide relatively low-cost, high quality Italian juice.

  

Acinum (NV) Prosecco Extra Dry DOP – Quite a nice Prosecco. Very pleasant flavors. Straightforwardly crisp flavor of lemon at first sip, with a lively carbonation. The flavors settle into a lemon crème and pear palate which smooths nicely into little acidic tingles at the back end. Just a very pleasant sparkler. My sister was visiting the Sweet Partner in Crime and I when we opened this over brunch. We had it with an arugula salad with roasted butternut squash & white sweet potatoes, toasted walnuts, and pomegranate seeds in a citrus and sesame oil dressing. Made easy what would have been a somewhat difficult pairing. Also makes great mimosas! $11.

Acinum 2014 Soave Classico DOP –The Acinum Soave isn’t the lean, acid-driven sipper that many of its Italian compatriots are. A much fuller-bodied white than your Pinot Grigio or Vernacchia, the Soave is a richer, creamier experience. The nose is quite floral, a bit of a “Viognier-lite” in character. The first tastes are quite fruity, but the body is quite silky and elegant, full of honey and pears. The finish does turn slightly acidic, but in a very pleasant manner that makes it quite food friendly. While suggested as an aperitif or with fish, we had this with a braised chicken with fennel and white sweet potatoes (can you guess what we got in the farmshare this week?) and it more than held its own. $11.

Acinum 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG – Amarone is one of the biggest, most expensive Italian wines. Made from raisinated grapes, these wines generally pack quite a punch. This one is dense and full without being heavy. I got leather, plum, and a little raisin on the fragrant nose. Big concentrated dark fruit flavors were followed by a shot of smoke on the palate. Lots of structure with a great balance between fruit and tannin. Certainly a muscular wine, but no one flavor takes over too much. The finish goes on and on with blackberry and smoky tannin. I could easily get remnants of flavor after well over a minute. Strong and elegant. Well done. The pricetag on this one stunned me. Retail on this one is $55, which seems high – but many Amarone will run you that for a half-bottle. Snag for a special occasion.

If you’re a little confused by the shifts in designations, don’t worry. A little extra research turned up the fact that while winemakers must register with the government under the new naming conventions, their labeling can remain basically the same. So, for the most part, don’t worry about IGT/DOC/DOCG going away or referring to new things anytime soon. Keep calm and drink on.

Debonair and Soave…

If you came of age in the era when MTV actually played videos, when you hear the pronunciation of “Soave,” an Italian white wine, you immediately get a mental image of this guy:

Rico....

Instead of these guys:

 

...Soave!

As with most Italian wines, Soave (pronounced “So-AH-vey”) is named after the region in which it’s made. Soave is the subregion of the Veneto near the city of Verona in northeastern Italy. The primary grape varietal in the wine is the native Italian grape Garganega, pictured above. By law, Garganega must comprise at least 70% of the blend. If a Soave is less than 100% Garganega, the bulk of the rest of the blend comes from a grape called Trebbiano di Soave, which is otherwise known as

Verdicchio.

[Side note: If you’ve seen Italian wines made from “Trebbiano” – those wines are usually made from a different Trebbiano grape: the more common Trebbiano di Toscana. Trebbiano di Toscano is also known as Ugni Blanc. Confused yet?]

In any case, Soave is generally a dry, relatively light white. You might stumble across a sparkling Soave or a sweet, late harvest Soave from time to time – but for the most part, the fruity still white is what you’re going to see.

Like most Italian wines, there are a couple of classifications to know. There’s a “standard” Soave. Next is “Soave Classico,” which is wine that comes from the originally designated vineyards of the Soave region. There’s also a “Superiore” classification, which indicates that the wines follow particular rules for composition, harvest tonnage, and a few other rules. To further complicate matters – most, but not all, of the Superiore vineyards are in the Classico area.

Thankfully, you’re not going to need to worry much about those ins and outs. The price range on Soave isn’t a huge one. You can find a straight Soave for $10-12, and even the high end of the Soave Classico Superiore isn’t going to set you back much more than $25 or so. For most purposes, you shouldn’t need to spend more than $15, and there’s really no reason to, as you’ll see.

I received a pair of Soave from Nicole at R/West. One was a standard Soave, the other was Soave Superiore. The verdicts?

Corte Adami 2013 Soave – This one started me out with a light nose of orange blossoms and lemon. I expected it to be along the lines of a pinot grigio, but it turned out to be more weighty on the tongue than I thought. I thought it certainly had a little bit of a “glycerine” texture, which I didn’t mind, but some might consider the flavor a little “flabby.” The main flavors are round and peachy with little tartness towards the back. The finish hangs on and has a little bitter nip at the end. All in all, pretty decent for $12. While it’s not the most memorable wine in the world, it’s certainly a quality quaffer.

Bolla “Tufaie” 2012 Soave Superiore Classico – By way of comparison, here’s one of the “higher end” Soave. This one also has a blossomy nose, but it seems

more fragrant and more substantial. I found some slightly richer flavors like pear. With the fuller aroma, the weight of this wine seemed to fit the nose a little more effectively. There’s a little more acidity, which rounds out the glycerine considerably. There’s a bit of honeyed sweetness underneath the peachy, lemony flavors and the finish is fairly long and a mite acidic, like a good pinot grigio. There’s also a little bit of spiciness at the end, which I liked quite a bit. It’s quite a nice little white. I preferred the Tufaie (named for the particular volcanic stone of the region) over the Corte Adami. The price difference between the bottles is what surprised me. The Tufaie is only a dollar more at $13, which is a killer value, if you ask me. (And since you’re reading this, you kinda did.)

