Abruzzo Mistaken Wine Identity, Case #2: Montepulciano

As I said before, Abruzzo wines can be victims of mistaken identity. Last time it was a grape and a cheese--this time it's a grape and a wine-growing region. In the Montepulciano region of Tuscany people make wine from the Sangiovese grape that earns the designation "Vino Nobile de Montepulciano." In Abruzzo, they use the Montepulciano grape to make a red wine that is deep, dark, and delicious. It's often a bargain, too, and it's very easy to find in most areas of the country.

Despite the large number of highly affordable Montepulcianos out in the market, my local grocery store here on the coast had only one example of the grape, and it was pretty expensive. The wine was made by Nicodemi, and comes from the relatively new DOCG (Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita): Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane. Carved out of the larger Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC, this new designation is set aside for wines from selected fruit grown in a particular region that is thought to produce superior grapes.

While most Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is rustic pizza and trattoria wine, the wine that I had was an elegant bottling that could go on the table for a special dinner. The 2004 Nicodemi Montepulciano Notari had a dark, intense plummy color that is very characteristic of the grape. ($25.64 in the local grocery; you can get it online from Empire Wines for just under $30) There were pure aromas of blackberry and I also smelled nectarines, which is not something that I expect from the average red wine. There were some herbal nuances as well, which became more focused when I sipped it and turned into eucalyptus. That eucalyptus taste was paired with rich blackberry and fig fruit flavors. The wine felt very smooth and silky in your mouth, and the herbal finish was juicy and pleasant and reminded me a little bit of black tea. I liked this wine a lot, and it showed me that there is a lot more to Montepulciano than you see in the lower price bottlings. Though it was a good QPR wine because of its abundant varietal character, I think I'll be sticking to the more affordable, rustic versions of the wine that I can have with my Friday night pizza.

Oh, I forgot to tell you what we we ate with the wine. I made a pollo all'Abruzzese, which is the Abruzzo version of Chicken Cacciatore. I loved the recipe, which involved browning some chicken, throwing in some aromatic onion, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, and red pepper flakes, and then topping it all off with tomatoes, basil, and freshly roasted yellow peppers. I was scrumptious with the wine, and the texture of the dish--with its silky tomatoes, peppers, and olive oil--really emphasized the elegance and silkiness of the wine. Because of all the herbal notes in the wine, there was no clash with the tomatoes, either.

I've had three wines from Abruzzo this month, and the word that I will associate with all of them is "richness." Whether a white, a red, or a rose, the wines had an intensity of flavor and an opulence that will keep me asking "what's new from Abruzzo?" when I go to the wine store.

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Wine Blogging Wednesday News

There's news on the Wine Blogging Wednesday front. The summary for WBW #47 has been posted, and the theme for WBW #48 has been announced.

First, Erin and Michelle from the blog Grape Juice did a simply stupendous roundup of all the wines tasted in Wine Blogging Wednesday #47. The Sesame Street-inspired theme was "brought to you by the letter S" and it brought out all the silliness and creativity of the wine blogging community. Head over there for a sense of what transpired. Sammy the Snake is smiling somewhere at the event's success.

Second, Lenn Thompson from Lenndevours is hosting his own 4th anniversary edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday in August. The theme is "back to your roots" and Lenn is asking us to pick a wine from our early days and drink it again. On August 13, review the wine on your blog, send Lenn an email, and consider yourself a participant in Wine Blogging Wednesday before it enters its fifth year. If you want full details, check out Lenn's post here.

Do they still make Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers?

Checking up on Bonny Doon's Journey into Biodynamics

I've written before on the site about Randall Grahm's efforts to take the sprawling and eclectic wine enterprise that is Bonny Doon and turn it into a much smaller and focused operation devoted to biodynamic farming and exploring the potential of far fewer grape varieties. In my tastes of the results so far, this transformation has led to some very interesting and pleasant white wines. The reds are still a work in progress in my opinion, but the white wines are distinctive, fun, and out of the ordinary.

The latest Bonny Doon wine that I tried was the 2007 Bonny Doon Vineyard Albariño, a very tasty wine that was made using biodynamic protocols. ($17.00 in a wine club shipment; expect to pay $18-$22 through merchants near you. It's also available for $20 through the Bonny Doon website). The pale straw-colored wine had strong and unmistakable aromas of honeysuckle when you first unscrewed the cap. We have a Meyer lemon tree in the back yard, and the flavors reminded me of the slightly richer and sweeter flavors of those lemons with a bit of sea salt adding a note of interest. As you sipped the wine, it left a slightly bitter and intense flavor of grapefruit oil which made your mouth water for more. I liked this wines intensity and its trueness to the variety--in a supercharged, Californian way. Even though it was very good, I can only give it a good QPR designation because of the price. There are a lot of very good Spanish wines made with this grape that are less expensive. Still, if you like zesty, intense Albariños this is well worth checking out.

