A big glass at that.  On my last night in Italy recently, I went ambling out from my hotel on an early evening with the temperature around ninety accompanied by plenty of uncomfortable humidity in an attempt to snag an initial dinner spot in one of the better restaurants near the historic center of the small town of Conegliano; my e-mails requesting a reservation at maybe the best one went unanswered for the second day in a row.  My first choice was to open at 6:30 according Google, and I wanted to grab a glass of wine or two beforehand in a smart wine bar of which several assuredly existed within a block or two or so.  After all, Conegliano is the home of first school of viticulture and enology in Italy and a base for the prosecco region, a wine style that originated there.   
 
These certain-to-exist wine bars either were not near the old part of town, not what I envisioned or not open around 5:30.  So, I continued to walk toward the restaurant in mind.  It was warm.  After absorbing some more of the weather, I decided to stop into a bar that didn’t appear too promising at first glance, but it was open and it had some semblance of air conditioning.  Bar Ciotta’s.  Serendipitous, as it turned out.  Just opening, the owner was friendly, energetic, evidently passionate about food and wine, thankfully spoke much more English than I did of Italian, and had a really neat short list of wines on a chalkboard on the wall.
 
Still sweating, I ordered a glass of the Piazza Extra Dry Prosecco for all of €3 for a substantial pour in a large wine glass.  I usually prefer Extra Dry for Prosecco, especially on a hot day.  It is just slightly sweeter than the ubiquitous Brut, with typically 12 to 17 grams per liter of residual sugar versus less than 10.  The folks at the informative Wine Folly site seem to agree: “if you haven’t had an Extra Dry Prosecco yet, this style offers a great balance between Prosecco’s fruit, tingly acidity, and subtle sweetness.”
 
The Piazza has even a just little more sugar than typical, about 18  grams per liter, but the wine was nicely balanced and still quite dry, with evident acidity and prefaced with a hint of apples on the nose and soft citrus flavors, all of which I found perfect that late afternoon, especially for the price.  A second one was necessary.  Only 8,000 bottles of this made each year, so it is probably impossible to find here, but Prosecco Extra Dry is something you might want to try, if you enjoy an occasional glass of Prosecco.  It seems to go very well with summer weather there and here.

Chianti is the most recognizable name and image in Italian wine – the Chianti flask – and a fixture at Italian restaurants since there were Italian restaurants in this country.  Though the name “Chianti” is certainly well known, the region and its range of wines not so much.  There is actually a lot to Chianti.  These are both the recognizable, easily consumable and also the hearty and serious red wines from the beautiful, tourist-trafficked heart of Tuscany. 
 
What these have in common is a distinctive, familiar Italian red wine taste: slight bitterness, with a definite tartness along with an earthiness or dustiness, plus cherry, plum or strawberry notes, all of which help make them eminently food-friendly.  These are the prototypically Italian wines for many, and range fairly widely in terms of richness, tannins and complexity, and price, of course.
 
The famous emblem of the Gallo Nero, the black rooster, of Chianti Classico denotes the birthplace and historic heart of Chianti and is home to the most of the most renowned and expensive bottlings, some of which don’t carry the Chianti name at all – those Super Tuscans that grew out from the slow-moving bureaucracy of the wine region a few decades ago.  In addition to Chianti Classico, there are seven, soon to be eight, other subregions plus the overarching Chianti DOC.  So, ten appellations for Chianti, in all.  The Chianti name is spread over larger area of Tuscany than ever before, with well over 3,000 producers.  It’s also better than ever, and maybe more confusing. Then, Chianti Classico has eight subzones.
 
I have certainly drunk a lot of Chianti over the years, purchase it on a regular basis, and have even visited the area a few times, but my knowledge about it was comparatively limited.  A seminar in January hosted by the Chianti consortium helped to grow my understanding.   
 
In 1996, the Chianti Classico zone became independent from the Chianti DOC and the terms for one are a little than for the other.  The larger Chianti area – from Chianti DOC – regulates that wine under the Chianti banner must be between 70% and 100% Sangiovese, including up to 10% that can be white.  Chianti was once known a white wine region, after all.  There are three main categories, which are predicated on aging: annata, the wines that are ready on March 1 after the harvest; Superiore, with at least a year of aging; and Riserva that has two years aging in the cellar.   
 
The fresh young Chiantis, the annata bottlings, are among my favorite wines to consume when I am in central Italy.  These more inexpensive wines are not as imported as readily and are meant to be consumed quickly.  I do enjoy each of the styles when well made, as the good bottlings are “always in balance,” something that the brand ambassador at the seminar and tasting stressed.  The eight wines in the tasting certainly were.  Delicious, too, for the most part.  At events like this, I put a check mark for the wines I am impressed with and truly enjoy.  I checked six of the eight.  My favorites were an annata from Colli Senesi, which is my favorite subzone, where the wines are about the richest in all of Chianti, being the furthest south and often made from Brunello producers who might also have very similar tasting Rosso di Montalcinos.  Three of my other favorites were also 100% Sangiovese like that one, but Riservas from 2018.  Even bigger, more deeply flavored, more complex.  All the wines were indeed very balanced, with very nice fruit – often missing in lackluster bottles – noticeable acidity and a proper amount of tannins depending on the style.  And the wines were without the hint of mustiness that I often associated with Chianti.
 
I’d recommend learning more about Chianti.  That means purchasing and drinking more Chianti.  It will make your meal taste better, and for more than with pizza and tomato sauces.  Nicely, these can still be price performers, making the exploration easier.

I’ve long joked that one of the things that I would definitely do if I won the lottery would be to drink Burgundy daily.  Given the prices of it, from the most sought-after wine region in the world, it would have to be a big lottery payout.  It’s not just because of the preciousness of fine Burgundy.  These are some of my favorite wines, both the Pinot Noir- and Chardonnay-based bottlings.  The former, usually medium-bodied, with tastes of ripe cherries and maybe raspberries balanced featuring a backbone of acidity and with tannins well in the background.  The latter, I found to be the best expression of Chardonnay – as does most everyone world over – often the flavors of apple, apricot and lemon, usually full-bodied with some welcome acidity – and some more of that with Chablis – providing a liveliness and almost always an equilibrium even when aged in the new, small oak barrels that seems too often to get overplayed in the results of the varietal elsewhere.
 
