The Official Wine Thread - Page 1014

i think so.

It's a very solid Chianti and would be my order were it not for the consistency of Antinori.

Riserva, or classico reserva for the Antinori?

probably just the riserva. Unless they're older vintages (I am assuming they're not).

This makes me realize I really need to learn more about Italian wine...

I am afraid to because of the million varietals and strange designations and such. So much confusion in that boot.

NO. Not the way to learn. I tried this, and while it was sort of cool to be able to rattle off a handful of the dozen or so grapes allowed in an obscure DOCG, I realized that I knew close to nothing about the wine in the end. That only came by tasting and understanding the characteristics of a particular region or sub-region.

Think of it in relation to Chateauneuf du Pape. 13 or so different grape varietals allowed, but should we care about whether or not one producer used 5% muscardin in his blend? No, we should care about the characteristics of CdP and the preferences we may have of the style from one producer to the next. Same with Bordeaux and some of the blending they do. It's still Bordeaux, and that is why we buy it.

Yes, I know what you are saying. That is one thing that I learned here pretty quickly is to somewhat ignore varietal blends and concentrate on the region, but I feel that even then it is much more complex that being able to identify a left from right bank bord, or a Loire cab franc from a Northern Rhone syrah.

there's nothing complex about enjoyment for enjoyment's sake.


if there's one region to kickstart the Italian wine fun, I'd suggest Piedmont. Huge variety of styles in both red and white, and fairly easy to understand and find at stores.

I will give it a go. Piedmont. I'm just analytical I guess. Whatever I get into I like to know a lot about it and really understand it. If I can't do that I procrastinate.

So if I wanted a place to start in Piedmont, and I prefer lighter reds, what would you suggest?

barbera d'alba

Thanks, Manton.

Who are the major importers I should be looking at? Always been a good way to know if I'm getting something well made or not.

or barbera d'asti.

there's a lot of lighter dolcettos as well, it's more of a producer style thing. A rule of thumb that I follow but cannot back up with any certainty is the more expensive the barbera or dolcetto, the bigger the wine will be thanks to better grape selection, lower yield, more time in barrel, etc. Same can be followed for nebbiolo, which can be big, tannic, and bruting in some Barolos, but fairly light and fragrant in a $17 Langhe DOCG.

also, Asimov reviewed a bunch of Dolcettos not long ago for the NY Times.

My favourite thing to do is pick up a bottle of wine, and just put some nice music on and get drunk.