Sips: For Super Bowl Sunday and beyond, bring out the Prosecco

At last week’s Vino 2011 trade event here in New York, during a review of Italian wine in this country, the subject of sparkling wine was put into blunt context by Leonardo LoCascio, president of Winebow, a leading importer. “I don’t think we have a sparkling wine story,” he declared at a press conference. “We have a Prosecco story.” He was referring, of course, to the highly popular sparkling wine from the Veneto region, which has enjoyed enviable and singular success among non-Champagne contenders for a major piece of the budget bubbly market in recent years. I, for one, intend to have a few bottles on hand as I watch the Super Bowl with friends on Sunday night.

But a typical bottle of Prosecco, unpretentious and affordable, doesn’t need an excuse to be opened, as I reminded myself the other night when I felt like something light and refreshing before dinner. So I pulled out a bottle of  Canella’s Prosecco Brut from the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, where it was sitting among several other sparklers of various pedigrees. Very dry with fine bubbles, it had apple and muted herb and citrus notes and was all but effortless to drink, even more so given a price tag of $15 or so. And with half a bottle left that evening, it also held up just fine in the fridge with a miscellaneous cork stuck back in the bottle until the next night, when I brought it out for an encore. Think of Prosecco as a go-to sparkler for just about any occasion, including  Valentine’s Day.

There are, of course, many other Italian sparkling wines at various price points, including sparkling Gavi, Moscato d’Asti, sweet and dry red Lambruscos, the higher-end Franciacorta and others. Unfortunately, they are minor players in the American market. Leonardo LoCasio said that higher-priced bubbly doesn’t do very because “on a special occasion people want to go safe.” In other words, he said, they want Champagne. Fortunately, for most other occasions, there is Prosecco. Canella’s Prosecco Brut imported by Empson (U.S.A.), Alexandria, Virginia. Received as a press sample.

Technorati Tags: Leonardo Lo Cascio,Winebow,Prosecco,Canella Prosecco,Vino 2011,Edwad Deitch,Italian sparkling wines,Sparkling Gavi,Sparkling Lambrusco,Moscato d'Asti,Franciacorta

SWIRLS: Vino 2011 -- “totally insane” Italian appellations, retro wine, Robert Parker

Here in New York, this week’s Vino 2011 Italian Wine Week opened today with some perspectives on Italian wine and other aspects of the wine business from a panel of industry leaders. Here are some of the more interesting observations and comments.

From Leonardo Lo Cascio, Chairman and Founder, Winebow, Inc.

-- “In the sweet retail spot of $25 and under there is not another country that comes close to Italy” for American wine drinkers.

-- On Italian sparkling wines: “I don’t think we have an Italian sparkling wine story, we have a Prosecco story.” Beyond the great success of Prosecco, Italian sparklers “don’t do very well because they are priced like Champagne” and on a special occasion “people want to go safe” with Champagne.

-- On Italy’s wine laws: “Most Italian wine laws are totally irrelevant to the American consumer. People can’t make their way around DOCs or DOCGs. The  whole thing needs to be simplified and made easier. We have some appellations that are totally insane.” Example he cited: Colli Morenici e Mantovani del Garda. “There are 280 of those appellations.”

From Cristina Mariani May, Co-CEO, Banfi Vintners:

-- There is increasing interest among consumers in regional wines from Italy,  and there is a fallback to “retro wines” such as dry Lambruscos, Soaves, Amarones and Frascatis. “What is old is really new again but new in a better style, a purer style.”

-- More and more Italian producers are using natural  growing methods, even if they are not going through the cumbersome process of becoming certified organic.

From Tyler Colman, editor of Dr. Vino.com:

-- On wine journalism and criticism: The traditional model of “handing down points from Manna in Heaven is running out of gas.” Young people, thirsty for wine knowledge, are largely getting it from their friends and passionate retailers. As for wine information on the Web: “It’s a bull market for free content. If you’re giving it away for free on the Internet, people will come and read your content.” He noted that there are four million “core wine consumers” on Twitter alone.

-- Robert Parker won’t be replaced and there will be “a lot more voices” in terms of influential wine writers.

-- On barriers to increasing Italian wine sales even further:  1)more education will be needed because of the great diversity of Italian wines;  2) “The retail channel, I think it’s fair to say, is blocked” because of this country’s still-restrictive wine shipping laws.

Technorati Tags: Vino 2011,Tyler Colman,Dr. Vino,Winebow,Leonardo Lo Cascio,Cristina Mariani May,Banfi Vintners,Castello Banfi,Edward Deitch,Italian wines,Prosecco,Robert Parker

Valentine’s Day: a “sinfully delicious” red for chocolate

“Sinfully delicious” is usually a term we reserve for chocolate, but it’s a wine from Italy that’s making me think of it tonight.  It’s the  Lambrusco Grasparossa from Medici Ermete’s Le Tenute Bocciolo, a sweet (but not too sweet) slightly sparkling wine that will  be an absolutely gorgeous match for dark chocolate cake this Valentine’s Day. The wine is from the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy’s north, specifically the Colli di Scandiano e di Canossa zone between Parma and Modena.

This deep red wine is a true quaffer, a sublime, low-alcohol (7.5 percent) grape drink that brings to mind Welch’s on a very basic level but that offers beguiling sweet blackberry, plum, earth and subtle herbal notes. The finish is actually dry and slightly tannic. The current vintage is 2007, which you’ll find stamped on the very bottom of the back label. Once opened, make sure you pour yourself a healthy glass of this because you’ll find others gulping it down. The suggested price, $20, makes it a steal. This one gives the largely out-of-fashion Lambrusco a good name and, beyond chocolate, I can easily see it with prosciuttos and and salamis. Imported by JK Imports, Pasadena, California. (Received as a press sample.)