wine with a hint of orange. On the nose, strawberry, cranberry, and Bing cherry aromas are melded with attractive spice and cedar notes. The palate is full of ripe red berry fruit, violet, and rose petal flavors. Medium bodied and very smooth with fine tannins and a long, balanced finish. Truly a baby Barbaresco. Serve with lamb, beef tenderloin, mushrooms, game or cheese – especially Fontina. Drink now to 2010.
Beef, Game, Lamb, Mushrooms, Washed Rind Cheese
Ca' Del Baio in Barbaresco has been run by the Grasso family since 1880. Their winery is located near Alba and they are fortunate to own land in some of the best vineyards of Barbaresco: Asili in the commune of Barbaresco, Valgrande in the commune of Trieso, and Marcarini also in the commune of Trieso. It is hard to find consistently good Barbaresco at reasonable prices, but their wines have impressed us a lot. They have very low yields and produce wines that are very elegant with aromatic intensity. The winery is a blend of technology and tradition, boasting modern termperature-controlled tanks for winemaking, and traditional oak casks and barrels for ageing. Every member of the latest generation of the Grasso family is enthusiastically involved in some facet of the winery’s operation. The current patriarch, Giulio Grasso, has built a reputation for great Barbarescos, but his Barberas and Dolcettos are also consistently excellent. This is definitely a winery to watch since each succeeding vintage earns more praise in the Italian press.
Overview Greek settlers first planted vineyards in Italy sometime around 800BC. Since then, wine has been entrenched in the Italian culture, ‘as common as water on the dinner table’. Most of the topography in Italy, about four fifths, is perfect for growing grapes, because of the hilly and mountainous features. These features helped Italy produce 20% of the worlds wine in the nineties (580 million hectoliters).
Italy greatly varies in topography, climate and culture from North to South and the styles of wine reflect these differences:
In the North, the Appennines Mountains and the lakes of Como, Garda and Maggiore work together to moderate the cool winters and hot summers and prolong the grapes’ growing season.
The Northeast is best known for the Nebbiolo grape, considered to produce the finest of Italian wines. The concentration of fruit, high tannin and acidity combine to produce a long-ageing wine with incredible depth and character.
The cool Northwest is better known for its white wines. Pinot Grigio is by far the most famous white wine in Italy, known for its crisp acidity and subtle fruit character.
Central Italy is renowned area for Chianti, a medium bodied, fruity and acidic red wine from the Sangiovese grape. The Southern area is much hotter and Mediterranean in character. Here, the wines are less tannic and lighter bodied in style, to better accompany the lighter cuisines of the area.
Recently Italy has experienced a rebirth in quality wines. Years ago the wine flowed like water and was equally flimsy and thin, but that is no longer the case. Throughout the twenty regions of Italy, more and more quality whites and reds can be found from places like Piedmont, Tuscany and Friuli. The category given out prestigious of wines in Italy is known as the DOC and DOCG. DOC stands for denominazione di origine controllata and DOCG stands for denominazione di orginie controllata e grarantita. These are guarantees of authenticity and quality that can be found on the label of the highest quality Italian wines from selected vineyards or regions.
(hide)
