th
# 72 •nOvemBER 16 , 2015
over to the bottle, see chardonnay listed
on the label and grab it. What they don't
realize they are missing are the bottles
of white burgundy from France, some
of the best chardonnay in the world, all
because chardonnay is not written on
the label and is just implied by it's geographical indication.
Labels are part of the reason why variety
can be deceiving or tricky. Italy is definitely one of those culprits that might tell
you it's a Rosso from the Valle d'Aosta
region of Italy, but what does that mean?
What grapes are in it? The label may state it's a Barolo from Cannubi, but what
grapes make up a barolo wine? Nebbio-
lo of course, but maybe not that obvious
to the average consumer. My parents
used to be oblivious to that for example,
but I've got them trained up quick!
The many grape varieties of Italy
Of course everyone knows many of the
main varietals in Italy like pinot grigio,
prosecco (even more so now-a-days),
sangiovese (although sometimes it seems people don't reazlie chianti is made
of this grape) and maybe even the nero
d'avola grape. What about varietals like
susumaniello, verdicchio, pigato, pelaverga,arneis, catarrato or garganega?
You may have had many of these wines
already if you've experimented with Ita-
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