A Featured Beer Basket Article

I Love French Wine and Food - Reviewing The Whites

I recently finished a wine tour of Italy?s twenty administrative regions, briefly describing each region prior to tasting a representative wine with food, and at least one imported Italian cheese. I enjoyed the experience so much that I plan to repeat it, but only after doing something similar for France and perhaps a few other countries. I am happy enough with Italian wine to continue to drink it for the rest of my days, but there are other wine-producing countries out there, and other wines to drink. I am going to give you a bit of a report on the white wines I encountered on this wine tour, but only after a quick summary of Italian white wines, as if such an endeavor was possible. Look for a similar article on Italian red wines.

You wouldn?t be alone if you immediately think red when the subject of Italian wine is raised. In spite of extreme variations in climate, soil, elevation, and other geographical conditions, every single one of Italy?s twenty regions produces white wine. Of course the percentage varies widely from 84% in the central region of Latium to 9% in the southern region of Calabria. Many of the best-known Italian white wines come from northern Italy.

But the reality of Italy wine is more complex than first meets the eye. Who would have thought that Sicily, a southern Italian region if ever there was one, produces almost as much white wine as red wine. Considering that Sicily holds first place for Italian wine production that?s a lot of white wine. In fact, Sicily?s annual white wine production is greater than the total wine production of all but five Italian regions. Not all of it is good. But not all of it is bad, and in fact some Sicilian white wine is excellent.

In chronological order we tasted a white wine from the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, the central region of Umbria, the southern region of Campagnia, the central region of Molise, the northern region of Friuli-Venezia Giuli, the southern region of Sicily, the northern region of Veneto, and finally the northern region of Tuscany while describing its neighboring region of Liguria. I was unable to find a Ligurian wine.

These eight wines varied in classification from basically unclassified table wines to IGT, DOC, and DOCG. In short all Italian wine classifications were represented. IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which may be translated as Typical Geographic Indication, in other words a wine that typifies its specific location. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin. DOCG stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Guarantita, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin.

The wines varied in price from $6 (actually $8 for a one-liter bottle) to $20. Interestingly enough they all contained from 12% to 12.5% alcohol. They were all 2004 or 2005 vintages. In contrast, the grapes used varied widely, including both international and strictly Italian varieties. Some wines included multiple grape varieties, others did not. And now for the question that you?ve been waiting for, what about the quality, and in particular the quality as a function of price? That too varied widely, there were both positive and negative surprises. We overpaid and there were definitely some bargains. Which was which? Read the articles.

Thoughts about Beer Basket

I Love French Wine and Food - Reviewing The Whites


I recently finished a wine tour of Italy?s twenty administrative regions, briefly describing each region prior to tasting a representative wine with f...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Recommended Beer Basket Items

The FTD The Living Cross Easel - Deluxe


This cross shaped arrangement is designed with moss and accented with deeply colored roses, mini calla lilies and branches. Delivered on an easel and appropriate to send to a funeral home or service. S22-3553D


Price: 144.99 USD



Headlines on Beer Basket

Passito Wine - Appassimento and Recioto

Mon, 19 May 2008 13:48:59 PDT
Could you tell me what appassimento, recioto and passito stand for? I recall that passito of them is a type of wine but I’m confused about how they are all related. Thank you!! - Shelly in Toronto, CanadaYou are correct! Passito wines are a full flavored and very complex bodied wines made from partially withered grapes. This is where you get...

15 Interesting Facts About Wine

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:31:24 PDT
Although red wine can only be produced from red grapes, white wine can be produced from both red and white grapes. There are some 20 million acres of grapes planted across the world; grapes are ranked as the world’s number one fruit crop thanks to this number.

Wine Grape Growers Wrestle with Need to Plant

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:26:22 PDT
With increasing anecdotal and numeric evidence for selective shortages of grapes, many growers are starting to talk about planting again after a five-year hiatus. Among the facts: nonbearing acres in most prime grapegrowing areas are at 5% below sustainability.

Wine By Design: Label's Look Colors Grape's Flavor

Wed, 21 May 2008 12:10:14 PDT
Psychologists could have a field day with the labels, which are designed to make a fast impression on the casual buyer. More than 4,800 vineyards in the United States compete for the discretionary dollar, so packaging must be both visual and subliminal - honing in on personalities, genders, age groups and lifestyles.


Nancy Wine
Make Wine
Best Wine | Blueberry Wine

Labels: Muscat Blanc | Muscat Grape

&type=page">