Muller Thurgau? How Unexpected.

Sometimes, you just don't know what to think of a wine.

When you think "southern Italian white" maybe you think Chardonnay from Sicily. Maybe you think of a more acidic white made to be sipped with seafood fresh from the Mediterranean.

Here's what you're probably not thinking: a blend of Muller Thurgau and Gewurztraminer.

From northern Italy--yes. From Basilicata? No.

Muller Thurgau is one of the "new" grape varieties that was created in the 19th century after phylloxera devastated European grape stocks. It's a cross between Riesling and Silvaner, and as a result it has some of the qualities associated with many wines from Germany and Alsace: good fruit, a flavor profile that can fit anywhere from dry to sweet, and nice acidity. Mix it with some spicy, aromatic Gewurztraminer, and you've got a wine that's big on fruit with a distinctive character.

The only analogy I can make to the 2005 Re Manfredi is that its not unlike a dry Sauternes. ($16.99, Biondivino; between $16 and $28 from other merchants) Made from grapes grown on Monte Vulture, Basilicata's famously extinct volcano, the vines are tucked in around more widely populated Aglianico vines that produce the region's distinctive red wines. The Muller Thurgau seems to like the volcanic soil, and the warm temperatures and marine influence help to shape a wine that smelled deliciously of cocounut, pineapple, and spice. When you sipped the wine, you were bowled over by tropical fruit flavors that had a lot of acidity (so think starfruit, pineapple, and slightly under-ripe papaya). There was a juicy, pineapple-inflected finish and notes of stone and iron. Unlike Sauternes, this wine is medium-bodied so it's not as mouth-coating, nor is it as sweet. If you serve it straight from the fridge the sweetness is actually emphasized, so I would recommend letting this wine come up a bit in temperature so that you can really enjoy the aromas and flavors.

As you can imagine, this wine is a honey with spicy food--and would be especially delicious with Indian food, since its medium body would stand up to dishes made with coconut milk (like South Indian curries). We enjoyed it with some homemade Kung Po Chicken that really went well with the tropical fruit flavors. And the spice in the dish was very nice with the spicy notes that the Gewurztraminer brings to the wine.

No matter how much you know about wine, there's always a surprise around the corner. And I love when a bottle of wine's flavors are unexpected--in a good way.

All Aboard for Basilicata in September

On the instep of the boot of Italy there is a region with two stretches of coastline, lots of mountains, and a history of habitation that stretches past the Romans, through the Greeks, and into the depths of the Paleolithic period. It's a forbidding landscape, with craggy peaks and rough seas punctuated by more tranquil harbors that are not for the faint of heart. (photo of Maratea's coastline by mozzercork)

The people of the region are known for two things--their deep faith (they've had more earthquakes in this region than in most, so that faith has been tested), and their ability to resist the attempts of their more powerful neighbors, pirates, and invaders from the sea. In the 18th century, a bandit named Angelo Duca lived in the hills of Basilicata, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor and earning himself the heroic reputation of an Italian Robin Hood.

As regular readers know, I'm drinking my way around Italy this year, hitting all the regions I can before 2009. It's already clear to me I'm going to want to continue discovering great Italian wine next year, and finish up with the remaining 9 or 10 that I won't get to in 2008. (photo "Flowers on Second Floor" by kirtaph).

This month I'll be drinking some of Basilicata's wines to see if they have the same rugged individualism as the land and the people. Basilicata has no indigenous grapes. The Greeks brought over Aglianico--a corruption of Hellenico in the local dialect--and began planting it around Mount Vulture. It spread from there throughout the region, and today Mount Vulture remains a center for viticulture in the region.

I've got a red (with Aglianico in it, of course) and a white (wait until I tell you about that--it's made from varieties that may surprise you). As I learn more about the wines of Basilicata, I'm struck by the range they represent from the simple and unpretentious to the elegant and quirky. ("Wine is a Cultural Product," by jntolva. You can read about John's trip to his ancestral homeland of Basilicata on his blog--it's a terrific story, full of the wine, food, places, and people of the region).

This is my first foray into the wines of Basilicata, so if you have any tips to help me and others on this journey of discovery, please leave them in the comments below.