Between the cooler regions in the North to the sunny coasts and hot regions of the South, Italy offers an extremely wide range of wine styles. We are starting the flight off this week with a crisp and clean Pinot Grigio from the Northern most region of Italy where the higher altitudes and cool air produces white wines with an amazing freshness and acidity. As we travel down the East Coast to Abruzzo for our first red, we get great balance from the climate. Excellent sunshine to ripen fruit, and cool breezes off the Mediterranean to retain a balanced acidity. The last two reds come from the island of Sicily and Salento in the “heel of the boot.” These more southern regions bring much riper bright fruit flavors.
Explore Italy with a flight for only $5!
Featured Wines:
2017 Chloe Pinot Grigio – Alto Adige, Italy; CLOSE-OUT $8.99! Was $12.99 Save $4!
Hailing from the very cool region of Valdadige in northeastern Italy. Valdadige is the southern most DOC of Alto Adige just north of Veneto. The cool climate produces a very crisp and high acid style of white wines and this baby is no exception. This is the style of Pinot Grigio that I like. Juicy white peach, melon, crisp apple and floral honeysuckle lead to a crisp, refreshing finish with a subtle undertone of Meyer lemon. - $1.00 Sample
2017 La Fiera Montepulciano D'Abruzzo – Abruzzo, Italy; $7.99
Not to be confused with Rosso de Montepulciano in Tuscany where they make wines from Sangiovese. This soft and easy red is made from the grape Montepulciano in the Abruzzo region on the east coast of Italy. Montepullciano makes the perfect everyday Italian red. I believe the sunny region creates ripe, juicy reds that bridge the gap from New World to Old World wines. La Fiera brings almost 100 years of family wine production experience to this amazing value. It is very fruit forward, rich, but soft tannins and good acidity. Structured enough to pair with dinner, but easy enough to just kick back and sip a glass. - $1.00 Sample
2015 Fazio “A Vampa” Nerello Mascalese – Sicily, Italy; $11.99
Fazio winery was established in 1998 by Vincenzo and Girolamo Fazio, the fourth generation of grape growers. They now have more than 250 acres of estate vineyards focusing mainly on traditional varietals to Sicily. The winery prides itself on operating as eco-friendly as possible and recently made a full conversion to solar power.
'A Vampa is a 100% Nerello Mascalese a bright and fruity varietal to the region. Dry with a soft medium body. Cherry driven with a smooth finish. - $1.00 Sample
2016 MaXale Appassimento Primitivo – Puglia, Italy; $16.99
This is an extremely cool production style. Produced from 100% Primitivo also known as Zinfandel the Appassimento style is similar to Ripasso or Amarone. When the grapes are fully ripened they perform a special technique on about half of the vines called “il giro del picciolo” (the twisting of the stem). The act of twisting the stem prevents additional nourishment from reaching the grapes, thus inducing a natural drying of the fruit on the vine. After letting them hang an additional two weeks the grapes have lost 25-30% of their water, greatly concentrating the favor and aroma.
The final wine is exploding with jammy cherry, raspberry and redcurrant flavors. The oak aging also rounds out the wine with a little roasty and spicy finish. Like silk... - $2.00 Sample