It’s also the great utility of red Burgundy that I appreciate.  I’ve come to accept something I heard at a wine class, seminar, or maybe just from a wine salesman: that red Burgundy, because of its of medium heft, its acidity and light tannins, is the most versatile food wine around.  It can make food and wine pairing much easier.  And, these are quite easy to drink on their own.
 
Over the years, it hasn’t been just the expense causing my hesitation with exploring more of the region, though that is the certainly the primary consideration, but there is also the amount to know to really know Burgundy.  As noted wine educator Kevin Zraly opined, “Burgundy is one of the most difficult subjects in the study of wines….here are a lot of vineyards and villages, and they are all important.”  There is so much to try to grasp. There is Burgundy, the wines labeled “Bourgogne,” and then in increasing selectivity, and expense, comes the seven regions – like Côtes de Nuits and Côtes Chalonnaise – the many villages, then the premier crus and the grand crus at the pinnacle.  Then white-centric Mâcon region itself has three levels of regional levels, too.  There is a lot to know with Burgundy.  I used to know more, though far from anything approaching expertise, and I am usually fairly befuddled in the Burgundy aisle these days and have been for a while.
 
Before attending a trade luncheon before Christmas about Burgundy’s best kept secrets, it was my thought that its theme might be the promotion its secondary white varietal, Aligoté, that has gotten space on wine lists in recent years, or maybe the base Bourgonge classification, the most affordable, or that it might take a broader view of Burgundy, to include Beaujolais, also.  The mass of Burgundy – Côtes de Beaune, Côtes de Nuits, and the grand and premier crus scattered among them, Chablis – does not need promoting, I thought.  Burgundy “has become the most coveted wine in the world,” to quote Eric Asimov, the New York Times wine writer.  But, it seems that it does, and least some parts of it.
 
At the luncheon, a group of local wine professionals was lead in a blind tasting of nine wines, six white and three red.  We were asked to assess the level of each of the wines after each three-wine flight.  Village was the most common retort, though premier and even grand cru were heard.  It turned out that every one of the wines were from one of the regional appellations, though.  And all were Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, the core of Burgundy.
 
My favorites were  Maison Ambroise Hautes Côtes de Nuits 2018, which is white; Château de Messey Mâcon Cruzille, Clos des Avoueries, 2018, white; and Domaine Fournier, Côtes d`Or, 2018, red. The retail prices for these are $30, $34, and $25, not inexpensive and more than what I typically pay for a bottle of wine.  But, I thought that these prices were quite fair, probably lower than the quality would indicate, in fact.  These three were about the most expensive of the nine.  What struck me was the value throughout.  These were obviously very well-made wine, often delicious, sometimes offer a decent amount of complexity, all for very fair prices.  Some were excellent values, including Domaine Marc Mâcon Pierreclos, a white for just $11. 
 
The producers above might be somewhat obscure, at least to me.  I didn’t see any of these at Total Wines this morning.  We were told that there are good values in the Mâcon, and that might be a short-hand two-syllable name to remember when a white wine is in order.  And I did happen to pick up a couple of bottles with Mâcon on lable today, both definitely under $20.  Some of the other values we sampled were the result of a warming planet.  Also values are to be found in Hautes Côtes de Nuits and Hautes Côtes de Beaune, two areas just outside those two famed areas that long produced wines that were once thin and consumed mostly locally and quite cheaply, but recently, because of much higher temperatures, the grapes are much more fully ripened and the wines are fuller and more flavorful.  Some good out of the bad.
 
There is still a lot to understand – a lot of names to learn, and ones that can be tough for many of us to pronounce – when it comes to affordable Burgundy, but I found it heartening to learn that there is fairly affordable wines from there that are actually a fine value for the quality.

One of the main attractions of wine bars for me is the opportunity to discover new wines, especially new wines that I can comfortably afford.  Thankfully, there are a handful of wine bars in Houston that do an excellent job in selecting wines and in introducing new wines to their offerings on a regular basis.

The best value of these is the relaxed and comfortable, and amusingly named, How to Survive on Land and Sea in the East End on Harrisburg.  This is because every day from 4:00 to 8:00, every day, it offers a red, white rosé and sparkling wine for just $5.50 a glass, with a regular-sized pour.  Amazingly, it’s been my experience that each of the four happy hour wines is very knowingly selected and often delicious.  I’ve about a dozen of these happy hour wines in the course of more than a few visits.

​The happy hour wines and the selections overall have a strong Old World tilt – restrained fruit notes, evident acidity, and more earthiness or minerality, generally – which I enjoy.  A few of the highlights have been:

Domaine Jean Royer Le Petit Roy 2020, Rhone, France – A blend of Mourvedre Grenache, Syrah and some Alicante, along with a bit of Chateauneuf du Pape wine that didn't make it into those bottles. This is essentially a Cotes du Rhone without the name, with maybe some more heft.  With more fruit than can be expected for a Cotes du Rhone, this is nicely balanced and quite easy to drink by itself. And typical of the area these days, it registers at 14.5% alcohol, hardly petit, but it doesn’t seem overly hardy.

Heger Pinot Noir 2015, Baden, Germany – More straightforward and not quite as interesting, but very enjoyable is this juicy and lively medium-bodied, well-rounded red wine from Germany.  One of the benefits of global warming is that there is more and more good Pinot Noir coming from Germany, and this is an affordable example.

Weszeli Zweigelt Rosé 2020, Kamptal, Austria – It’s tough for me not to look toward a rosé during these long summer months and this unusual one from Austria is easy to like.  It is made with 80% Zweigelt and 20% Cabernet Franc, all from older vines.  With nice fruit like some peach and raspberry, evident minerality, and tartness from the Zweigelt, it has some more structure than most rosés at this price point that might be welcome.

