GRIGNOLINO-

We are back in the Piedmont region of Italy to talk about one of my favorite wines that gets overshadowed by Dolcetto, Nebbiolo & Barbera. 

This delicious wine is Grignolino!  (green-no-lee-no)

Grignolino is one of the oldest varietals of grapes grown in Piedmont.  In fact, up to the mid-1800’s they were the primary grapes of the area. 

Not sure what happened for it to lose its popularity but based on my readings, I think its the lighter body and lower acidity took the backseat to the power of Nebbiolo.

Maybe that is why I like this wine so much, its lighter and is more delicate.

The are some similarities to Nebbiolo in the cherry flavors, light colored, and layers of flavors that evolve from the bottle.  The differences are Grignolino is lighter bodied, less tannic, and a wine to enjoy now instead of aging for a few years to soften the tannins.

Another unique component of Grignolino for me was this undertone of roasted chili peppers. 

I do live in Chili pepper country and in the fall, it is a treat to go to the farms and purchase some chili peppers and have them roasted with garlic.  Delicious.

My first experience with Grignolino was this great dried cherry wine with hints of smoke and roasted chili.  No heat spice in the palate but it was a pretty good wine with chili dishes.

The main region for Grignolino wine production is Grignolino d’Asti DOC.  Once again, “d’Asti” means - from Asti.  In this case, the grape Grignolino from Asti. 

This region has only around 570 acres of land planted in Grignolino and they produce 104,700 cases of wine a year.  That is enough production to share some wine with us in the USA, but not enough to be on every wine list.

It is a grape that can be difficult to grow and a wine difficult to make, which explains why there isn’t mass quantities available. 

Even though Nebbiolo is the closest comparative grape, Grignolino is unique and can be unpredictable from vintage to vintage and from producer to producer.

This provides an answer to a question I have had for years.

When I was a retailer, one of my distributors would have semi-annual bulk deliveries from its producers in the Piedmont region. 

About 6 years ago,  I bought a limited available Grignolino mostly out of curiosity and my previous positive experience with another producer.

The wine arrived and was amazing and we sold out quickly.

Every year after I would look for that wine on the pre-buy twice a year, and it was never available again. 

I don’t know if there wasn’t enough production to export or they were having problems with this unpredictable grape.

My hunch is there isn't enough production to go to our area.  One distributor might not take as much or take more than previous orders.  It's part of the import game, finding enough wine to please everyone.

I’m sure with the strides made in grape growing and the technology available in wine production, some of these issues will eventually come under control.

If you see the Cavallotto "Grign", I suggest you jump all over it!  This was a very tasty wine.

I feel Grignolino is one of those great wines that goes unnoticed by wine community, and by the average wine consumer.

Like many Italian wines in the USA, the name of the grape and the challenge of pronouncing it could be too much for us to bother with it.  

My point is Grignolino is a great example of a quality wine that many don’t know about.  For those that can be put off by the acidity of Italian wine will find this lower acidity wine quite appealing.

I would recommend Grignolino to those people wanting to explore Piedmont red wine but are mainly drinking white wines. 

The easy drinking style and smooth finish would turn the white wine drinker into a red wine drinker.

BRACHETTO d'ACQUI

We'll stay in Piedmont and talk about Brachetto wine, the red equivalent of Moscato.  Brachetto is the grape. Nicely sweet and generally fizzy (frizzante). 

The flavors of strawberries, raspberries, chocolate and the smell of roses make this terrific way to end your meal instead of heavy dessert or glass of port.

Generally, the alcohol is 6%.  The frizzante is accomplished by fermenting the wine in pressurized tanks for 30 days.

The yeast eats the sugars of the grape juice, the gas is released but has nowhere to go and stays in the wine, which makes the wine frizzante.

Acqui is a town in the Piedmont and the main grape grown is Brachetto.  This DOCG produces around 244,000 cases of wine a year. 

One thing that is different than most regions is the minimum amount of Brachetto grapes allowed is 97%.  Many other DOC’s & DOCG’s allow 10 to 15 % of other local grapes in the mix, but not here.

Most of the Brachetto is grown in Piedmont and mostly in Acqui.  There is some produced in the Piedmont DOC as well.  These are where the bulk of the wine comes from.

I have seen some Brachetto come out of the Puglia region.  They are generally less expensive than Piedmont. 

Brachetto d'Acqui DOC is a better quality wine.

Brachetto, though considered sweet, isn’t candy sweet.  It is more like really ripe fruit where the residual sugar comes forward. 

The frizzante lightens the impact of the sugar and gives it this delicious red fruit brightness.

I am generally not a proponent of wine & chocolate, but it works with Brachetto.

Some higher percentage Cacao (darker & less sweet) chocolate can work with a tannic Cabernet Sauvignon but most of time (for me) chocolate can defuse the flavors of most wines.

Brachetto would be the exception.  Nice wine with milk or dark chocolate, except maybe the 40%+ Cacao ones.

Brachetto is nice with a bowl of berries too!  It is a fun wine that all drinkers of wine can enjoy. 

Even those “I don’t like sweet wine” people will find merit to the pleasing flavors of this wine.

Not inexpensive, but mostly just a few dollars more than a nicer Moscato.  It’s a great wine to take you to red fruit happiness.

I suggest you get a bottle and chill it down before opening, and enjoy this lovely wine.