Two Italian Whites

Italian white wine, Vino Bianco, is my favorite. There are so many varieties. Many  people are only familiar with the ubiquitous Pinot Grigio, this is unfortunate because there are so many other Italian white wines to enjoy.

In all fairness, years ago Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio brought attention back to Italian white wines, which were previously shunned because of terrible wines like Bolla Soave.

In an earlier post we discussed Vermentino which is a great summer wine. Excellent with Linguini in white clam sauce, and other garlicy dishes.

Another two favorites are Greco and Roero Arneis, they go well with fall and winter dishes like risotto with winter squash or roasted chicken. Sage and rosemary; robiola cheese are wonderful with these wines.

Greco is considered to be one of the oldest grapes, from Greece. It is often available as Greco De Tufo. A great Greco produced by Cantina del Taburno is available at Gary's for $ 14.95.

The Wine Reviewer Ian D'Agata of Steve Tanzer's International Wine Cellar describes the wine like this.

Golden yellow color. Offers subtle aromas of rich ripe tropical fruits , with enough mineral sensations to furnish lift. Round and soft in the mouth but with real backbone and stuffing. Very easy to like but also delivers real substance.

Like any wine you can't just buy any Greco or Greco de Tufo off the shelf you need guidance of a good wine merchant or find reviews on the web.

This is even more true of Roero Arneis. I find them to generally be really great or awful.

This week I had one produced by Bruno Giacosa, which was quite good. Vietti Arneis is also excellent.

The Arneis grape variety takes its name from a word in Piedmontese dialect which means "whimsical", like the grapevines from this Roero Wine district. From the steep sandy vineyards of this zone comes this extraordinary wine, Roero Arneis, with its pale straw-like greenish color, very intense bouquet of forest flowers and poignant, persistent aroma with an almond-like backtaste. it is a white wine with great character, ideal as an apéritif or served with cold appetizers.

Benissimo!