Weingut Schlossmuhlenhof 'Boden Funk' Riesling, Rheinhessen, Germany – This very dry, unfiltered Riesling is not-at-all funky despite the label and would likely appeal to those white wine drinkers who shy away from the varietal. Lots of acidity and citrus notes highlight this very well-made wine that I found terribly refreshing on a hot, humid day.

Zull Grüner Veltliner 2020, Weinviertel, Austria – More flavorful than the typical inexpensive 1-liter sized Grüner Veltliner, this is decidedly crisp, with some pear and minerals on the palate and that is easy to consume.

I would have, and have, readily paid the full price – two or two-and-half times the happy hour tariff – for each of these wines and a few others.  As far I can tell, most of the happy hour wines retail between $15 and $25 if you can find them elsewhere.  Most importantly, these have been very well chosen.

​Houston to Survive on Land and Sea
3401 Harrisburg (at Sampson), 77003, (346) 320-2926
howtosurvivehtx.com

​On my gastronomic trip last month to Pavia and its surroundings, the meals each featured a locally popular red wine from the Oltrepo Pavese, the productive wine region south of the city, Bonarda Vivace.  Bright and vivacious, just slightly bubbly in fact, and very pleasant, this dry medium-bodied red is very well suited to seems to the task of accompanying a large share of the non-seafood dishes in the area.  When it was already on the menu as part of the group, it was recommended for at least part of the meal when I dined on my own in Pavia.  And, it worked well in every case. 
 
Bonarda Vivace exhibited characteristics of a broad a style of wine that I have really enjoyed when I’ve encountered in Italy over the years: lighter in body and alcohol, a refreshing tartness, low tannins and enough fruit for my palate.  Very moderate prices, too.  The seven or so Bonarda Vivaces on the wine list at an acclaimed old-line trattoria ranged from €13 to €16.  Easy to consume a sufficient amount around the meal without worrying too much about the effects, on the head or in the wallet. 
 
As much wine that I consume, as much Italian wine that I shop for and consume, Bonarda Vivace wine about which I was unfamiliar as it doesn’t appear to be exported to the United States.  I recently had a fully still version at 13 Celsius, a wine that is a little bigger and more structured and less of a quaffer.  And that might be the only one I’ve encountered on a wine list here.  And I also get the impression Bonarda Vivace does not take much in the way of wine list space even in the big metropolis of Milan, just thirty to forty miles distant, and a perusal of a few lists seem to confirm that.  Just from their province of Lombardy, these have to compete with excellent Nebbiolo-based wines from Valtellina and then the great wines from Piedmont aren’t even 100 miles.  Even among the wineries of Oltrepo Pavese, Pinot Nero, Pinot Noir, is considered the better varietal.  And it is.  Their sparkling wines grab more attention, too.
 
But I found these wines to be very easy-drinking, helped with its effervescence and welcome acidity, light tannins and some nice fruit – often red currants, plums and sour cherries – judicious in typical Italian fashion and tempered with some earthiness or underbrush.  These are food wines, tasting better with food, as most Italian wines do.  These are wines that are not great, at least the dozen or so I sampled, but more than good enough.  No Bonarda Vivace received the coveted Tre Bicchiere in a very recent Gambero Rosso wine guide I have, though about fifteen received the two-glass designation, the next level down.  In different guises, it’s been simple well-made Chianti, a surprisingly light on the palate Aglianico, or the lighter Dolcettos and Barberas and Valpolicellas of more than decade ago before the warming globe helped to pump up the alcohol content.
 
Part of the difficulty for consumers with Bonarda Vivace – after the fact that Americans can’t get them – is that there are the two Bonardas, the Vivace, which will almost always have “Frizzante” on the back label – the fuller, still one that I mentioned above.  These Bonarda wines are made with 100% Croatina.  Sometimes wineries will bottle the grape as Croatina.  And then there is Bonarda made in neighboring Piedmont.  It is a different grape, as is the Bonarda made in Argentina and California.  It is confusing, even more than most Italian wines, a difficult thing to achieve.
 
I believe that it’s certainly worth sampling, but you almost have to go to source to do so.  Another reason to visit Pavia, a place that I quite enjoyed.

I just returned from a trip to Pavia and its surroundings that was sponsored by its local chamber of commerce and included the significant nearby wine region of Oltrepò Pavese.  Located in northern Italy barely a half-hour train ride south of Milan, this is a city and region just a little further south that are essentially unknown to most American wine drinkers, including those who purchase a lot of Italian wine, like myself.  Just as unknown is that the Oltrepò Pavese produces a lot of Pinot Noir.  In fact, with more than 7,000 acres of the grape and roots in the area back over 150 years, the Oltrepò Pavese “earns the distinction of Pinot Noir’s Italian home” according to the Wine Spectator.
 
Used mostly in sparkling wines – where the region is also a big producer and unknown to American consumers – it also makes a fair amount of still Pinot Noir.  Or, Pinot Nero, as the varietal is called and labeled there and nearly everywhere in Italy where it is bottled.  It’s been planted in Italy since the mid-1800s at least and the Italianized name is quite longstanding unlike the more recently planted Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
 
The labeling of Pinot Noir as Pinot Nero is a problem, I believe.  If American can find a Pino Nero from the Oltrepò Pavese or anywhere else in Italy, they might not immediately think that the wine is Pinot Noir.  Or if they know Pinot Nero is Pinot Noir that might think that it is something outside the bounds of typical Pinot Noir, maybe even adulterated.  I mentioned this to the owner of Prime Alture, one of the wineries that we visited.  I should have looked at his Pinot Noir first.  He seemed to have the same concerns as me, and his is labeled as Pinot Noir.  Unfortunately, though he said that he is in most of the top restaurants in Milan, he doesn’t yet have an American distributor, even if he might be more ready for the market than most.
 
