Sips: More on the Super Bowl food and wine showdown

At least one of my NBC colleagues shook his head when I told him I was preparing a story on wines that would work well at a Super Bowl party with all its varied food possibilities. Like many, he's a beer man when it comes to the big game. But for those of you wondering about wines to serve with a Super Bowl spread, I have some suggestions, plus those of some of my wine friends, in my latest Weekend Wines post on the Bites blog of MSNBC.com. Beyond that, Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg, authors of the new "Food Lover's Guide to Wine" and other books, offered me some of their suggestions.

They write: "For Super Bowl parties, we're all about the flexibility of bubbles for their food-pairing prowess, and all about whites so you don't have to worry if your friends spill on your couch (or you spill on theirs!) during a dramatic moment in the game -- so a good Prosecco would probably be our first choice (even though we also love good cava, we just got back from Italy!)."

Their choice for a red? "In honor of Andrew's hometown team (the 49ers, which was one good kick away from this year's Super Bowl), he'd pour a lighter-bodied, fruity California Zinfandel with the vegetarian chili he's hoping to get around to making."

And their recommendations for some of the most popular Super Bowl fare:

"Chicken wings: sparkling wine; or riesling, syrah/shiraz or zinfandel.

Chili: Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, syrah/shiraz or zinfandel.

Guacamole: Champagne, unoaked chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, torrontes.

Nachos: sparkling wine, torrontes (with white meat), zinfandel (with red meat).

Pizza (pepperoni or sausage): barbera, Chianti, lighter-bodied zinfandel.

Popcorn: Champagne or other sparkling wine.

Fudge brownies and chocolate chip cookies: Banyuls, port or Pedro Ximenez sherry."

Thank you, Karen and Andrew.

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

Sips: more great rosés for summer

As promised, I am following up with a couple of more rosés that have impressed me in recent days. From California’s Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma, the 2009 vintage of Quivira’s Grenache Rosé “Wine Creek Ranch” continues the footsteps of the  impressive ‘08. This is one of the more interesting rosés I’ve tasted this season, notable for its complexity and its welcome $15 price. Copper in color, it has tastes of ripe raspberry, pomegranate and tea with a good deal of spice, herbs and flowers in the mix. I enjoyed it with a quickly made salad of cold leftover leg of lamb, feta cheese, lettuce and arugula tossed with some olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. The blend is 90 percent grenache and 10 percent mourvèdre. Alcohol is listed at 13.8 percent. (Received as a press sample.)

On the other side of the rosé spectrum, from Italy’s Veneto region, is Riondo’s Pink Prosecco Raboso, an $11 bargain that’s lighter than air but a surprisingly good partner to guacamole and salsa, which I discovered when friends served it before dinner the other night. Lively and effortless to drink, it’s lightly sparkling with raspberry  notes and some herbs on the dry finish. And, with 10.5 percent alcohol, you’ll want to pack at least a couple of bottles for your summer picnic. It really is pink, by the way, and I also wouldn’t rule it out with a piece of chocolate cake. Imported by Riondo USA.

del.icio.us Tags: Quivira,Quivira Grenache Rosé,Dry Creek Valley,Grenache,Rosé,Summer Rosés,Riondo Pink Prosecco,Italian sparkling wines,Riondo,Prosecco,Veneto,Edward Deitch