Ah, Italy!

I've visited Italy a few times - when I was backpacking (in the 1980s), with our kids during a teacher exchange in 2000, and with my wife in 2014 (where this photo of Pompeii is from).

Italy has so much going for it - culture, history, food, and, of course, wine!

Italy is the world's largest producer of wine and it has the most varietals of grapes at more than 500, of which 350 are approved for making wine. Italy is also one of the few countries where 'reserve' (or 'riserva') actually means something - aged for a specific amount of time, depending on the type of wine and method of fermenting. Unfortunately, at the BC Liquor store, they just can't carry all of those varietals - but I did manage to taste a few different ones over the past month and I thought I would share what I thought of the four Italian 'tenors' that I tasted.

The first was a 2016 Custom Superiore Bianco Monte Del Fra Cà Del Magro (on sale at BC Liquor for $20). This white wine is a blend of Garganega (used to make wines from Soave), Trebbiano Toscano, Cortese (used in wines from Gavi), and Incrocio Manzoni (a crossing between Riesling and Pinot Blanc). These grapes are grown in the Verona region which is in the north of Italy and are more than 30 years old. Happily, it features a monk character on the bottle (he's also on another wine by Monte Del Far but, in that one, he is holding an umbrella)!

Here are the tasting notes for this wine:

Appearance - Clear, medium, lemon.

Nose - Medium plus intensity, clean, aromas of pineapple, banana, peach, apricot, pear, caramel, vanilla, butter, cheese, honey, toast, hay, and passionfruit.

Palate - Dry, medium acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, medium plus flavour intensity, medium finish with tastes of pineapple, lemon, peach, better, honey, apricot, cheese, and pear.

Evaluation - There was a lot going on with this wine. The flavours and aromas were very complex but did not impact the overall freshness and fruitiness of this wine. It was balanced, intense, complex and had good length. I could see this going very well with seafood, chicken, pasta, a nice charcuterie board, and a Sunday afternoon spent with friends. Overall, this wine was Very Good.

The next wine - well - I guess you could say I put it on a pedestal....

Nebbiolo (which also happens to be my daughter's dog's name) is a powerful grape from the Piedmont region of Italy. Famous for its 'tar and roses' characteristic, it can be so tannic and powerful that it needs literally decades to be drinkable. Luckily, producers have found ways (like extended maceration) to make this grape drinkable in a shorter timeframe.

This one was a 2017 Langhe Nebbiolo (considered by some to be 'Baby Nebbiolo') from Giovanni Rosso ($30 from BC Liquor)

Appearance: Clear, medium, ruby - leaning towards garnet. Nebbiolo is always lighter in colour than you'd expect from a powerful wine.

Nose: Clean with medium intensity with aromas of tar, a hint of roses, red cherry, red plum, blueberry, black pepper, cedar, cooked fruit, smoke, and leather.

Palate: Dry with medium plus to high tannins, medium acidity, high alcohol, medium plus body, medium plus intensity of flavours, and a great, big, wonderful long finish. There were some interesting tastes but was not overly fruity - tar, black cherry, leather, smoke, tobacco and cedar.

Evaluation: This wine was amazing, especially for the price. It had good balance, incredible length, and strong intensity with fairly complex tastes. You almost need to have food with this wine, as it was fairly strong. I would rate this one as a Very Good Plus - not quite Outstanding due to the still strong tannins and the complexity but if it could sit for a few more years, who knows?

Passimento is a word the comes from the Italian Appassimento which means drying harvested wine grapes on bamboo racks or straw mats for weeks to months. This process concentrates the sugars and the flavours of the grape. The most famous is probably Amarone which costs $50 and up so when I had a chance to try this version - at around $15 - I leapt at the opportunity.

The wine was a 2017 Famiglia Pasqua Romeo and Juliet Passimento from Veneto (currently on sale at BC Liquor for $14). The grapes used are Merlot, Corvina (used to make Valpolicella) and Croatina. The grapes are dried and aged separately so the blend is put together after vinification. I was excited about trying this (despite the hideous label) but was a bit disappointed in the final product - although it was a great deal for the price.

Appearance: Clear, deep, ruby.

Nose: Clean, medium intensity, flavours of cooked fruit, fig, prune, raisins, jamminess, black currant, perfume, black cherry, black pepper, toast, vanilla, and cedar.

Palate: dry with medium plus acidity, medium minus tannins, high alcohol, full body, medium intensity of flavours and medium plus length. Flavours of black cherry, vanilla, fig, plum, black pepper, and tobacco.

Evaluation: I was a little bit disappointed because after so many wonderful aromas, the diversity of flavours tasted was considerably less. It had OK balance, great length, good intensity of flavour, and was fairly complex. This was a wine that would pair well with food and I would rate it between Good and Very Good.

The final 'tenor' of the group was a Fontana Fredda 2018 Briccotondo from Piedmont (on sale right now at BC Liquor for $17). This wine was made with the Barbera grape which, surprisingly, is the third most planted grape in Italy! It was actually the number 2 grape, but in 1985, Barbera producers added Methanol to their wine to boost alcohol levels which killed over 30 people and caused many to go blind. Fortunately, the scandal is long behind us and Barbera is a great varietal that should be tried.

Appearance: Clear, medium, ruby

Nose: Medium plus intensity, clean, aromas of violets, jam, baked fruit, stewed cherry, raisin, fig, blackberry, blueberry, black plum, pepper, vanilla, coffee, and smoke.

Palate: Dry with medium plus acidity, medium tannins, high alcohol, medium body, medium plus intensity, medium finish. Tastes of blackberry, blueberry, plum, pepper, jamminess, fig, vanilla, smoke, cedar, charred wood, and spice.

Evaluation: This was definitely a food wine which has many diverse aromas which are reflected in the flavours as well. It was a balanced wine that was complex and intense with fairly good length. I would rate this wine as Very Good.

Well, there they are - four Italian 'tenor' wines and all are well worth the price. And, after having a few glasses, maybe you'll be singing like Luciano!

This summer, why not book a tour with me at Wine and Then Somm Wine Tours? I would be happy to meet you in Kelowna or Penticton and take you, in the comfort of your own vehicle, anywhere in the Okanagan to try some of the wonderful Okanagan wines! Book today!