I had several versions of Pinot Noir recent trip and enjoyed them all, including a white wine made with the grape, which was new to me.  It very nicely complemented the sturgeon dish at a famed long-running trattoria in Pavia.  A few years ago, at a dinner at a sommelier’s house, I had a Pinot Nero from the Alto Adige that was fantastic, even outshining an excellent white Hermitage from the cult producer Jean-Louis Chave that had nearly twenty years of age.  To generalize, the Pinot Noirs produced in Italy provide a different take on the grape, neither Burgundian or Californian in any of its guises, dry with subtle red fruits like blackcurrant and raspberry, not bold, and balanced with nice acidity.  Each has tasted Italian to me, maybe with a hint of underlying bitterness that is present in a great many of the reds of the country or something.  If you enjoy Pinot Noir, especially with food, it’s worth your while to give Pinot Nero a try, from Oltrepò Pavese or elsewhere, provided you can find it.

A white Pinot Nero (or Pinot Noir) at Antica Osteria del Previ in Pavia just over a week ago. 

At a tasting the other week, I was surprised to learn that Moscato d’Asti, the naturally sparkling, agreeably sweet white wine from northwestern Italy, is actually a fairly versatile beverage.  I thought that I had known a fair amount about the wine, as my understanding and appreciation of it had grown with a trip the Asti area late last year as a guest, in part, of the Moscato d’Asti consortium.  The wine’s sweetness, up to around 130 grams of residual sugar -- which is quite a lot – makes it a natural choice in its home area to pair with desserts, fruit at the end of the meal, or just as dessert itself.  And, it can make for a very pleasant coda to an evening meal, with or without accompaniment. 
 
It was posited early in the recent tasting that Moscato d’Asti can work well as an aperitif, too.  I initially thought that it was an odd sentiment given the comparative sweetness of the wine.  Like a lot of people, I often enjoy a bit of bitterness in libations before dinner to help further whet the appetite (not that I usually need much help).  But, at the tasting the evident sugar in Moscato d’Asti helped it pair very well with the excellent salumi that had been plated for us; and prosciutto and salame that are popular picks for pre-dinner snacks, both in Italy and when I entertain.  That the Moscato d’Asti worked with the salty or piquant slices was just like the off-dry amabile version of Lambrusco is the preferred wine of the locals to drink with the cured meats in Parma and environs.  I had confirmed that this past summer while there; it seemed rude not to consume at least a half-kilo of prosciutto di Parma and culatello while in Parma.
 
The make-up of Moscato d’Asti, not only its relative sweetness but also its low amount of alcohol, just around 5%, also helps make it an appropriate starter here with our heat and humidity.  Moscato d’Asti can be light and fairly refreshing on our many, many warm days   A touch of sweetness goes well with warmth.  Though carrying a lot of sugar, Moscato d’Asti is also quite acidic. This acidity dampens the impact of that sugar while making the wines seem fresher and also work better with a big range of foods, including the prosciutto.  There is sweetness but it’s in balance with other aspects of the wine, making it more useful and enjoyable.
 
So, Moscato d’Asti really is something to consider before dinner here.  And, after dinner, too, of course.  It also has the added benefit of being quite affordable: a good bottle can easily be found for $15 to $20.
 

​The Moscato d'Asti went well with this cake, but it can work well before the cake, too.

​I’ve got to confess that I don’t know a lot about Burgundy.  I knew more about the wines of that region back forever-ago when I was in business school taking a fun (and very well done) wine class at the Cornell’s Hotel School.  The reason for the comparative ignorance versus other wines is that I just don’t drink it that often.  Well, other than a function-at-best $9.99 white Burgundy from Costco in recent months.  I wish drank more Burgundy, much more, but the prices scare me away.  Even thought of the prices, as I often miss the wines from Burgundy on wine lists.  That’s likely even subconscious as I’ve convinced myself that I won’t want to pay that much for a wine.  Doing a look at the wine lists at a few top restaurants, I was surprised how much Burgundy there was.  I had just overlooked these when dining at these places.
 
Since my knowledge has been lacking and I do usually really enjoy the wines of Burgundy, I was looking forward to a recent tasting featuring two dozen wineries from Burgundy and the Jura.  With a schedule permitting just about an hour, I didn’t even taste any wines that were burgundy in color; I limited myself to the whites from Burgundy, even missing a number of those producers, and omitting completely the reds, even from some famed – and expensively wrought – appellations and the oft-interesting wines from Jura.  There was too much vinous goodness for me too completely squeeze in that day.
 
The white wines I was able to sample were from Antoine Olivier, Chateau de Villars Fontaine, Domaine Decelle Villa, Domaine des Malandes, Domaine Feuillat-Juillot, and Maison Henri Pion.  Most of these wineries seemed to be looking for distribution in Texas, as it usually the case with these events. The wines ranged from the basic and easily affordable Bourgogne Blanc to the bigger named appellations like Chablis, Montagny, Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault.  The tasting, and these wines, exceeded expectations in terms of quality: each of the wines I sampled were evidently very well-made, nicely acidic, pleasant and appropriate fruit notes like melon and apple, good minerality, balanced, flavorful and complex to varying degrees.  Basically, delicious throughout.  Many of these wines were aged in small oak barriques, some vinified in these, too, but the presence of oak, which was rarely new, was always in moderation and without exception worked well as a complement to the whole. 
 
As much as I enjoyed tasting each, these wines are generally better, often much better, with food.  Comté seems to be preferred pairing among the representatives I queried, at least among cheeses, for many of the wines I tried.  Scallops were popular, oysters for Chablis, roasted chicken, and even lamb for the rich 2006 Le Rouard Hautes Côtes de Nuits from Chateau de Vellars Fontaine. Not sure about that, but Mathieu Piecourt from the winery was enthusiastic about it, and his wines were a very enjoyable treat.
 
The Wine Folly site that I visit from time to time puts it: “Once you’re hooked on white Burgundy, there’s no going back.” That sentiment rings very true with me.  These wines are best expression of Chardonnay, and some of the very best white wines in the world, both for most wine aficionados and for me, too.  I would certainly drink much more Chardonnay if I could convince myself to spend the money on the white wines from Burgundy.  Maybe I will now.

​Barbera is not the wine that I grew to really enjoy some years ago with food, mostly Italian-themed food.  The wine now is different: it’s bigger, bolder, and more alcoholic.  The food that pairs well with it with more than a little different, too.
 
