Pairings

Vino Rosso

These Italian grapes make the perfect red wine for the holiday season

BY MARY SUBIALKA

Making your way through a selection of Italian wines can be as tricky as navigating the canals of Venice. With more than 350 native and international grape varieties used and a labeling system that might only list the place of origin, finding something different to try beyond the familiar Chianti is certainly a learning process. So here are a few Italian red wines or “vini rossi” to add to your repertoire. They’ll make delicious partners at your holiday dinner table whether you’re serving beef, pork roast or a hearty baked pasta dish.

BARBERA: This dark-skinned grape grown mostly in Piedmont produces lighter wines with lower tannins and high acidity that have a black cherry or ripe currant flavor with a hint of smokiness. With its naturally high acidity and dominant red fruit flavors, Barbera pairs well with pasta such as lasagna and baked shells. It’s also the best of the bunch here to serve with a turkey dinner. Look for wines labeled with the grape name, especially Barbera d’Alba.

MONTEPULCIANO: Grown throughout the country with concentrated plantings in central and southern Italy, this grape (pronounced “mon-ta-pull-chi-anno”) produces rich wines with blackberry fruit flavors and spicy, peppery qualities. When a wine is named after the grape and location, look for “d,” which means “from.” Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, for example, is Montepulciano grapes from Abruzzo, which is a dark rustic wine with full body, black pepper spice and high tannin. (It can be confused with the regionally named Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is actually Sangiovese from the city of Montepulciano in Tuscany.) Also look for the regionally named Rosso Conero.

NEBBIOLO: This grape is known for rich, full-bodied and “chewy” wines with age-worthy high tannins. It’s the predominant grape in the Piedmont area’s Barolo and Barbaresco, two of the country’s most powerful and highly regarded red wines. Barbaresco wines are usually lighter tasting and less tannic than Barolo. Less expensive Nebbiolo from the region is often called Langhe Rosso.

SANGIOVESE: Pronounced san-joh-VAY-zeh, this is one of Italy’s most popular grapes planted throughout the country. Wines have high acidity, moderate-to-high tannins and flavors of black cherry, earth and tobacco. It’s the dominant grape in Chianti, the glorious Brunello di Montalcino and its secondary wine Rosso di Montalcino, and in the wines from the town (not the grape, remember!) of Montepulciano: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montepulciano. A lighter version from the coastal area of Maremma is called Morellino di Scansano. n