Italian Pinot Grigio - Villa Chiopris

I have always loved how crisp and acidic and refreshing Italian Pinot Grigio`s tend to be but I never really thought all that much about it when I worked as a server. It was one of those wines you just order after work because it`s nice and it works for any occasion on the patio (or off the patio for that matter).
Italian Pinot Grigio's generally come from North Eastern Italy where the climate can be a little chilly thanks to the altitude form the mountains and it's proximity to Austria and Slovenia as you move north and east respectively. These conditions are perfect for making a wine that's very acidic, and full of green fruit and citrus.

I had a small taste of the wine I'm going to tell you about today - Villa Chiopris Pinot Grigio - several months ago when it was being served at a function I was working and I thought it was pretty nice. I also thought it was well worth the $30/bottle the host was paying. When I started working in a wine store, I realized this bottle actually sells for $18-$19. An even better value for the taste it provides.
Since it's so nice out, I decided to retry this wine and test out it's abilities to refresh on a summer's day. Unfortunately it's not quite as good as I remember it, but I think that might have been partly due to the different circumstances in which I tried this wine. It is, as I remembered, crisp with good minerality, strong green fruit notes like green apple and lime and a pleasant mouthfeel that's not too rich but not too thin.
While I think it's a wine best enjoyed with food, it's also not too bad on it's own. Although it might be what some people call a little too 'sour' on the palate due to the high acidity, citrus and green apple so common of these wines.

Another great thing about Italian Pinot Grigio's is that they are easy to find in our market at a relatively inexpensive price point. $15-$25 on average with a quality that's pretty stable across the board.

Enjoy!!

A visit to Batasiolo in Piedmonte Italy; one red, one white! (#5)

I really don't know how but even though Italian wines are as Famous as French ones, Italy definately surpases France in making some of the greatest inexpensive wines from local and international varieties. When I think Italian wines I always think about how great a nice crisp and refreshing Italian Pinot Grigio can be on a hot summer's day when you're just enjoying the weather and sitting on a patio. Of course there's also Valpolicella, one of the most famous and widely drunk reds among my peers. Refreshing and inexpensive, it's a great wine for almost every occasion. And of course we can't forget Chianti. While some of these wines tend to run a little out of my budget, Chianti makes some awesome stuff that sells for under $20 here in Canada.

Today however I won't be talking about any of these wines. Instead we'll be visiting another area of Italy; Piedmonte in the northwest part of the country, nicely located at the foot of the Alps. This area is quite well known for it's wines. From here you can find Asti (Muscat wines like the sparkling wine I reviewed in my last post) or the prestigious Barolo and Barbaresco wines.

My first wine is the 2008 Sunsi, Langhe doc Bianco by Beni di Batasiolo. This Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc blend has grapes coming from vineyards located in the Langhe Albese which is situated at something like 300m altitude. This inevitably is going to give this wine some crisp super acidic awesome 'summer wine' qualities.
At first sniff I got some great minerality off this wine. Very mountainous and stony with flavours of peach and other stone fruits, some sweetness like honey and some nice crisp green apple-citrus acidity. This wine also had a fantastic straw yellow colour to it.
On the palate I was struck by the acidity right off the bat. The citrus and green apple stood out as the stars of this wine. It had a bit more of a 'buttery/creamy' mouthfeel than I'd expect in a wine this refreshing so I'd say definitely more of a patio food wine than a patio sipper. The finish was medium as was the body but overall it was just really clean, crisp and refreshing, which is how I love my white wines. At under $16.00, definitely a wine I will be looking for come patio time!

In reds I'm looking at the 2008 Dolcetto d'Alba, also by Beni di Batasiolo. On the nose I was immediately impressed by the notes of cherry and ripe dark fruits. The wine was crisp and fresh and light on the nose with a bit of earth and green characters. I noticed some fresh fruits on the palate and even though I was looking for ripeness and cherries I couldn't help but notice the blueberries and not really the ripeness. There was admittedly a bit of cherries but it didn't dominate. It's a light and crisp wine with medium body and nice, round soft tannins. You can definitely feel the altitude and the climate of the hills around Alba in this wine. At $16.00 this wine does a lot for me. Great for pairing with lighter fares and wonderfully easy to drink.

As far as I know, both of these wines are available in Vancouver only at Marquis wine Cellars on Davie St. and they are not available at all, as far as I know, in Ontario and Quebec even though both provinces carry other Batasiolo wines. Since I'm lucky enough to be in Vancouver, I think I might just have to pick up a bottle of these wines in anticipation of some summer fun. Even if you can't get these wines specifically, check out wines from Piemonte. Great deals for excellent wines. I looked at the Dolcetto grape variety today and while the Batasiolo brand may not be widely available, every provincial liquor store carries a few Dolcetto's and they worth checking out, especially with their price tags!
Piemonte is definitely a wine producing area to keep your eye on for the wine quality and the price and I hope I will have a chance to share some other wines from this area with you very soon.

Ciao Bella!