Years ago, Barbera wines – made entirely from the Barbera grape and mostly all in the region of Piedmont northwestern Italy – were made in very high quantities and drank in copious amounts in northern Italy.  It was a fairly light-bodied wine with a bit of cherry fruit, very low tannins, a bit of Italian earthiness, and a plentiful amount of acidity, its more noticeable characteristic.  Barbera was a wine that screamed out for food.  In fact, I rarely enjoyed the wines without something to eat.
 
In the past quarter century or so, Barbera has seen a number of changes, driven by the desire to improve the quality, most notably for the Barberas in the Asti area.  Many of the growers began lowering yields to do that.  Clones from a university in nearby Turin during the 1980s added more ripeness, lower acidity, and more phenols (these include flavonoids that can affect the mouthfeel and color of the wine; tannins are one).  Malolactic fermentation began to be used that drove down the acidity.  Then oak aging grew, though much less new oak is used now than 10-15 years ago, much better to highlight the distinct character of Barbera, and welcome improvement in my mind.  In the field, locations for the vineyards got better.  This was much more the case in the Asti region, as for Barbera d’Alba, the best vineyards go to Nebbiolo, mostly for Barolo and Barberesco.
 
And, very significantly, “everyone has to worry about global warming and its effect on alcohol levels,” which was a common refrain I heard in my several days around Asti on a trip sponsored in part by consortium for the wines of Barbera dAsti a couple of months ago.  The impact of the increasingly hotter planet has especially been felt in the the past 15 to 20 years, and Barbera, seemingly more so than other varietals, is especially susceptible to the growing alcohol levels.  In fact, of the all the Barberas I sampled there and since returning home, the lowest alcohol level I’ve had has been 13.5% and that was just once or twice.  As much wine, I like to enjoy several glasses, and the difference between a wine that’s 12.5% and 15% can be felt a little too much for my taste.
 
Though the alcohol levels have risen appreciably, Barbera has made incredible strides in the last 10-15 years to paraphrase one of the speakers during my recent sojourn to Barbera-land.  The wines are more serious, richer and some can age quite nicely.  I still find that Barbera is more readily enjoyable in both of their major styles than Nebbiolo.  Barolos take time, Barberesco and even the Nebbiolo di Langhe, do, too.  The two different styles for Barbera d’Asti and for Barbera throughout is aging in stainless steel and aging in oak.  The former produces lighter wines with more fruit and more noticeable acidity; these are the wines reminiscent of the way the most Barbera used to be produced, just with higher quality – and more alcohol.  The oak-aged ones will often have a tannic bite and a bigger body.  These are wines that can age and might need four or five years to really enjoy.  Both can exhibit the ripe fruit of raspberry and blackberry, and plum in hot vintages, cooking spices, and underbrush, and also leather with oak-aging.
 
As for foods, is more than an easy pairing for pizza and simple pasta dishes, and the oak-aged ones, Barbera d’Asti Superiore, will be too big for my tastes for most pizzas.  Both styles wines go well with the classic agnolotti del plin, with or without shaved fresh white truffles, and the Superiore went better with their Piedmontese version of pot roast that was the main course for most of the meals.  Back home, there is more eating and drinking that I need to do.  While Barberas and the lighter versions still are not hefty enough to pair enjoyable with steak or lamb, the Superiores might do a good job.  These might even be a great pairing for the classic Texas beef brisket.  We’ll see.
 
But, in any case, Barberas remain very good values.  You can find a wine, which will be invariably well-made, usually for under $20 while the Superiores will run a few dollars more but rarely over $30.  These are definitely well worth picking up if you drink wine primarily as accompaniment to dinner, though Superiores, with a generally more rounded taste, can often be enjoyed solo, and so more appealing to non-Italians.  And, the USA is the biggest export market for the wines of Barbera d’Asti, so we are enjoying them in profusion. 

​To paraphrase that boisterous British bard of the pre-millennium, Billy Idol, Moscato d’Asti might be enjoyed best when it’s dancing by itself.  With its bright bubbly character, it does dance.  In the flurry of pairing recommendations that I solicited from winemakers when I was in the Asti area last month, on a trip partly sponsored by the Asti DOCG consortium, one of them told me that Moscato d’Asti is really best as dessert, by itself.  This was somewhat echoed by a writer for Jancis Robinson’s website who spoke at the Asti event.  I confirmed the solo approach last night with a post-prandial glass from a not-the-most-highly-regarded producer that had been sitting in my refrigerator for over a week after opening.  It turned out to be nearly perfect for me in a satiated state about an hour before bed.  The wine was sweet, but not cloyingly so like all Moscato d’Asti’s because of their high acidity, and just what I was in the mood for.  I imagine I will be so in the future, and feel the need to start purchasing Moscato d’Asti on a regular basis.
 
Some of the suggestions for pairing I had heard during the trip: included: cheeses though not aged ones, salami, gorgonzola dolce, even when in a pasta or risotto with pears, possibly with pork with prunes, soy sauce, spicy dishes, Chinese dishes, as the Chinese like the sweetness Moscato.  From the Asti consortium’s website: “it’s canonically paired with…dry pastries…. pastries that are not stuffed with jelly, cream, or custard etc.…. it’s also a great wine for pairing with fresh fruit.” Justin Vann, a proprietor and acclaimed wine guy at Public Services in downtown Houston, told me that Lay’s potato chips, in their especially greasy original form, might be the best match.
 
I tried it with several things when I returned home, including the Lay’s potato chips, which actually did go better with the wine than the raspberries, blueberries, chocolate cookies, raisins, various cheeses, and at least a couple of other dessert-like items, but the Moscato d’Asti was clearly the most enjoyable by its lonesome for me.
 
I recommend giving it a try if you enjoy a little sweetness. Moscato d’Asti has between 120 and 130 grams of sugar per liter.  Lot’s a lot, and more than tawny port or Coca-Cola, which has about 105.  But, again, because of the substantial acidity that most sweet wines, and sweet beverages in general don’t have, Moscato d’Asti can be somewhat refreshing sweet finish.  Based on my recent experience, it can last for at least a week in the refrigerator sealed with something like a Vacu Vin that I used.  Even with its low alcohol content of around 5%, two people might not want to finish a bottle after dinner most nights.  Most nights.

