I Love Italian Wine And Food – The Lombardy Region

If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Lombardy region of northern Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.

Mountainous Lombardy is located in the north central zone of Italy on the Swiss border. It is one of the few regions of Italy without a seacoast. On the other hand Lombardy is known for its beautiful lakes. Lombardy owes its name to the Lombards, a Germanic people who ruled it and neighboring regions for two hundred years well over a thousand years ago. Other rulers included the Celts, the Romans, and the Franks. Its population is 9.4 million, the largest in Italy. In fact, about one of six Italian residents lives in Lombardy.

Lombardy is second to Emilia-Romagna in agricultural production. Among its many agricultural products are rice, wheat, corn, fruits, olives, cattle, pigs, and sheep. Natives still eat more risotto (a rice dish) and polenta (corn bread) than pasta.

The capital of Lombardy’s is Milan, Italy’s financial, fashion, and media center. With a population of 1.3 million, Milan is larger than seven regions of Italy.

Lombardy devotes about 66 thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 11th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 44 million gallons, also giving it an 11th place. About 62% of the wine production is red or rosé, leaving 38% for white. The region produces 15 DOC wines and 3 DOCG wines, Franciacorta, a sparkling wine made in the traditional (Champagne) manner, and 2 red wines; Valtellina Superiore, reviewed below, and Sforzato di Valtellina. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Over 47% of Lombardy’s wine carries the DOC or the DOCG designation. Lombardy is home to about four dozen major and secondary grape varieties, approximately three fifths red and two fifths white.

Widely grown international white grape varieties include Pinot Bianco, known as Pinot Blanc outside of Italy, Chardonnay, Trebbiano, and Malvasia. The best known Italian white varieties are Gargena, an Italian variety of Riesling, Renano Italico, and an Italian variety of Trebbiano, Trebbiano di Lugana.

Widely grown international red grape varieties include Pinot Noir. The best known strictly Italian red varieties are Barbera, Bonarda, Lambrusco, and a local Nebbiolo called Chiavennasca.

Before we reviewing the Lombardy wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.

Start with Pizzoccheri della Valtellina, Buckwheat Flour Ribbons with Wilted Cabbage, Potatoes, and Mountain Cheese.

For a second course try Ossobuco all Milanese, Braised Veal Shanks with Grenolata (Parsley, Garlic, and Lemon).

And for dessert, indulge in Budino di Pannetone, Pannetone Bread Pudding

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed

Triaccio ‘Sassela’ Valtellina Superiore 2002 13% alcohol about $16.50 DOCG

In his work Codice Atlantico, Leonardo da Vinci described Valtellina, the source of this wine as “A valley surrounded by tall and terrible mountains, it makes really powerful wines.” This area has made wine since the days of the Etruscans and the Ligurians, prior to the ancient Romans. It is the northernmost area for growing the Nebbiolo grape. The wine itself is one of the three DOCG wines in Lombardy.

The marketing materials stated that its nose is quite outspoken, with aromas including mushroom, dried cranberry, and paraffin. It is dry with good fruit, surrounded by supple tannins. This medium-bodied wine is recommended with hard cheeses or grilled game birds.

This wine was aged 18 months in large wooden casks and a further 6 months in steel tanks. The producer says it can be cellared for 8-10 years and suggests drinking it with pasta of all sorts, air-dried beef, and cheese.

I first tasted this wine with beef ribs. It was round but a bit intimidated by the spicy cumin and curry sauce. Paired with a slow cooked beef and potato stew it handled itself better. It was quite fruity and cut the meal’s grease. It almost tasted like a Beaujolais.

I tried it with two cheeses. Grana Padano is a classic Parmesan-type cheese made for a millennium in northern Italy including the Lombardy region. It is a cylindrical, cooked, semi-fat cheese which matures slowly. It has a grainy consistency and may be sliced or grated. The cheese’s taste is fragrant and delicate. The wine brought out the nutty aspect of the cheese, while intensifying its fruit. It paired well with Pecorino Toscana from Tuscany, two regions south of Lombardy.

Final verdict. I was a bit disappointed with this wine, DOCG is supposed to mean top of the line, and it was not.

I Love Italian Wine And Food – The Campania Region

If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Campania region of southern Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.

Campania is the shin of the Italian boot. It is located in the southwestern Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its total population is about 5.8 million, making it the second most heavily populated region of Italy.

Campania’s best-known city is its administrative center, Naples, once glorified by the phrase “See Naples and Die,” which referred to its beauty and not its high crime rate. Other well-known cities include Sorrento, a playground of the jet set, and Pompeii, destroyed by Mount Vesuvius about two thousand years ago.

Campania devotes about 100,000 acres to grapevines; it ranks 9th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 52 million gallons, also giving it a 9th place. About 64% of the wine production is red or rosé (a bit of rosé), leaving 36% for white. The region produces 17 DOC wines and one DOCG wine, Taurasi, one of the two DOCG wines produced in southern Italy. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Only 2.8% of Campania wine carries the DOC designation. Campania is home to almost three dozen major and secondary grape varieties, with a few more white varieties than red ones.

