Brindisi Wine Group

06/26/2021

Catarratto!

06/26/2021

Catarratto, Sicilia DOC 🍋 ☀️

A vibrant, lush Sicilian white grown most expressively in Catania, on the edges of Mt. Etna.

Elderflower, bright lemon, honeysuckle and youthful stone fruit are some of the primary flavors and aromas that you’ll find in a Catarratto.

Pair with anything that makes your heart and palate scream, “SICILIA!”: grilled veggies, light fish dishes, a rustic meat and cheese platter with plenty of salty olives, or a fresh, simple pasta tossed with oil and capers would be divine.

06/17/2021

Sparkling Wine 101: if I had to pick my favorite sparkling…

…it’d be Italy’s practically secret, unsung hero, Franciacorta. Robust tropical and yellow stone fruit bloom on the palate, while nuanced honey, Meyer lemon, and a solid dose of minerality play backbone. Heightened exotic notes like ginger and mandarin orange, and crisp herbal touches like fennel, pop up to add depth and intrigue.

Produced in Lombardia, Franciacorta is a DOCG-status wine area that has a climate warmer than many other locations famous for sparkling wine. While other sparkling wine zones rely on cool temperatures to keep the grapes’ acidity intact, in Franciacorta, the grapes- about 80% Chardonnay- have the opportunity to ripen enough to offer the wines a fuller, softer and more fruit-forward body.

Produced in the same style as Champagne, each bottle is individually fermented and unique, making Franciacorta an elegant, special wine that’s fairly rare in the market. Perfect with food, perfect on its own, it’s a delicious, sophisticated wine that’s full of character and charm.

06/14/2021

Sparkling Wine 101: Champagne Label Terminology

While perusing a wine list you’ve probably seen some fancy French words or letters on the label that you suspect mean something important, but just what you’re not sure…

Never fear! Here’s your quick guide to Champagne label terminology!

✨NV: non-vintage. Most all Champagne houses have a solid, steady house Champagne that they offer year after year. This would be their signature style that consumers can depend on bottle by bottle to be relatively consistent. It’s most often a blend of wine spanning more than one year’s production.

✨Vintage (eg 2006): if you see a date on the front of a bottle, that means the wine is produced by grapes all harvested in the same year. This is special because it’s the producer’s decision year by year whether to make a vintage Champagne, and only years that they consider to be of excellent quality get produced as such. It’s their way of time-stamping a unique product that stands out from others in their portfolio.

✨Blanc de Blancs: this refers to a Champagne made from *only* white grapes, which, in the case of Champagne, means it’s 100% Chardonnay. These wines are prized and hard to make, as Chardonnay is the least planted grape in Champagne and can be tricky to get perfect enough to bear up on its own. When done right, a Blanc de Blancs can be blazing in its acidity, with bright stone and citrus fruits, hefty highlights of ginger, apricots and hazelnuts. It gains warmth and volume, with hints of brûlée caramel and brioche, as it ages.

✨Blanc de Noirs: in contrast, a Blanc de Noirs is a Champagne made from all red grapes, most likely primarily Pinot Noir blended with a bit of Pinot Meunier. These wines, while made with red grapes, are *not* rose’- the juice from the grapes is not allowed to sit and collect color from the skins, leaving the base wine still white. Blanc de Noirs tend to be richer and more red-fruit forward than BdB’s, with ample dusky cherry, spice and sultry floral notes.

✨Dry to “Sweet” Scale: Brut Nature - Extra Brut - Brut - Extra Dry - Sec - Demi-Sec

06/12/2021

This rainy Friday evening calls for something a bit heartier than sparkling wine…

Enter Refosco: a grape native to Friuli and close to my heart.

Spicy, smoky and dense with chocolate and dark plum notes, but still bursting with tight acid and fresh red fruits, Refosco stands up to and complements rich, red-meat dishes beautifully.

Grab a bottle and sip it alongside gnocchi with a braised short rib ragù, pizza topped with spicy salami Calabrese, roast lamb rubbed with herbs, or a wild mushroom risotto.

This Refosco is made by the amazing Tenuta Maccan out of Friuli DOC and can be snagged at such a steal of a price it’ll make splurging on that lovely leg of lamb much easier!

06/07/2021

Sparkling Wine 101: Everyday Italians

The name on everybody’s lips is “Champagne”, but when it comes to lovely, everyday, food and picnic-in-the-park friendly bubbles, look no further than Italy’s most prolific sparkly duo: Prosecco and Lambrusco.

Prosecco is produced in the Northern Italian region of Veneto, with the finest versions coming out of the simply-named Valdobbiadene. While not always 100% produced out of the Glera grape, Glera primarily runs the show, a white variety that originated in Slovenia.

