Italian Wine And Lasagna, My Two Favorite Food Groups!Mmmmmm....Italian wine. They are infamous for their production of vino. Italy has around 21 regions, or zones, which corresponds exactly to her political regions. Yes every single zone in Italy produces vino.Some of the best come from the north, the Piedmont zone in the northwest, and of course Tuscany and the more central northern area of Italy. Then there is the three main regions of North Eastern Italy. Yes Wine is everywhere as it should be :-) My first glass of red that I fell in love with was a beautiful Italian chianti. From the first sniff and swirl I was hooked. Everytime I make lasagna I use about a half of a bottle of chianti ruffino to make the meat sauce, between the wine and the pancetta I drool for hours smelling the sauce cooking. Every red drinker should try an Italian vino at least once...you don't know what your missing if you don't.
You'll enjoy them much more so when they are aged, then when they're young. They both also benefit aeration for a few hours before drinking. So if you want a bottle of Barolo for dinner at your favorite restaurant, it's best to call ahead and have them open it and let it breathe, or you'll be waiting a long time before you can drink it. Just outside of these two zones, Piedmont produces more every kind of day red wines to drink. Dolcetta, barbera and Nebbiolo (again but different area grown outside the Barolo and Barbaresco zones) Dolcetta is a nice light drinkable red, goes quite nicely with food.Barbera, a very commonly grown grape to make Italian wine with. It's richer than Dolcetta, also fabulous with your lasagna dinner. Nebbiolo grape grown outside of the Barolo and Barbaresco regions produce a much lighter bodied wine, very easy and pleasant to drink also. These are the Reds. Piedmont also has some very nice dry whites. One made from the Cortese grape: Gavi (named after a town) and Arneis. Dry to medium dry, both fantastic whites.
Two other very notable reds from Tuscany are Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Carmignano. Their best white is probably Vernaccia di San Gimignano. This white is best enjoyed young. The three regions in the north eastern zone of Italy is known as "Tre Venezie" or the three Venices, because they were once part of the Venetian empire. What Italian wine hails from here? The white soave, or their two best Reds: Valpolicella and Bordolino. Romantic wines, of course because they hail from the same city of Romeo and Juliet: Verona. Valpolicella has more body, but the lighter Bardolino is a pleasant wine to sip on as well. Bolla Valpolicella is one I personally enjoy on a regular basis. Whichever Italian wine you choose to explore, I'm sure you will enjoy it. Whether it is by itself or with your favorite cheese or lasagna, divertiti! Cheers
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One word comes to mind when you mentioned Tuscany as far as wines go; Chianti. Made mostly as far as the top Chianti's go anyway from the sangiovese grape varietal. They are beautiful dry reds enjoyed with or without food. Truly a spectacular glass of red wine.
