Skip to main content

Some Affordable Italian Whites


2011 Ruffino Orvieto Classico approximately $11
Clear, pale straw color with a watery rim. Clean, fresh aromas of mixed herbs, natural almonds and pear. Dry, medium- body, mouth watering high acidity, medium alcohol with a pear flavor and a medium length lemon citrus finish.
This wine comes from the historical growing zone around the medieval town of Orvieto in Umbria located in Central Italy. It is a blend based primarily on Grechetto and Trebbiano (aka Procanico). I served it with grilled sea bass and grilled zucchini, yellow squash and red bell peppers. I had weeded my herb garden shortly after I woke up that day and when I first opened the bottle that evening, I thought it smelled remarkably like my herb garden did in the early morning sunshine. Recommended.

2011 Barone Fini Valdadige Pinot Grigio approximately $13
Clear, pale straw color with a watery rim. Clean, fresh aroma of apple. Dry, light body, refreshing medium+ acidity, medium alcohol with an apple and citrus flavor and a medium length mineral finish.
This wine comes from the sub zone Valdadige which is located in the northeast area of Italy's Alto Adige. The first time I remember having it was at the "The Merroir Experience", an oyster tasting wine event held in Houston last Spring. Since then, I have seen it on a variety of restaurant wine lists including as a wine by the glass offering at a Chindian restaurant near me. I had picked up this bottle to have on hand for its versatility and affordability. I opened it to serve with pan seared tilapia and rice pilaf. A simple anytime white, Recommended.

2011 Inama Vin Soave Classico approximately $15
Clear, pale straw color with a watery rim. Clean, fresh floral aroma of chamomile. Dry, medium+ body, medium+ acidity, medium alcohol with a green apple  and under ripe pineapple flavor and a medium length finish.
This wine is 100% Garganega and is sourced from the classic region of production east of Verona in Veneto. I served this bottle two days in a row as an aperitif before dinner, Recommended.
Labels:

Comments

  1. New Hampshire WinemanSeptember 25, 2012 at 3:31 PM

    Sandra: "smelled remarkably like my herb garden did in the early morning sunshine."

    Very nice! Sort of where the rubber meets the road comment.

    Soave wines are very difficult to find in NH; I think I've seen two or three at the most, and not the Inama Vin.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for reading Wine Life - Houston.

Popular posts from this blog

"The Zen of Zin" Tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks

On Friday evening, my husband and I attended the Zinfandel wine tasting at Fleming's in River Oaks. My husband gets totally pumped up for any and all things Zinfandel but what I found really intriguing in the line up of wines were the aged offerings. Brent Sloan, managing partner at Houston's premier wine storage facility Nos Caves Vin, had provided Fleming's with four 18 year old bottlings and one 17 year old bottling from his collection of some of his favorites. I found this interesting because 1. I don't believe that I have ever had an 18 year old Zinfandel before this evening and 2. From various wine classes, I had always heard that at best Zinfandel had very limited aging ability. So, I was definitely excited to give these wines a taste. There were also an additional five younger Zinfandel wines that are some of Fleming's best sellers. The entire tasting line up for the evening included: 2009 Orin Swift Saldo - California 2007 Schulz "Lampyridae...
5 comments
Read more

Spanish Wine under a Houston Sunset

I was asked to speak about Spanish wine and to conduct a tasting at the 30th birthday party of Kyla Kennedy on the rooftop patio of her and her fiancé, Jonathan Garrett's home this past Saturday. They invited a great group of friends with a new interest in wine tasting. Jonathan had the idea after the two had watched the movie "Somm" and had become interested in learning more about the wines of the world.  For our tasting tour of Spain: Anna de Coderniu Brut Cava * - Guests loved this Spanish sparkler! They found the history of the winery interesting and enjoyed the refreshing style of the wine. The birthday girl named the subtle tropical and citrus aromas like a pro. 2012 Burgan's Rias Baixas Albarino - Guests talked about the fresh peach aromas and the crisp taste. Many felt this could be their summer sipper.  2012 Raimat Costers del Segre Albarino* - Guests were interested in learning about this lesser known area, the innovative winery and how ...
6 comments
Read more

A Tropical Staycation with Spy Valley E Block

After a fair amount of traveling this summer with more still to come, I was looking forward to spending time at home with my family this week. Both of my millennial children have recently moved back to Houston but the home-cooked meals have been few and far between. I had recently received a sample of the Spy Valley E Block Sauvignon Blanc 2017 along with an invitation to participate in an on-line tasting with the Wine Pairing Weekend group (find them online under the hashtag #Winepw), this became the inspiration for this family gathering. I gleefully sent out a group text, "I'm grilling poolside tonight, be home by 7:30 p.m. to eat, come earlier if you want to swim." I am surrounded by funny people as the responses reflect, "Who is this?", "What have you done with my mom?", "Not a good night, Bachelor in Paradise is on." I was undeterred, I knew that they would come. I pulled the bottle out of the wine fridge to investigate what I was ...
6 comments
Read more