Moscato d'Asti wines after harvest on a cool morning at the end of November.

​I returned from Piedmont earlier this month after a short trip that was sponsored in part by the consortium for the Barbera wines of the Asti and Monferrato regions – their name is more lyrical in Italian, of course, Consorzio Barbera d’Asti e Vini Del Monferrato.  The consortium brought around a hundred writers like myself and other wine professionals from across the globe to highlight some of the changes in their appellations and provide information about their wines.  We received some helpful information and some tasty wines, if not complete clarity.  This is Italy, after all.
 
There is a lot from which to choose among the Barberas and easy to get confused.  Among the DOCs and DOCGs, where the best Barberas are found, there is Barbera d’Asti, Barbera d’Alba, Barbera del Monferrato DOC, Barbera del Monferrato Superiore DOCG, Colli Tortonesi Barbera, Gabiano, Rubino di Cantavenna, Piemonte Barbera, and most recently Nizza. Then there are two versions of Barbera d’Asti: Barbera d’Asti and Superiore, which requires six months of aging in oak and cannot be released until January 1, the year after the harvest.  Superiore are the ones that can age.  Barbera is widely regarded to reach its peak with Barbera d’Asti and Nizza, which is actually a subzone of the Barbera d’Asti area: many, or maybe all, of the Nizza producers also make Barbera d’Asti.  Nizza takes its name from the town of Nizza Monferrato near the heart of its production and is meant in part to obfuscate or sever any connection to the cheap Barberas of yore and possibly be the highest expression of the varietal.  One of the reasons for the high quality of Barbera d’Asti and Nizza is that Barbera gets the best locations in these appellations.  In neighboring Alba, the best vineyard settings go to Nebbiolo for Barolo and Barberesco. 
 
Situated in upper, northwestern Italy, Piedmont is, along with Tuscany, the best region for wine in Italy.  Seventeen of the 74 DOCGs, the highest Italian wine classification, are in Piedmont.  It’s home to the famed wines of Barolo and Barberesco; was once widely known for Asti Spumante, and now Moscato d’Asti.  But, it’s Barbera that’s the most widely planted grape in the region, and it was Barbera that was once “consumed in copious quantities throughout northern Italy” we were told.  That was least until the methanol scandal of 1986 in which Barbera wines tainted with illegal methyl alcohol killed nearly two dozen people and blinded almost twenty more.  The reputation of Barbera – and Italian wines in general – have long since recovered from that criminal malfeasance, and Barbera is better than ever.  It’s always been an excellent food wine, the “favorite wine with pizza” and “terrific with pasta with tomato sauce, spicy foods, bitter greens and hearty dishes” for the authors of the very useful resource, Italian Wine for Dummies.  It’s long been one of my favorite wines with a range of Italian-themed dishes, especially.  Barbera wines have evolved over the past couple of decades and it is now a more serious wine. 
 
Barbera produces wines that are relatively high in acidity – hence well-suited for food – low in tannins and often with flavors of cherry, most prominently, and raspberry, dried herbs and that Italian trait of earthiness or underbrush.  My favorite versions have noticeable fruit to pair with the always-evident acidity that usually caused a sensation in the upper front part of my mouth upon first sip.
 
I really enjoyed the Barberas during the trip.  Well, all but the two wines with the consortium’s label (something I had not seen before, but these wines pursued us at every event).  The wines were all well-made and though certainly made to be consumed, they typically drank well alone.  This something that is fairly recent for Barbera, with its high acidity and sometimes missing fruit.  The basic Barberas from the Asti area – those not labeled Superiore – still exhibit freshness that its long been known for, but these are now medium- and full-bodied wines with a fair amount of alcohol.  Thanks to global warming, it was tough to encounter a Barbera that was not at least 14% alcohol.  Most were 14.5% and 15%.  But, the alcohol in every case was well-integrated.  With the added heft, a reduced acidity from years past due to use of malolactic fermentation, and oak-aging of the Superiore wines, I found that Barbera, Barbera d’Asti in particular, is still a very food friendly wine but with different types of foods than before.  In its Superiore form, it might be able to stand up to steak or other hearty dishes.  This was not the case in the past to my tastes.  But these can be big wines these days.  My recommendations are that the non-Superiore Barberas might match a range of dishes as long as they are not too light or too spicy – it worked very well with fresh pasta with or without white truffles recently – the Superiore for hardier fare and beef and other rich meat dishes.  More eating and drinking needs to be done.  And Barbera won’t set you too far back as you can find most for under $25 and usually well under $20 for the basic Barberas.


At a recent Barbera-supported luncheon in Nizza Monferrato.

​A few years ago I was invited to dinner at the home of one of the city’s top wine professionals who happened to be a very good home cook.  The dinner was great and the array of wines might have been as good or even better.  One of the highlights was a white Hermitage from the cult producer Jean-Louis Chave that was nearly two decades old at the time.  Something that I found interesting, and much more imitable at home, was the pouring of a quality white Bordeaux to start the evening.  Served with canapes, it was more than pleasant, refreshing with its cool temperature and acidity, making it both a welcome aperitif and a fine complement to the light fare to start.
 
With that memory in mind, I recently went to a tasting of the wines of Graves and Pessac-Leognan, a part of Bordeaux, south of the city, that is known for their dry white wines.  It produces much more red, nearly 80% of the total, and is famed for its dessert wines, Sauternes and Barsac, but there are a number of good-value white wines made primarily from Sauvignon Blanc often with Semillon and sometimes a bit of Muscadelle.  These Sauvignon Blanc-based wines from Bordeaux taste unlike than what is popular here – much less fruit-forward, less assertive, and with more evident acidity and often minerality.  The addition of the lemon accents of the Semillon plays a part.  The whites of this area come in a range of different styles, which was evident in this recent tasting.  The wines at the event ranged from $11 to $35 with most under $20.  None of the twenty wines I sampled were great, but most were good and nearly all were enjoyable.  Nothing approached the fantastic, complex and elegant Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2015 ($88) that I sampled at Spec’s 2015 Bordeaux in March that both the Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator gave scores of 96.  A few that I liked included Légende Bordeaux Blanc 2017 ($18), Chateau de Rolland 2017 ($35), Chateau Haut-Reys 2017 ($11), and Chateau Luchy-Halde 2013 ($14). 
 
