A Good Wine for Montclair Greek Restaurants Valle Dell' Acate Zagra from Sicily

I picked this wine for a dinner at Stamna the revered and maligned Greek restaurant on Broad Street in Bloomfield near Montclair.

I believe that best food and wine pairings arise with food and wine of the same region. There are certainly exceptions to this rule, but it still holds that wine makers of the world usually make their wines to go well with their local cuisine.

Using this premise I usually try and bring a Greek wine when we are planning to enjoy that cuisine. Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that Greek wines have gotten much much better over the last couple of decades the good ones are still not that readily available.  

So my second choice is a Mediterranean wine like this one from Sicily which is on the same latitude as many of the great Greek wine growing regions. It is called Zagra and is a beautiful blend of 70% Inzolia, 30% Grillo which are indigenous grapes of Sicily. It is produced by the highly regarded winery Valle dell'Acate and imported by Polaner Selections a source of wines that I usually like.

Valle dell’Acate "has a long and storied history amongst the top estates in Sicily, founded by the Jacono family who can trace back their wine-making roots to the nineteenth century. It is located in the southeastern corner of Sicily, on the elegant Bidini Manor in the hills of the Dirillo Valley and is under the direction of the current head of the family winery, the elegant Gaetana Jacono." Importer

Zagra is of native grapes Inzolia & Grill which were sourced from the Bidini, Acate, Ragusa areas of Sicily. 

"It has a bright straw yellow color, with a bouquet of jasmine, white flowers, roses, and exotic citrus fruits. Its flavors are dry and refreshing, with well-balanced acidity interlaced with subtle yet lush fruit flavors. many of the vineyards have been replanted to the great traditional grapes of Sicily which are farmed organically."   Importer

The wine went perfectly with our dinner which was also very good. Stamna is a great restaurant except it seems when it gets very busy, which is often. We also really like Greek Delightsin their new restaurant space on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair.

Comments

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