Campania is not a major producer of international white grape varieties. Common Italian white varieties include Falanghina, Fiano, Greco, and Coda di Volpe.

Campania is not a major producer of international red grape varieties.The best known Italian red variety is Aglianico, best expressed in the DOCG wine, Taurasi, and Piedirosso.

Before we reviewing the Campania wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.

Start with Scialatielli alle Vongole, Herbed Pasta with Clams, Garlic, and Cherry Tomatoes.

Then try Branzino all ‘Acqua Pazz’, Sea Bass in ‘Crazy Water’.

And for dessert, indulge yourself with Coviglie al Caffè, Coffeee Custard and Ladyfingers.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed

Mastoberardino Radici ‘Fiano di Avellino’ DOCG 12.0 % alcohol about $20

When you see a green band on an Italian white wine bottle, you have a DOCG wine, Italy’s top of the line classification.

Mastoberardino is the largest and best known producer in southern Italy. Fiano di Avellino is an indigenous white grape variety. They came together in an excellent wine.

The wine had a beautiful straw color. I found it to be delicate yet complex and elegant, not the least bit thin. At the first pairing it held up to spicy barbequed chicken and barbequed eggplant slices. Among the many flavors, it was spicy and smoky.

The next pairing was with whole wheat pasta and chicken meat balls in a peppery tomato sauce. Here the wine took on a floral character.

I would have loved to taste this wine with the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (Water-Buffalo Mozzarella cheese) described in my article “I Love Italian Wine and Cheese – The Latium Region” but it is not sold in my city. I had to settle for Pecorino Sardo, a nutty cheese made in Sardinia, an island almost directly west of Campagnia. In the presence of the cheese the wine became almost unctuous.

I really feel that this wine deserved its top of the line designation. The best white wines often come from cold climates such as Germany and northern France. Who would have thought that such a fine white wine could come from sun-baked southern Italy? The neighboring woods and eighteen hundred foot elevation of Avellino are certainly an essential part of the final product, well worth the $20, which is more than I usually spend on a wine bottle.

I Love Italian Wine And Food – The Molise Region

If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Molise region of central Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.

Molise is a small region of central eastern Italy on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most unspoiled regions of Italy, about 90% hills and mountains. Its total population is less than a third of a million people, which makes it the second least populous region of Italy after the Aosta Valley. Molise was associated with Abbruzo until 1963.

Agricultural products include livestock, pigs, sheep, and goats, wheat and a variety of vegetables including giant celery. The coast furnishes seafood and fish. Polenta (cornbread) is as popular as pasta.

Isernia is the largest city with a population somewhat less than ninety thousand. This area was first settled about 700,000 years ago (not a typographical error) and is of archeological interest. The regional capital, Campobasso, was the site of major battles during World War II. If you love old European cities consider visiting Larino, even if it is not mentioned in major tourist guides. (I’m not naming names.)

Molise devotes about nineteen thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 18th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about nine and a half million gallons, also giving it an 18th place. The region produces 3 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. Less than 4% of Molise wine carries the DOC designation. Molise is home to almost two dozen major and secondary grape varieties, about half white and half red.

Widely grown international white grape varieties include Chardonnay and Trebbiano (in particular the Italian Trebbiano Toscano subvariety). The best known Italian white variety is Falanghina, the main component in the wine reviewed below.

The best known strictly Italian red varieties are Montepulciano, Agliacano, and Tintilia.

Before reviewing the Molise wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.

Start with Taccozze alla Crema a’Asparagi, Hand-Cut Pasta Squares in Asparagus Cream.

Then move on to Zuppa di Pesce alla Termolese, Seafood Pot from Termoli, a resort on the Adriatic Sea.

For dessert indulge yourself with Calcuini del Molise, Sweet Chestnut Fritters.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed

Rami Di Majo Norante Falanghina Del Molise 2005 12.5% alcohol about $11.50

I’ll start by quoting the marketing materials. “Made from the well-known Falanghina grape (with a little help from the ubiquitous Fiano variety), this delviers fresh peach and apricot flavors with a good citrus spine. It’s crisp and refreshing. And goes well with slightly spicy seafood or chicken, or makes an excellent sipping wine.”

I first tasted this wine with fried chicken cutlets, rice, and corn on the cob. I found it smooth with apricot but no peach flavors. It had more of a citrus smell than taste. I added a cayenne pepper sauce to the meat, and the wine rose to the challenge.

I then tried Talapia filets cooked in an onion sauce with a side of green beans in tomato sauce. I added too much cayenne pepper sauce, which was too harsh for the wine and for the fish itself. However, even with a deadened palate the wine was pleasant.

In the presence of a commercial chicken pot pie with a chili and lime hot sauce (but not too much) the wine was citrusy and refreshingly acidic. On the down side, the wine was short.

Kube, also known as kibbe, is a Middle-Eastern specialty of balls of ground rice filled with ground meat that cooks slowly. The wine was an excellent companion, its acidity cutting the grease nicely. The word gossamer came to mind.

