A Ligurian Red That Dresses Up--or Down

I'm finishing up with my whirlwind tour of Ligurian wine as part of my ongoing trawl through Italy's wine regions and grape varieties.

Even though I spent more than $20 on this wine ($25.99, to be precise), I'm still pretty pleased with the very good QPR on the 2005 Azienda Agricola Durin Ormeasco di Pornassio. ($25.99, Wine Expo--and I can't seem to find it anywhere else!) This is a classy, distinctive wine that offers up lots of character for the price.

Ormeasco is Ligurian for Dolcetto, I discovered, and one of the things I like best about the grape is that it's a wine that is just as good with pizza and spaghetti with meatballs as it is with grilled beef, roasts, and more elegant fare. It's a dress-me-up, dress-me-down kind of wine. This was a really lovely example of what Dolcetto/Ormeasco is all about. First, Dolcetto is a treat for the nose. There were aromas of licorice (which I love and it can be hard to find in a wine), cherry, fresh green fennel, and blackberry that you had to coax out of the glass at first, but which were worth the wait. I found echoes of all these notes in the flavors, with additional grilled herb nuances emerging in the aftertaste. There are cheaper Dolcettos out there, but they are far simpler than this wine turned out to be.

This wine would be fantastic with dishes that involve rosemary or fennel (to pick up the herbal notes), with meats (chicken, duck, and beef), and with anything that is Mediterranean in its culinary influences.

Pigato: The Briny Grape from Liguria

This month I'm exploring the wines of Liguria, and first up is a fairly pricey bottling of Pigato that I purchased at the Los Angeles Italian wine mecca, Wine Expo.

Ligurian wine--and Pigato in particular--is pretty rare in American wine shops. This is a shame, because Pigato is an intriguing grape, and you once you've tasted it you won't mistake it for something else. The grape has a blotchy, speckled appearance and makes wines that are aromatic and have a distinctive, salty tang to them that reminds me of the seaside.

My Pigato cost $25.99, and for that price I expected it to be memorable. However, I didn't check the vintage (when will I EVER learn to do this, especially with Italian whites, which tend to linger on wine store shelves?) and it turned out that the bottle was from the 2005 vintage and probably two years past peak drinking. You can get a more recent vintage for less money in the market now, and if you can I'd recommend giving this variety a try.

The 2005 Durin Pigato Riviera Ligure di Ponente may be at the end of its life, but it's aging gracefully and still exhibits what I love most about Pigato: the blend of saltiness and citrus that reminds me of a briny preserved lemon. Given its age, the wine was a bit waxy and honeyed in its aromas and flavors, but I still found that combination of lemon pith and saltiness refreshing and it just made it into the good QPR category. However, had the wine been younger and fresher I suspect I would have been more impressed.

Pigato is great with seafood--that's the classic pairing that everyone will mention--but don't underestimate how good it is with pesto. If you've got access to a bumper crop of the herb, whether from your own garden or the farmer's market, whip up some pesto, cook some linguine, toss the two together and chill down your Pigato. The saline tang of the wine is marvelous with the herbaceous salinity of homemade pesto.

My Italian Wine Journey Continues: Liguria

There's been something of a hiatus in my Italian wine ramblings. The last region I visited was Trentino-Alto Adige--and that was in June. Now that I'm back in the land of many wine shops, I can pick up where I left off. My destination for September is the northwestern curve of Italy: Liguria. Located at the knee of Italy's boot, Liguria doesn't grow many grapes or make much wine--which can make bottlings from this region hard to find. (photo of the crates used for collecting grapes in Cinque Terra by Dom Dada)

But they're worth the search. Ligurian winemakers not only make stunning Vermentinos--perhaps the best known of the region's grapes--they also grow less traveled grapes like Albarola, Pigato, and Rossesse. They also have their own names for grapes such as Dolcetto, which the Ligurians call Ormeasco.

And Ligurian wines go well with the flavors of September, which involve farmer's market basil and tomatoes in the beginning of the month, and rosemary and mushrooms towards the end of the month. The ubiquitous Italian green sauce--pesto--originated in the region (or at least that's what everyone in Liguria proudly says), and whites like Vermentino and Pigato pair beautifully with the spicy, salty sauce. (picture of the vineyards of Cinque Terre by Pay No Mind)

So sip along with me this month as I sample a red and a white wine from Liguria. As always, if you've had some good Ligurian wine you can recommend, please leave those suggestions in the comments below.