Italy is composed of twenty regions; luckily enough, each
and every one produces wine. Veneto in the northeast is
Italy's third wine region both in acreage and total wine
production. It boasts some fine wines such as Amarone,
hardly in the $10 range. Here I try the white Pinot Grigio
grape, known as Pinot Gris outside of Italy.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review
are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Cavit Collection Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie,
2007 12.2% alcohol about $9
Let's start with the marketing materials. Tasting Note:
Pale straw; light lemon-apple aroma and flavor;
light-bodied with a clean finish. Serving Suggestion: Serve
as an aperitif. The back label suggests pairing it with
pasta, veal, chicken, or fresh seafood and to serve this
wine cold. And now for my review.
I started by sipping this wine alone. It was light and
pleasant tasting of apples. The first meal consisted of a
smoked turkey thigh stew with potatoes and chickpeas. Its
apple taste intensified when the wine met the food. It was
surprisingly long. The wine's acidity was somewhat untamed
even if not that strong. The apples were green; both green
colored and unripe. I added Turkish hot pepper spice called
Harissa and the wine became sweeter. This Pinot Grigio was
light, unobtrusive, and uni-dimensional and yet pleasant
and refreshing.
The second meal was an omelet cooked with potatoes roasted
in chicken fat. There was a delicious side of homemade
oven-roasted eggplant with fresh lemon, salt, and garlic.
The wine became somewhat feathery and almost sweet. It cut
the potatoes' grease well. The apples were no longer
unripe. What a difference a day makes.
The final meal was a herb-seasoned commercially prepared
barbequed chicken breast that was accompanied by buckwheat
filled patties. Perhaps surprisingly the wine was somewhat
flat. The apples were too green and the wine was overly
acidic.
I finished the tasting with two cheeses. The first cheese
was a yellow Cheddar. The wine was round and a tiny bit
sweet. It was not very acidic. This was a good combo. Such
was not the case with a Mozzarella made from partly skimmed
milk. Unfortunately, the Pinot Grigio soured and became
harsh and yet flat.
Final verdict. Mixed feelings. Watch the pairings. I found
this is definitely one of the better Pinot Grigios and
would buy it again. But there are so many other wines to
taste.
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Over the years Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten
computer and Internet books, but really prefers drinking
fine German wine, along with friends and the right foods.
He teaches sundry computer classes at an Ontario
French-language community college. Visit his global wine
website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly
column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about
(theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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