Table Wine is happy to have Mike Tiano back to our South Asheville store for a sampling of 7 Italian wines from all over the country this Friday, April 6. The fun gets started at 4:00 and goes until 7:00 and the cost is just $5/person or free if you’re a Grape Nut. In Italy, wine is an important part of their culture and their daily lives, and the grape is grown in almost every corner of the country. We’ll sample wines from north to south and east to west and light palate cleansers will be offered as well. We hope to see you.
1. Garofoli Guelfo Verde – This sparkling wine hails from Central Italy, Les Marches to be exact, just east of Tuscany. It is a blend of Chardonnay and Verdicchio that shares a slight resemblance to Prosecco. Dry, bright and fruit filled, it is a great everyday sparkling wine at a very affordable price.
2. Cantina Frentana Cococciola – This is one of the best co-operatives of Abruzzo, and this is one exotic little white wine. Cococciola is an obscure grape variety that produces light, fragrant white wines with notes of white peach, apple, citrus and gentle spice. It is dry, fresh and you will love it!
3. Cantina Sant Evasio Gavi – We now head north on our journey of obscure Italian varietals to the village of Gavi, in Italy’s Piemonte zone. The grape is Cortese and this one offers up nice weight and concentration with lovely notes of peach, pineapple, citrus and mild mineral nuances.
4. Tenuta Canale Sangiovese di Toscana – No, this grape isn’t obscure, but no Italian wine tasting would be complete without at least one Sangiovese. Tenuta Canale is a tiny Chianti producer and this is the family’s “house wine” – bright, tangy and perfect for pizza or pasta with red sauce, it is a simple and delicious red wine.
5. Vecchia Torre Salice Salentino – We’re heading back into the “unknown”, although many of you know that this wine is delicious as we’ve stocked it for some time now. We now head into the heel of Italy’s boot and the region of Salice Salentino, which is a part of greater Puglia. A blend of Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera, this rustic red is packed with ripe berry fruit, spices, licorice and earth.
6. Paitin Nebbiolo d’Alba “Ca Vieja” – This family run estate got its start in 1796, and they’re still going really strong. This will be for many of you your introduction to Nebbiolo, the same grape that makes the legendary wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. This one is a touch softer and more accessible in its youth than the above mentioned and offers up lovely notes of sweet cherry and raspberry with underlying earth, spices and herbs.
7. Morisfarms Monteregio di Massa Marittima – This wine comes from Tuscany’s western coast and from one of the finest producers in the region. A blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, it is a very impressive and full bodied red wine with layers of black cherry and black raspberry fruit along with nuances of mineral, smoke, spice and mocha.