This Albariño would be excellent with fish or chicken tacos/fajitas, or with a Spanish dish like paella. We tried it with both of those options, and I was hard pressed to pick a winner. In the case of the chicken fajitas we had, the lime that was squeezed on the meat and vegetables paired very nicely with the Meyer lemon and grapefruit notes in the wine. With the paella, which we made with chicken, rosemary, shrimp, artichokes, sausage, and peas, the wine was flexible enough to pair with the many textures and flavors of the dish. And its freshness handled the rich saffron flavors of paella just beautifully. If you'd like to try to make a somewhat less time-intensive version of the famous Spanish rice dish, you can check out this recipe, but DO NOT follow the final cooking instructions--they don't work and you will have uncooked rice 45 minute after the dish is supposed to be done. Instead, follow the recipe up until you bring the pan of goodies to a boil after adding the stock. Then let it simmer, uncovered and without stirring, for 7 minutes. It will still be soupy at this point. Transfer the pan into an oven preheated to 400 or 425 degrees, being sure to cover the handle with foil if it's plastic. Cook it there for a further 15 minutes. You can sprinkle some more stock over the pan if the mixture seems too dry (check 5-7 minutes after you first put the pan in the oven.) Remove the pan, cover it with foil, and let it stand on the counter for 10 minutes. Uncover the pan and let stand for another 5 minutes. Even if you don't have a traditional paella pan, this method yields good results and you should get some of the coveted crustiness and caramelization on the bottom of the rice.

I'd be interested to hear what those of you who are drinking more recent vintages of Bonny Doon think about Grahm's efforts so far. And if you're drinking new vintages of the Pacific Rim or "Big House" wines, I'd love to know how those are faring too, since they are no longer made by Grahm.

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Today on Serious Grape: A Loaf of Bread, a Jug of Wine

I'm in the Napa Valley for a few days, visiting wineries and sampling wines and participating in the 2008 Robert Mondavi Taste3 conference at Copia. There I should hear prognostications from some of the leading lights in food and wine regarding where they think we're heading in the future in terms of sustainability, food culture, and of course good taste. (picture of the Taste3 conference between sessions, taken this morning)

Please accept my apologies for slow responses to comments this week and for the lack of a proper post here today. I'll have a lot to say in the upcoming weeks about what I'm learning here, both about food and wine and about the flavors and textures of the Napa Valley.

But there is a post waiting for you today over on Serious Grape, my column on Serious Eats. In a follow up to last week's post on Fino Sherry, I'm taking a closer look at how Sherry is made. Turns out, it has a lot in common with sourdough bread. If you're curious about the connections between a loaf of bread and a jug of Sherry, head over there and check it out.

An Italian Rosé--Perfect for Summer

I probably shouldn't admit this in polite, wine-loving society but my records indicate that this is the first Italian rosé I've ever had that didn't have bubbles in it. I'm not sure how it happened, but you need to take this whole post with a grain of salt because I'm going to give you pronouncements in it that are based on my first experience with this kind of wine.

If this is Italian rosé, it's certainly not like rosé that I've had from France, and it even makes Spanish rosé seem pale in comparison. This was more like drinking a very light Gamay from the Beaujolais--which was unexpected, but turned out to be kind of fun in the food and wine department.

The 2007 Torre dei Beati Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo was a rich, throaty, and full-bodied rosé wine. ($16, Biondivino; available elsewhere for between $12 and $19) Made with the Montepulciano grape, it was a very dark rose in color, and had a slight bit spritz when it was first opened up. The spritziness disappeared, and there were pronounced strawberry-rhubarb aromas and some wet stone. The strawberry-rhubarb aromas turned to pure raspberry flavors as you sipped it, and there was a surprisingly long, juicy aftertaste that I don't often get with rosé wines. The overall impression was dry, despite all that fruitiness. The wine costs more than many rosés in the market, but it was delicious and did have the deep color and richness (albeit in rosé form) of the Montepulciano grape. I consider it a good QPR wine because is retained so much varietal character, and I think you would too so long as you weren't expecting a salmon-colored Tavel to go with your salad.

Instead, think of robust fare, like grilled sausages or try it with our dish that night: pasta amatriciana. I did some reading about pasta amatriciana, and it turns out that even though the dish is associated with Rome, it originated in Abruzzo where the grapes for this wine were grown. For those of you who haven't had it before, you make a spicy sauce with garlic and/0r onions, white wine, tomatoes, hot red peppers, and guanciale or pancetta and it's traditionally served on the hollow spaghetti strands known as bucatini. I couldn't get pancetta for love nor money on the Mendonoma coast (and guanciale? no to that, as well), so I used center cut bacon which I know isn't authentic but it was delicious. If you'd like to try the recipe, you can use Vic's recipe that he modified from Marcella Hazan. The rosé's chilly fruitiness was terrific with the red pepper, and the raspberry flavors didn't overwhelm or clash with the tomatoes but were a nice counterpoint to the smoked meat.

I discovered this rosé searching for wines from Abruzzo to sample this month. I'm hoping the regions I have yet to drink my way through have some more rosés in store for me. If you've got a favorite Italian rosé let me know, because I really would like to have some more before summer is over.

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