Sometimes we have to make compromises. As you can guess from the name, Pecorino Toscano is not a cheese from the Molise region. It is a sheep’s milk cheese that has been made in Tuscany and neighboring Umbria for thousands of years. Soft Pecorino Toscano is white with a tinge of yellow, while semi-hard Pecorino Toscano is pale yellow. It is moderately strong smelling and has a complex nutty flavor. In the presence of this cheese, our was crisp and yet unctuous.

Final verdict. This wine is a winner. When making notes on this wine I mistakenly identified it as a DOC wine but I double-checked the label. It is not a DOC wine, but in my opinion is better than many DOC wines that I’ve tasted.

I Love Italian Wine And Food – The Tuscany Region

If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Tuscany region of central Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.

Tuscany is located on the central western part of Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It gets its name from an Etruscan tribe that settled the area about three thousand years ago. It has belonged to the Romans, the Lombards, and the Franks. More than four hundred years ago under the Medicis, Tuscany became a major European center. It is undoubtedly one of Italy’s top tourist destinations as well as an ideal place for your villa when you hit it big, really big. According to one Seinfeld episode there are no villas to rent in Tuscany, but that was several years ago. On the other hand, time in Tuscany as elsewhere in Italy is measured in centuries. Tuscany’s total population is about 3.5 million.

Florence is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and the administrative center of Tuscany. It is one of Italy’s top tourist destinations, whose sites of interest are too numerous to list here. Siena and Pisa are two other major tourist destinations.

Tuscany is a center of industrial production, in particular metallurgy, chemicals, and textiles. Given the region’s importance as an international art center for centuries, don’t be surprised that it is an excellent place to appreciate and purchase fashion, jewelry, leather goods, marble, and other items of beauty. Florence is the home of the house of Gucci.

Tuscany produces a wide variety of cereal, olives, vegetables, and fruit. But not only vegetarians eat well. It is home to cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry. One local specialty is wild boar. On the coast, seafood is abundant.

Tuscany devotes over one hundred fifty thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 4th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 58 million gallons, giving it an 8th place. About 70% of the wine production is red or rosé, leaving 30% for white. The region produces 44 DOC wines. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine and 7 DOCG white wine. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. The region produces 9 DOC wines. Tuscany also produces Super Tuscan wines, wines that may not have a prestigious classification but that are known to be outstanding. These wines are arguably the main reason that Italy was forced to revise its wine classification system. Fully 55% of Tuscan wine carries the DOC or DOCG designation. And remember, many of Tuscany’s best wines carry neither designation. Tuscany is home to more than three dozen major and secondary grape varieties, about half white and half red.

Widely grown international white grape varieties include Trebbiano, Malvasia, and Sauvignon Blanc. The best-known strictly Italian white varieties are Vermentino and Vernaccia.

Widely grown international red grape varieties include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The best-known Italian red variety is Sangiovese, which is grown elsewhere, including California. A strictly Italian variety is Canaiolo.

Before reviewing the Tuscan wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.

Start with Panzanella, Bread and Tomato Salad.

For a second course, eat or share a Bistecca alla Fiorentina, (Texas-sized) Beef Steak.

If you have room, indulge in a Torta Rustica, Cornmeal Cake with Cream.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed

Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico 2004 12.8% alcohol about $21

I’ll start by quoting the marketing materials. “…A wine that would complement a veal chop or game birds, expect aromas of cranberry and cherry. On the palate, it should be round and ripe with enough tannin for balance.” As a point of interest, the label included the warning “contains sulphites” in ten languages.

I first tasted this wine with slow-cooked boneless beef ribs and potatoes accompanied by a spicy commercial Turkish salad. The wine was thick, loaded with plum and cherry flavors, and some tobacco. The tannins were moderate. Dessert was a cocoa cake whose label said strudel. The wine went well, its fruit really came out.

I next tasted the Chianti Classico with slow-cooked meat balls, cauliflower and chickpeas in a tomato sauce, and potato wedges. The wine was plumy and powerful, with very pleasant tannins, a little tobacco and a little earth. Just so you know, I’m not usually partial to tannins. The wine was so round that I enjoyed finishing the glass when the food was gone. No dessert this time.

I decided to follow the distributor’s suggestion and grilled a veal chop with a mixture of spices (minced onion, cayenne, and a bit of curry powder), accompanied by grilled eggplant slices with the same spices, and a commercially prepared Turkish salad, based on red pepper and tomato. The wine bounced nicely off the delicious somewhat fat, somewhat rare meat. It didn’t add flavors of its own, but accompanied the food’s flavors excellently. It was powerful, but not overpowering.

As its name indicates, Pecorino Toscano cheese comes from Tuscany, where it has been made from sheep’s milk for thousands of years. The cheese is moderately strong smelling and has a complex nutty flavor. The wine was smooth and round and had a pleasant tinge of tobacco. Just for the record I am not a smoker. In the presence of Asiago cheese from the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northern Italy, the wine became more robust.

I remember when Chianti came in straw-covered bottles. In fact, I remember the bottles more than the wine itself. But times have changed. This Chianti Classico was excellent, quite deserving of its top-of-the-line DOCG classification and well worth the price.

I Love French Wine and Food – a Rhone Valley Crozes-hermitage