I just picked up the September 2007 issue of Food and Wine Magazine, and it is a must buy if you are interested in Italian wine and the food that goes with it. If you aren't a subscriber you should try to pick it up when you go grocery shopping next time, as nearly every recipe and wine mentioned had me running for a pen and paper to copy down the ingredients, or to jot down the name for my next wine shopping spree.There are some great features in this month's issue for winelovers. First, for bargain hunters like you and I, Ray Isle rounds up the 25 Best Italian Wines Under $25, including the 2005 Fattoria le Pupille Morellina di Scansano ($19) and the 2005 Feudo Arancio Nero d'Avola ($9). Both of these wines are excellent values, and use varietals that are native to Italy. Ray Isle also selects six budget-friendly barberas to go with some mouth-watering recipes. For varietal fanatics (I fit in that cateogory) there is an A-Z primer of Italian wine grapes that is a superb overview of the wide range of drinking options. There's a lot more than sangiovese to sample, that's for sure, like fiano and aglianico. Lettie Teague explores whether Barolo is all that it's cracked up to be--especially the new "modern" style wines. And Chang-Rae Lee remembers a very special Italian wine that she'd swap her best brunellos for if given the chance.
I've hot-linked the highlights here, but there are loads of food and wine pairings that steer you to even more Italian wine finds so do pick up a copy and get cooking, sipping, and enjoying all that Italy has to offer. I don't know as much about Italian wine as I'd like to, and the September 07 issue has inspired me to learn more.
4 comments:
This is nice to hear. People have not been buying Italian wine from us, except for the Terre di Tufi. I haven't been able to figure out why.
Perhaps the change of seasons, and this issue with what looks like many, many good articles, will help people gain more interest?
I enjoyed this issue as well and thought there were many interesting articles.
As I mentioned on my own site, a recent report states that U.S. consumption of Italian wines rose 6.7% in 2006. Italian wines occupy 29.3% of all U.S. imported wines. So, there are plenty of Italian wine drinkers in the U.S.
This weekend, I am collaborating with a local wine store on a wine education class on Italian red wines. Italian wines are popular in my area.
Italian wine is a challenge, Jill. I think the varietals are more unfamiliar than French wine, and they can be so expensive. But exposure to this information should help.
Interesting statistic, Richard. I'm surprised that the Italian import number is so high, but I wonder how much of it is pretty uninspiring versions of pinot grigio?
There is definitely a high proportion of uninspiring Italian wines in that stat. Cavit is the #1 Italian import at 3 million cases (a rise of +13.2%).
It definitely helps to educate the consumer though. The plethora of potential Italian wines can be disconcerting.
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