I asked one of the servers who was from the region how the whites are consumed there, with or as an aperitif.  She said that it mostly with food; fish, chicken, veal, sushi were popular partners.  Oysters, too.  The wines I tasted at the event led me to believe, or confirm my belief, that white Bordeaux, which are almost always medium-bodied at most, works very well, maybe best, for most Americans as an aperitif and with appetizers – like how it was served at that wonderful dinner I had been invited to several years ago.  Served chilled, these pair well with the six-plus months of heat and humidity that we have here.  But, I have enjoyed these with chicken and fish in the past, too.  These white wines of Bordeaux can work well in a number of ways.  

​When I was leaving the tasting from the producers of the Grandi Marchi, an association of the biggest and most well-known family own and run producers stretching much of the length of Italy such as Antinori and Gaja, I asked an acquaintance who is a wine educator if he had been to the newly opened natural wine bar.  He said that he hadn’t, and that natural wines he’s had had never approached the quality of nearly all of the nineteen wines that we had just sampled.  So true, I was quick to respond even as I still keep an open mind to those often wild natural wines.
 
The wines we tasted were surprisingly good from start to finish, one from each producer.  Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised.  But, nursing a slight cold, might palate was a bit dulled and in most tasting I have been to, there are always a few wines or more that I find no more than palatable or made in a style that I don’t enjoy.  There were a few wines that I viewed as no more than palate, or just decent, but a surprising fifteen of the nineteen I thought were excellent, including four that were phenomenal.  It was a terrific tasting, one of the best that I have been to.  Complexity and refinement were two notable characteristics found in most of the wines presented.  The only disappointment was from Alois Lageder, a top producer in the Alto Adige in far northern Italy, that decided to bring an obscure wine from its portfolio, a 100% of the very obscure Manzoni Bianco grape, rather than one of its many acclaimed wines.  I thought that they might have been trying to showcase something not currently distributed here in the hopes of some orders for it.  It certainly wasn’t a poor wine, but not one that showed well to me nor as nearly any other wine they might have brought instead would have.
 
Below are the wines from the tasting that you might want to seek out, especially if cost is of little object.  The first four I thought were exemplary.
 
Antinori Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2013 – $46 – Round, long and beautiful and “a richly refined expression of Sangiovese in Chianti Classico” to accurately quote the Antinori representative.
Donnafugata Ben Rye Passito di Pantelleria 2015 – $47 (375 ml) – This famed dessert wine lived up to its billing with its wonderful and strong aromas and a big, mouth-filling presence and flavors not unlike a nice Sauternes whose high sugar content is balanced with a lot of acidity, helping make this “very powerful wine” a gorgeous one, too.
Gaja Conteisa Barolo 2014 – $270 – Refined, beginning with very enjoyable aromas, a beautiful taste with terrific balance including a paucity of tannins that was a surprise for a Barolo so young, and a terrific wine to drink right now.
Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2015 - $210 – Big, bold, and polished, this 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc blend with well-integrated is a gorgeous expression of a common Bordeaux blend that is something all together different from Bordeaux and more so, the Napa Cabernets.
 
Argiolas Turriga 2014 – $70 – 85% Cannanou that was developed by famed winemaker Giacomo Tachis is had a big aroma, with tannins that nicely fades; a proud flagship for the brand
Carpene Malvoti 1868 Extra Dry Prosecco Superiore – $14 – Balanced with good acidity, and though light was mouth-filling and still very easy to drink
Col d’Orcia Poggio al Vento Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2010 – $125 – Refined, long-lasting and powerful, but with fairly elegant tannins; what you desire from most Brunello Riservas.
Michele Chiarlo Cipressi, Nizza Barbera 2016 – $25 – With prominent acidity as expected with Barbera, it was a very enjoyed wine with less fruit than the others in the tasting, but certainly a very good wine with many foods.
Jermann Vintage Tunnina 2015 – $60 – 25% Chardonnay, 25% Sauvignon Blanc, 23% Ribolla Gialla and 22% Malvasia, aromatic, and almost luscious with the flavors of Chardonnay and Sauvignon taking duty at the first part of the sip while the Malvasia provided a touch of well-matched sweetness at the end
Lungarotti Rubesco Vigna Monticchio Torgiano Rosso Riserva 2011 – $50 – This fairly refined wine made entirely of Sangiovese nicely paired the fruit and acidity of the grape with a proper amount of oak for an excellent result.
Masi Campolongo di Torre Amarone 2011 – $160 – Very dark, rich with prominent dark fruits and tannins, and also noticeable acidity that was not overly rich nor strong for an Amarone, its 16% ABV well hidden by the expertise of the winemakers, and easily drinkable now.
Mastroberadino Radici Taurasi Riserva 2011 – $65 – A refined version of Aglianico that had a lot going on though with tannins only present and the end of the taste and nicely integrated with the rest.  We were told that this will be even much better in five to ten years.
Rivera 2012 Il Falcone Riserva Red – $45 – Mostly from the less known Nero di Troia grape of northern Puglia, this was somewhat aromatic, round and elegant with enough fruit and some tannins
Tasca d’Almerita Rosso del Conte 2014 – $57 – Over 60% Nero d’Avoloa, this wine was long-lasting and balanced with some ripe fruit that was very pleasant.
Umani Ronchi Campo San Giorgio Conero Riserva 2012 – $70 – This 100% Montepulciano was grapey, mouth-filling with ripe tannins that was slightly chewy, but almost elegant, a refined version of the varietal.
 
There is a reason that these wineries sport many of Italy’s most well known labels.  They often make excellent wines.