Produced in the Tank Method and not always as dry as Champagne tends to be, Prosecco is an excellent pairing for bites served during aperitivo: almonds, prosciutto, figs or hard cheese. Your charcuterie board’s best friend! Also, due to its slightly more elevated sugar levels, Prosecco counters beautifully with spicy, curried dishes and South East Asian cuisine.

••••

Lambrusco is a different ballgame, but just as enjoyable, and just as perfect for everyday drinking. In fact, while the Lambrusco craze may not have swept the word as Prosecco has done, it’s pretty much a staple on Central-Italian dining tables (ie Emilia-Romagna, the region at the “heart” of Italian gastronomy). Produced in the same area as Prosciutto di Parma and Balsamic vinegar out of a blend of ancient red grape varietals, Lambrusco offers various styles and quality levels ranging from light and floral, to robust and regal, to dry as a bone, to “sweet” as fresh-crushed berries.

Classically, its flavors of black cherries and blackberries, soil and leather, iris and hibiscus, watermelon and orange blossom are a perfect compliment to daily Italian meals- pasta, pizza, lasagna and platters of cured meats.

06/04/2021

Sparkling Wine 101: what is Cava?

The reigning champion of Spanish sparkling- actually, the reigning champion of affordable-yet-high-quality sparkling *anywhere*- is Cava. Primarily made of a blend of white grapes (but sometimes red) and primarily produced in Catalonia (but sometimes other places, too), Cava is a Traditional Method sparkling that offers exceptional quality for those of us *not* on a Champagne budget.

The primary white grapes used in the production of Cava are Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada. They are blending to craft blazingly dry, bright wine that’s heavy on the citrus, youthful orchard fruit, like quince, and wild mediterranean flowers, like bergamot.

Because Cava is often aged per Spain’s customary time-equals-quality classifications (Cava, Reserva, Gran Reserva), the finer examples therefore offer toasty, mellowed nuttiness and the essence of brioche and baked marzipan.

White asparagus, sheep’s’ milk cheese, shish*to peppers and fresh-shucked oysters are excellent pairings for Cava, as well as, of course, a hearty Spanish paella or melt-in-your-mouth slices of Serrano ham.

Interestingly, while most sparkling wine is considered a natural start to a meal or aperitivo on its own, Cava in Spain is traditionally drunk at the end of the meal!

06/03/2021

Sparkling Wine 101: what is Champagne?

It’s crucial to remember that Champagne is always a sparkling wine (unless time and a decanter for various reasons has allowed the bubbles to dissipate), but sparkling wine is not always Champagne.

But, “can I have a Champagne” is a common request even when the requester is intending whatever general sparkling wine is available (dangerous when they’re in the market for a $13 prosecco by-the-glass option, not a $25+).

Why is “Champagne” such a common blanket term, and why *is* that glass $25+ and not $13 (unless you’re onto some secret spot I’d love the name of pls)?

A long, storied, magical history has made Champagne, France home both literally and legally to what we know and love as Champagne, the sparkling wine.

In order to produce Champagne and be able to legally have that name on the bottle, a producer must abide by extremely strict national and local requirements. Everything from the amount of grapes the producer can grow, to the types of grapes that can be used, to the method of fermentation that gets the bubbles from point A to point in-your-glass.

If these rules are not followed and the wine maker and his wines are not certified by law to be of the required exceptional quality and the wine is not made the correct way, the wine is *not* a Champagne, it is a cremant, or other French sparkling wine (often times very, very delicious and available for just a fraction of the price).

Champagne is expensive because of the clout and appeal that comes with the name, yes, but it’s also expensive because it’s genuinely impressive, luxury stuff that a lot of time, love, money and precision go into making, and no two bottles are the same.

So the next time you wonder, “why in the world would I pay $80++ for that bottle when I can get this one for $20?”, the answer is as simple as: why do you want it? Is it for a special occasion, is it simply to celebrate a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, is it to experience and taste something truly elegant and unique?

Whatever your reason, Champagne, when you are so inclined, is *always* a good idea!

05/31/2021

Sparkling Wine 101: what *is* sparkling wine?

05/31/2021

A sparkling wine is any wine + carbon dioxide trapped in the bottle. Carbon dioxide is a naturally-occurring essence in fermentation, *or* sometimes it’s pumped back in to the wine- it depends on the wine makers’ process.

There are soooo many different types of sparkling wine, and they all fall into their specific category based on geographical location, local laws, the grapes used, and the production method.

It’s important to remember: a Champagne is always a sparkling wine, but a sparkling wine is *not* always a Champagne!

that I’ve got here is an example of a tank-method sparkling rose’. Made from 100% Cinsault, this sparkling wine is fermented in a tank, and then dispersed into individual bottles.

05/31/2021

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05/30/2021