The Italian Connection

​When we think of wine we almost always think of the great French varietals – Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.  But maybe we should start thinking more about the Italian varietals.  After all, Italy is the world’s leading wine producing nation, outstripping France by around 10%.  Italy’s population is about 90% that of France, and its wine exports about 60% that of France.  Put all that together, and it seems that the Italians per capita wine consumption is about 20% higher than the French.  They drink a lot of wine!  So, it seems logical to think that maybe they know a little bit about wine…
Perhaps more important, the climate and terrain of Italy are pretty similar to our climate and terrain, so it follows that local wines made from Italian varietals grown in our area are going to be better than local wines made from French varietals grown in our area.  In other words, we don’t have a “French Connection”, we have an “Italian Connection”.  So, I thought it would be worth it to review some of the Italian varietals available at our Southern California wineries.
As I am not that much of a fan of white wines, I will stick to Italian red varietals, though we do have some great Pinot Grigio and you really need to try Arneis.  The most common of the red Italian wine grapes is Sangiovese.  Never heard of it (other than on this magnificent website)?  Well, I bet you have drunk it many, many times.  You see, Sangiovese is the grape varietal from which Chianti is made.  International agreements prevent American wine makers from calling wine made from the Sangiovese grape Chianti, but it is essentially the same wine.  So now I get to really confuse you.
You see, there are these grapes that are called clones, i.e., the DNA of the vines are identical.  Somewhere along the line, someone found that some plants did better than others, so they used cuttings from those plants to create more plants with the same characteristics.  As an example, Sangiovese has two clones that are considered superior to Chianti and Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montipulciano. 
OK, so what?  Well, turns out we have some very nice Sangiovese produced here in Southern California.  At least 13 wineries I’ve reviewed offer Sangiovese, including two (Robert Renzoni and Chuparosa) that offer the Brunello clone.
If you read my report on my visit to Torciano Winery in Tuscany, you will recall that I bought a bottle of Vino Nobile di Montipulciano thinking it was made from the Montipulciano grape.  As noted above, it is made from the Sangiovese grape, but now that the name Montipulciano has come up I will naturally move over to this varietal.
Montipulciano is the second most common red wine of Italy, though far less popular than Sangiovese.  It is grown extensively there – over 85,000 acres worth – but is almost non-existent elsewhere.  So while not a rare wine by any means, it is very surprising to find it in the United States.  Fortunately, Southern California wineries have discovered this varietal.
This is a very good wine.  How good?  Well, a local Italian restaurant we frequent recently added Montipulciano to their wine list.  Within weeks it had risen to the top of their red wine sales, with a very significant drop in their Chianti orders.  And, yes, we switched from Chianti to Montipulciano, and, no, we are not the reason for the shift – we don’t drink that much wine!
Barbera is a less common wine than Montipulciano, but is grown extensively in the US as well as Italy so you may be more familiar with it.  Barbera is more of an everyday wine, needs little aging, and can be quite good.  It can also be quite bad.  Seven wineries on my list offer Barbera, but frankly speaking I cannot really recommend all of them.
Now on to Southern Italy and Aglianico.  Aglianico probably came to Italy from Greece and is the primary wine you find in Rome.  It is a high tannin wine that requires more aging than Sangiovese, Montipulciano, and Barbera – some believe as long as ten years – so it is not that common outside Italy.  Well, it can be very good even when young:  as noted in an earlier blog, it was Principe di Tricasse’s Barrel Select Anglianico that won this year’s Lum Eisensen/San Diego Wine Competition Best of Show.  Five wineries on my list offer this wine.  Very worth looking into.
And now the star of the show, so to speak:  Nebbiolo.  Only around 15,000 acres of Nebbiolo have been planted around the world, most in the Piedmont region of Italy and, surprise! the Guadaloupe Valley in Mexico.  Nebbiolo is the grape of Barolo, often considered the King of Italian wines (with Brunello the Queen).  This is a high tannin wine that needs substantial aging, though that depends on the wine making process.  Three wineries on my list offer Nebbiolo (Shadow Mountain, Vineyard Grant James, and Principe di Tricasse).  This wine sells fast, so if you see it and like the taste, buy it!  Learned that lesson with other wines, so I now have about a case in storage…
One of my personal favorites is Lagrein.  It is a much like Cabernet Sauvignon, but less fruity and very smooth.  I don’t have many bottles of this in storage.  Seems they don’t last long at my house…
Dolcetto is about as common as Nebbiolo, but probably even less known.  Coming out of Northern Italy, it is a more moderate tannin wine needing far less aging than Nebbiolo.  Really best served with food.  We’ve got three wineries offering Dolcetto in Temecula.
There are more varietals available in our area – Negroamaro, Lambrusca di Alessandria, Refosco, Sagrantino, Nero D’Avola, and Zinfandel.  It is not clear that Zinfandel is truly an Italian varietal, as more of it grown in the US than elsewhere, but by far the second largest grower of Zinfandel is Italy, and since it is clearly not native to North America, I’ll claim it as part of the “Italian Connection”.
I was at a bar awhile back with friends and ordered a glass of Zinfandel.  The bartender was a young college student (we were near the SDSU campus).  After a bit he came back a bit confused.  He wanted to check with me to make sure I knew that I was going to get a red wine.  Seems he did not know that Zinfandel grapes can be used to make a red wine.
Well, Zinfandel grapes make a great red wine, especially if they are grown in our part of the world.  I like the versions with a high black pepper aroma.  Zinfandels can be quite fruity.  If that is not your bag, then go for the Italian Zinfandel clone, Primitivo.  All available at your local Southern California wineries.  Oh, jump on that high black pepper Zinfandel when you can – I’m not the only one that loves it….