Soave is currently promoting its wines as a Thanksgiving alternative to common table whites like Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. If you’re looking for a white that’s a little different than the standard, you might want to consider trying out some Soave. Seeing how close the “high end models” are in price to the standard ones, I’d suggest you splurge on the inexpensive end of the Superiore. I think it’ll serve you well, whatever you’re plating up.

And, you know, just 'cuz:

The Whites of Their Eye-talians

"Wine Guy," I was asked recently, "You've been writing a fair bit about Italian reds...what about the whites?"

Fair question. I know I've snagged a couple of them here and there as I've gone through the world of wine, but I haven't really focused much on them. Most of what I know about Italian whites can be summed up as follows: "Italian white. Pinot grigio. Light. Dry. Tart." End of line.

I've walked past the Italian white section in wine stores again and again. I see row after row of pinot grigio, as well as "Soave" and a number of grapes ending in vowels. There's also the the Italian naming convention, by which the wines are named after the region in which they're grown -- and you've got a pretty confusing slate for a beginner to digest. There are literally hundreds of indiginous grapes in Italy, and almost all of them have ended up as white wine at one point or another.

The wine gurus haven't been much help, either. Looking to two of my go-to sources for information, Andrea Immer Robinson writes in Great Wine Made Simple, "The Italians...just do not care about white wine. Not that plenty of it isn't made, but much is for export and for cheap, refreshing drinking...The rest is meant to employ gallons of mediocre-quality juice from vineyards whose output used to go into Italy's famous reds (to their detriment) before the recent quality evolution." (p.210)

Kevin Zraly's Complete Wine Course puts it more succinctly: "The Italians traditionally do not put the same effort into making their white wines as they do their reds -- and they are the first to admit it." (p.143)

Thankfully, as Dear Andrea mentioned, the revolution in wine-producing techniques made it to Italy, just as it has given us distinct bottles of yumminess from all over the world. While Italian wines are still generally light, crisp sipping wines, a wine shopper now has a little more variety from which to choose. The main thing to remember is the basic law of Italian wine -- What's for dinner? That'll give you a pretty good idea of what to expect, taste-wise, since the wine's made to go with the food. Let's have a look at three of the major growing areas...

Anselmi 2006 "San Vincenzo" Veneto – Veneto, the northeastern Italian region home to Venice, Vivaldi, and Roberto Baggio, is best known in the wine world for Valpolicella (a light, fruity red) and Amarone (a tarry, tannic monster). The best known white grape from there is Garganega, the backbone of soave, an unoaked, uncomplicated wine. This wine is a close cousin. The Anselmi is 80% Garganega, 15% Chardonnay, and 5% Trebbiano. It has a clean nose of peaches and grapefruit. The body is medium-to-rich with an interesting mix of acidity and sweetness on the finish. On it’s own, a very enjoyable wine. However, with a pungent fish dish, this wine shines even more. Sardines and shellfish are common in Venetian cooking, and we had this wine with an anchovy-sauced & breadcrumbed pasta. The wine cut through the fish's oil, enhancing the flavors before cutting through it into a nice, fruity mellow finish. A great pairing. $7-10.

Batasiolo 2006 Gavi – I talked about Piedmont a couple of installments ago. Piedmont is home to some of the more powerful wines in Italy, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the whites. Gavi is largely made from the Cortese grape, indigenous to the region. Considering the foods of the region – cheeses, ham, root vegetables, and mushrooms, I figured the wines would either be acidic like a pinot grigio or in the Riesling neighborhood. The verdict? Somewhere in the middle. The Gavi had a light, citrusy, grapefruity nose. It was medium boded with flavors of lemon and vanilla. It sported a crisp, tart finish. I found it to be more along the lines of a sauvignon-blanc. Very refreshing and more complex than the Veneto. Unfortunately, I didn’t cook anything up to go along with it. I had it with the leftovers of the aforementioned anchovy pasta. It had enough acidity to cut through the fish, but the tartness of the wine stood out more. It would be a very solid pairing with anything that you’d have with a sauvignon blanc. $12-14.

Fontana Candida 2006 Orvieto Classico – Orvieto is in Umbria, an inland province sitting just next to Tuscany. Umbrian cuisine tends to be boiled or roasted, with vegetables and game strongly represented. Lentils are a staple of the diet there. It has a light, flowery nose with just a little bit of citrus. The flavors and acidity are similar to a pinot grigio, but with a little more body, so it's a bit bolder at first taste. This makes sense, since a light pinot grigio would likely get buried by the heavier nature of the food. The finish is still tart and crisp. A nice alternative if you want a white wine with something a little heavier. I did a throw-together salad of creole boiled shrimp, pineapple, shallots and red pepper with cider vinegar, fish sauce, and some spices (Yes, I was cleaning out the kitchen…) It worked well – although I shouldn’t have initially put it over greens. $9-11.

On a personal note -- many thanks to John & Jean Rosenberg. On this date in 1970, the three of us responded to a request from my grandfather. He let my folks know after Passover the night before that he "did not plan to go back to North Carolina without seeing his grandson."

At 6:40 am, we obliged.