Survey of a month's wine-drinking in Italy

I'm not even going to look at my notes or previous postings for this one.  I want the residual impressions of the many wines I've had here to come through, to assert themselves or not.

First a couple of general statements. 

1. Everyday wines really are good here.  The ordinary, anonymous wines you order in a bar or trattoria are almost always balanced, pleasant wines without off flavors or excessive sweetness.  Because of the heat, we've ordered mostly whites.  Except for some of the Trebbiano d'Abruzzos, these wines have had a lively flavor and acidity, making them both refreshing aperitifs and good with our heavily seafood menus.

2. As to restaurants and bars, wine is overpriced in Rome, as it is in Florence and Venice.  The prices were very low in Naples (everything else was pretty inexpensive there too of course).  Siena flirts with being too expensive.  The price/quality ratio was sensational in Naples.

(I didn't pay for much of my wine at meals in Verona, so it's hard to generalize.  It appeared to be in the middle range.)

3. Another tip of the hat to the white wines of Campania.  They are simply wonderful in their liveliness, occasional depth of flavor and superb as both aperitifs and accompaniments to the intensely flavorful cuisine of the region. The holy trinity of Campania: Fiano, Falanghina and Greco di Tufo. 

Now, for the awards...

Not awards really.  Reigning impressions, more like.

1. Best overall quality of the wine I tasted: Le Fonti.  We tasted the whole line, and it was worth going into hock over, which we did. 

2. Greatest surprise: Amarone.  I hadn't realized that it comes in such a range of styles and flavors.  I used to like it, but now I love it.

2A. Second greatest surprise, a rose' prosecco that Giampiero Aristide Nadali had them serve for us at Osteria delle Esperidi.  Finally, I says, a prosecco with some character.  (Alex agreed.)

3. Best single wine I tasted: Accordini Stefano's Amarone.  A rich, dense, complex mind-blower.

4. The best food [red] wine?  Of course the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.  Illuminati's Zanna impressed me greatly.  For a very good price/quality relationship, the Pietrantonjs' wines would win the prize.

5. The most outstanding asset of Italian wine: the people.  I know this sounds smarmy and insincere, but they have impressed me.  In an age where you have to read about this celebrity winemaker or that gentleman grape grower who is hewing to ye olde ways to justify some absurd price, it's good to know that there are intelligent, down-to-earth, dedicated people like Stefano Illuminati, Daniele Accordini and the whole Pietrantonj family out there.

It's been a beautiful experience.  Grazie a tutti. (You too, Lizzy!)

Comments

[ALFONSO CEVOLA]

awesome!

glad to hear your successes!

auguri!

Alfonso

[Lizzy]

It's a pleasure to be a little guide to Valpolicella wines for a wine lover as you, Terry!
See you soon! (I hope)

Lizzy

[Fredric Koeppel]

so come home already! we're gonna be in NYC (LL and me) second week of september!

[David]

I was pleased to find I agree with all your points. Recently I have been in disagreement with many of the wine blogs when it comes to quality.

I think the quality of Italian tablewines comes from the tradition and passion of wine where distributing the wine across the world is less important than making a good, balanced, drinkable wine.

[Stefano Frega]

Ciao Terry and Ken.
Have a nice flight back home!
It has been a pleasure to have you both here in Verona and I hope to see you in Italy again very soon.
Stefano

[Terry Hughes]

To everyone, thanks for following our little travels through Italy. We are just home (about 2 hours ago), so we'll be here when you come to NY, FK.

David, I have unyielding good taste. (Sorry. My little joke.) No, really, there is a fundamental philosophical difference between Italy's winemaekrs and those in some other countries. It doesn't hurt that Italy's cuisine is one of the best in the world, maybe the best, and the wines have "grown up" with the cuisine. This doesn't mean that there can't be new developments and enhanced quality, because we have seen those things happen in a big way over the past 20 years or so. But it seems that most Italian winemakers haven't been completely seduced by the international wine market, yet.

Lizzy, sei grande e speriamo che tutto vada apposto per il Vinitaly.

Alfonso, grazie per i tuoi aiuti!

[Terry Hughes]

Stefano, it's good to be home, I suppose. But as we were driving in from the airport, Ken said, "I wish we were back in Verona." Me too, buddy.

[alex]

PROSECCO
......2A. Second greatest surprise, a rose' prosecco that Giampiero Aristide Nadali had them serve for us at Osteria delle Esperidi. Finally, I says, a prosecco with some character. .........

Prosecco is a typical love or dislike wine (as you cannot "hate" a wine).
My brother in law once a year drives 250 miles to reach Valdobbiadene, visits some cellars and buys 100 liters of Prosecco in plastic canister (3,50 to 5,00 euros/liter - not for a bottle of 0,72 lt).
When at home he immediately bottles it and drinks it throughout the year during his dinners regardless of what he eats (if invited I always bring a bottle of good red wine ...).

Even if carefully selected at the origin (you might find much cheaper Prosecco) his wine is pleasant in the beginning, but it ends with a "dolciastro" (sweetish ?) taste that I can stand as aperitive and don't like at all with food.

Of course he is not to be described as a wine expert, I just wanted to share with you this image of an italian basic approach to everyday consumption of wine.
ciao
alex

[Terry Hughes]

Dolciastro = sweetish, yes.

Non riesco ad immaginarmi un tale proseccomane! Wow. No way, Jose'.

[Terry Hughes]

Ad Alex e' piaciuto il mio neologismo "proseccomane." Quando parlo italiano balbetto da scemo, ma scrivendo ho lo scilinguagnolo sciolto, no? The gift of the gab, come dicono i miei...