by Gerd Hirschmann
updated
Thu, Oct 13, 2011 09:31 AM
Up in the hills of Castagnole Monferrato in the province of Asti
in Piedmont, one of my favorite wines is made from 100% Grignolino
grapes. Grignolino for some reason got a bad reputation for some
inferior wines made with the grape in California back in the
days.
Today it is still grown by Heitz Cellars who started an 8-acre
vineyard of the grape in 1961, christened 'the one & only' as a
homage to previous generations of this zesty grape often referred
to as 'the little strawberry' in its native Italy, or to be precise
Piedmont, where it actually has a reputation of the 'Beaujolais of
Italy'; fresh and lively in its youth, made to be consumed young
while waiting for the 'brawnier' Nebbiolo and Barbera based wine of
the region to age.
One of my favorite wines in all is the La Mondianese Grignolino.
'Delicate in style, round and full with dark cherry overtones' is
what describes it best. Wines made from Grignolino can have
noticeably strong acidity and fruity aroma with alpine notes.
Grignolino is a late-season ripener with natural tendencies toward
high acidity. La Mondianese is grown in sandy soil with lots of
sunny exposure and the vines produce very few bunches of grapes.
The focus is on quality, not quantity.
The resulting delicate wine gently seduces you, instead of hitting
you in the face with big aromas and flavors. It has a beautiful
light ruby color in the glass and the aromas of red cherry are soft
and gentle. It's fresh and lively, with bright acidity and enough
tannin to give it substance (the name is derived from a dialect
word for pips-seeds-which deliver the tannins), but it has a light
body despite its many seeds.
Grignolino was identified and cultivated in Piedmont since before
1800. Few vines survived the late-nineteenth-century phylloxera
epidemic, and today just 1 percent of Piedmont vineyards are
planted with them. Luckily, the handful of producers who do make
Grignolino take special care with it, and one of the most highly
regarded is La Mondianese located in Montemagno in the heart of the
Monferrato province of Piedmont. Montemagno means 'big hill', and
the medieval castle on top of the hill seems to come straight out
of a fairy tale with a church that exemplifies the beauty of
Baroque architecture.
Grignolino is produced as rosé as often as red wine, both of which
are usually best enjoyed in their youth. The bright acidity makes
them a good complement to foods with high fat content. The grape is
highly reflective of its terroir and the different types of soils
in the vineyards that it is planted in. The resulting wines can
impart different aromas and flavor characteristics ranging from
green herbal, leafy notes and vegetable stock to raspberry and
cherry fruit.
If you look for excuses to order a light-bodied red wine other
than Pinot Noir, give this one a try. It can span a far wider
variety of dishes than a big red (from veal shoulder to tuna
tartare); it's ideal with chicken and other birds. But lighter reds
can be tricky, they sometimes seem too thin, or astringent, or
plain wimpy with red meats, yet they can reward you alongside
grilled fish dishes. If you've never tried Grignolino, I think you
should, even if you have to ask for it at your favorite wine
shop.
Tagged:
Wine, Wine Experiments