​As the it was quite warm during a trip to Umbria in June, white wines were very much welcome, especially so since our villa did not have the air conditioning as was advertised.  Thankfully, the white wines of Italy have gotten so much better in the past couple of decades, it’s gotten easy to find a palatable one for a comparative song in much of the country.  And Umbria has been known for years for Orvieto that’s produced around the town in the southern part of the region.  It’s made with at least 40% Grechetto, which gives it most of its character.  About which, the useful Wine Folly website opines about Umbria: “Find yourself an Orvieto, or better yet, a wine made with the region’s star white grape: Grechetto.”
 
We did.  Very nicely, the Chiorri Winery was essentially across the street from the property we were renting and we made good use of the proximity.  Among our first purchases were a couple of 5-liter boxes of Grechetto for the astoundingly low price of €2.10 per liter.  This was a ridiculously low price for a quality wine and a nice expression of the Grechetto grape, made simply with fermentation and a brief amount of aging in stainless steel.  Medium-bodied, dry, and featuring pleasant aromas of tropical fruit, it had a welcome balance of fruit and acidity on the palate and a longer finish than might be expected for something dispensed from a cardboard box.  It was very easy to drink alone, a nice pairing to the heat and humidity, and also complemented most of the lighter fare we had before dinner.  We ended up splurging another $15 or so for five more liters before the week was out.  Even my brother, who usually only drinks whites with fish and other foods when necessary, really enjoyed the Grechetto during our stay in Umbria.
 
What he liked even more was a more serious, and expensive, version from nearby Terre di Margaritelli winey, their Greco di Renabianca, made from 100% Grechetto and seeing some time in French barriques, an unusual treatment for this varietal. Fuller-bodied than the other Grechettos we had, it still had the pleasant fruitiness and good acidity but a deeper and richer flavorful though still balanced.  The oak aging seemed to provide more character than it took from the natural fruit flavors and the acid.  Though it similarly utilized small oak barrels common with many of the New World chardonnays, this wine did not have rich buttery and brioche notes and muted acidity that I find in too many of those.  As I was enjoying in their tasting room, an early thought was how well it would go with roast chicken.  And that it would be an excellent choice for Thanksgiving, too, helping out that inevitably dry turkey meat.  At around €15-20 per bottle, I thought it was a wise purchase – and I should have a few bottles coming my way if the winery every fulfills my order from June.
 
The wines of Chiorri and Terre di Margaritelli are available in a few states, though, unfortunately not yet in Texas.  And Grechetto can be tough to find here.  It’s worth keeping it in mind, though.


A bunch of Grecchetto grapes in Umbria.  By marco valerio - originally posted to Flickr as uva, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4170841

​I was curious what the favorite wine was during our family’s recent trip to Italy.  Over the course of the two and three weeks we were there, a very laudable amount of wine was consumed.  The one that was like the best, at least the wine that garnered the most emphatic response was the Sauvignon Blanc from Venica & Venica Ronco del Cero Collio Sauvignon.  At least I am pretty sure that it was it.  I ordered it at the excellent Michelin-starred restaurant, Parizzi in Parma – looking for a white from the Collio that I thought would be a good match with a dish my sister and brother were ordering – but didn’t drink it as a red that seemed much more appropriate for meat dish.  I missed out on that but had a few whites from the Collio during the trip, and those were each quite tasty. 
 
The Collio is located in the region of Friuli, the most northeastern region in Italy that abuts the Alps and Slovenia.  “This is the finest white-wine area not only in Friuli but in all of Italy.”  That observation about the Collio is from Italian Wine for Dummies, which is actually a very good resource. The mild climate buttressed by the nearby Adriatic and the protective mountains to the north plus hill-laden vineyards atop unique, mineral-rich soil help provide nearly ideal conditions for several white varietals; and, excellent conditions for several red ones, too.
 
The whites from Collio are generally quite rich and fuller-bodied than the typical Italian whites, often with evident minerality and vibrant acidity. The wines are generally very well-made and approachable for most drinkers while having enough verve to excite an expert. Many have the ability to age. These are serious wines, even including the usually forgettable Pinot Grigio. Winemaker Roberto Felluga of Villa Russiz told my wine industry group when I visited several summers ago that his reserve Pinot Grigio “can keep for a minimum of ten years,” something that you certainly should not try with a Pinot Grigio plucked from the supermarket shelf.
 
Though the wineries in Collio and Friuli are prouder of wines made from the native (Tocai) Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, and Malvasia grapes and efforts with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Bianco, it is Pinot Grigio that helps pay the bills. “Pinot Grigio is what changed the economy here” for grape-growers and wine-makers a few decades ago, I was told by a producer. It was famed food and wine writer Luigi Veronelli who recognized the area’s potential for Pinot Grigio. These wines then began to find popularity in markets around the world.
 
So, if Pinot Grigio is a must, look for Collio or Colli Orientali, a neighboring appellation. Otherwise, you are better served with a Ribolla Gialla, Friuliano or Sauvignon. The Friuliano, indigenous to the region, goes especially well with most seafood dishes and Sauvignon has the heft to stand up with a little heartier fare. Eric Asimov in the New York Times has written about the utility and quality of Friuliano from Friuli. There is also excellent Malvasia, Pinot Bianco and a white blend simply titled “Collio,” whose mix of typically three varietals varies by producer that are almost always very good wines.
 
Another nice thing about the whites from Collio and Friuli, unlike the top reds from Tuscany or Piedmont, these will rarely cost more than €40 at a restaurant in Rome and elsewhere in Italy, and most are much less. That is a little more expensive than a bland longtime Roman trattoria staple Frascati, but the additional tariff is certainly worth it. And, you are on vacation, anyway.  Friuli and especially Collio are also names to keep in mind when back at home.  Also, Brda, which is Slovenian for Collio, as the region straddles both sides of the border.  These laudable wines from Slovenia are increasingly being found on wine lists here and in Italy.


Enjoying some delicious white wines at the Zuani winery several years ago in the Collio, with both the Collio and Brda in the background.