MIKE RICCETTI
  • The best of Houston dining
    • Bakeries for bread
    • Banh mi
    • Best Values
    • Breakfast tacos
    • Cajun and Creole
    • Chicken Fried Steak
    • Cocktails
    • Crawfish
    • Downtown Dining
    • EaDo and East End Dining
    • Fajitas
    • French
    • French Fries
    • Fried Chicken
    • Galleria Area Dining
    • Greek
    • Guinness pours
    • Houston-centric
    • Italian
    • Italian-American
    • Japanese
    • Kolaches
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
    • Midtown Dining
    • Montrose Dining
    • Pizzerias
    • Pizza at Non-Pizzerias
    • Raw Bars
    • Rice Village Dining
    • Sandwiches
    • Seafood
    • Splurge-Worthy
    • Steakhouses
    • Sushi
    • To Take Visitors
    • Tex-Mex
    • Thai
    • Tough Tables
    • Wine Bars
    • Wine Lists
  • The margherita pizza project
  • The martini project
  • Musings on Houston Dining
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2022
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2021
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2019
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2018
    • The dozen best Inner Loop values
    • Dining recommendations for visitors to Houston
  • Italian restaurant history
  • Italian & Italian-American
  • Entertaining tips
    • Booze basics
    • Styles of Cheeses
    • Handling Those Disruptive Guests
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Cocktails and Spirits
  • Miscellaneous
  • Blog
  • The best of Houston dining
    • Bakeries for bread
    • Banh mi
    • Best Values
    • Breakfast tacos
    • Cajun and Creole
    • Chicken Fried Steak
    • Cocktails
    • Crawfish
    • Downtown Dining
    • EaDo and East End Dining
    • Fajitas
    • French
    • French Fries
    • Fried Chicken
    • Galleria Area Dining
    • Greek
    • Guinness pours
    • Houston-centric
    • Italian
    • Italian-American
    • Japanese
    • Kolaches
    • Mexican
    • Middle Eastern
    • Midtown Dining
    • Montrose Dining
    • Pizzerias
    • Pizza at Non-Pizzerias
    • Raw Bars
    • Rice Village Dining
    • Sandwiches
    • Seafood
    • Splurge-Worthy
    • Steakhouses
    • Sushi
    • To Take Visitors
    • Tex-Mex
    • Thai
    • Tough Tables
    • Wine Bars
    • Wine Lists
  • The margherita pizza project
  • The martini project
  • Musings on Houston Dining
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2022
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2021
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2019
    • The top 10 new restaurants of 2018
    • The dozen best Inner Loop values
    • Dining recommendations for visitors to Houston
  • Italian restaurant history
  • Italian & Italian-American
  • Entertaining tips
    • Booze basics
    • Styles of Cheeses
    • Handling Those Disruptive Guests
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Cocktails and Spirits
  • Miscellaneous
  • Blog
MIKE RICCETTI

Mostly food and drink...

...and mostly set in Houston

Riesling loves Italy

8/15/2020

0 Comments

 
​There is not a lot of Riesling grown in Italy. For example, in Friuli in the northeast – one of the leading areas for Riesling in the country – it accounts for only 0.16% of the total in the Friuli Grave DOC that makes up most of the region. But, where it grows it can be made into some very good wines.  I’ve had nice ones from Alto Adige, the Langhe in Piedmont and from the Oltrepo Pavese, south of Milan.
 
Italian Rieslings are usually drier and crisper than then benchmark ones, those from Germany or Alsace.  And, for me, the Italian versions have less of the signature flavor of the varietal that is not my favorite, is it beeswax?  Or petroleum (or maybe really kerosene), as I’ve also read?  My long ago work as an operator sampling those tanks in a refinery makes me think it’s beeswax, even if I’m only really familiar with the aromas rather than the flavor of the refined products.
 
An Italian Riesling that I very much liked recently was Aquila del Torre in its only expression of the varietal from Friuli north of the city of Udine and in the foothills of the Julian Alps.  With some citrus on the nose, the first sensation on the tongue was a bit of very nice effervescence from the noticeable acidity then some fruit, mostly lemon, a hint of minerality, some complexity, dryness with its 1 gram of residual sugar per liter, and well-balanced with a decently long finish.  Medium-bodied, it is just 12.5% alcohol, welcome in these days of heat-battered grapes often turning into blockbuster boozers, even whites.  Aquila del Torre Riesling is made with natural yeasts, stainless steel tanks, and is aged for twelve months on the lees, this giving it a slight bit more umph than the usual Riesling.
 
I found it flavorful and easily enjoyable.  It complemented a simply prepared sautéed white fish, though I probably liked it more as an aperitif, even as an aperitivo.
 
The wine is available in the US, at least in California and New York, but it might take some digging to find.  Prices seem to range from about $17 to $25 per bottle, very fair tariffs
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mike Riccetti is a longtime Houston-based food writer and former editor for Zagat, and not incidentally the author of three editions of Houston Dining on the Cheap.

    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All
    Beer
    Cocktails
    Italian
    Margherita Pizzas
    Recipes
    Restaurants
    Wine

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.