Wine Tasting - Wine Tours in Italy

The first wine itinerary we have selected is in the northern area of the Marches, region located in the central Italy.

The tour starts from the sea city of Pesaro, in 50 km bring you from the beaches of the Adriatic Coast to the Apennine foothills.

- Wines

The typical wines in this area are dry red and white, alcohol around 12%. Among them, Bianchello del Metauro, a DOC wine mostly produced on the hills running along the Metauro river banks. Dry wine, with straw yellow color and a delicate aroma of fresh fruits, the Bianchello del Metauro has to be served at 49° - 53° F (10° - 12 ° Celsius) and is perfect to be coupled with roasted fish dishes.

- Wineries

Azienda Agricola Guerrieri in Piagge, www.aziendaguerrieri.it,
Fiorini in Barchi, www.fioriniwines.it

- Food

The Adriatic is generous in providing the fresh seafood which is

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An Italian wine, was choosen for the official Nobel Peace Prize Dinner, held in Oslo, Norway, Saturday, December 17.

The wine selected for such important event is Sagramoso Soave Superiore 2004, from Pasqua, Verona.(source)

The Sagramoso Soave Superiore 2004 is a dry, light golden yellow wine, semi-sweet and with intense and fruity aroma.
The producer company of this wine is Pasqua from Verona, which is one of the prominent winemakers in Italy.

The wine is mostly produced on the hills around the municipality of Soave including, Illasi, Mezzane and Tramigna valleys, in northeast of Verona.

The Italian Food & Wine Institute reveals the exports of Italian wine in USA rose 15.1 % in 2004.

According a forecast by Coldiretti - an association of Italian farmers, the amount of the exports of wine to USA could increase to 1,000,000,000 Euro in 2005.

Italy emerges as the first largest exporter country of wine in USA, capturing one-third of the market share, followed from Australia 25 % and France 20 %, which did not increase their export of wine in US in 2004.

It seems Americans prefer the Italian wine.

Nine Italian wines are included in the top 100 of Wine Enthusiast.

First of the Italian wines is Brunello di Montalcino Castelgiocondo Riserva 1999 from Marchesi dàŠ Frescobaldi, ranked as sixth in the table of Wine Enthusiast.

The land of Tuscany, in particular the Montalcino area, confirms its tradition of excellence in wine making, as you can see by looking to the other Italian wines included in the top 100.
We list them below:

Brunello di Montalcino 1999 Riserva - Donatella Colombini Cinelli
Brunello di Montalcino 1999 Riserva - Il Palazzone
Amarone della Valpolicella 1999 - Musella
Brunello di Montalcino 1999 Madonna del Piano Riserva - Valdicava
Chianti Classico 2001 Cellole Riserva - San Fabiano Calcinaia
Carignano del Sulcis 2001 Rocca Rubia Riserva - Cantina Santadi
Chianti Classico 1999 Riserva Viacoste - Fattoria Rodano
Amarone della Valpolicella 1999 Srego Alighieri Vaio Amaron Masi.

 
Four out of nine are Brunello di Montalcino, six out of nine are from Tuscany.

What wine to serve with a very spicy cheese?

Red wines. I would suggest you a couple of Italian wines reflecting the different character of the lands they come from.

The first one, is a DOC wine form Calabria: Pollino. The Pollino wine’s production area is a plateau, the Pollino Massif, along the border between the Calabria and Basilicata regions, in the deep south of Italy.

It is a ruby red coloured wine, dry, with a very characteristic aroma and rich body, 12 %, usually served at 18 °/20 ° C temperature. It is perfect to accompany typical Calabrian food, often including a lot of chilli among their ingredients.

From Calabria to Piedmont, from deep south to deep north, from a Mediterranean tradition to the Padanian one, now we introduce the second one: Barbera d’Asti.

Barbera d’Asti, is a DOC wine mostly produced in the surroundings of Asti, in the north to the banks of the Pò river, in Piedmont.

It is a intense ruby red coloured wine, dry, 12 % alcohol, with the characteristic aroma of Barbera and a slightly bitter taste. Usually aged up to three years, Barbera d’Asti is served at 20 ° C temperature, accompanies typical local cheeses and pork meat dishes.