5 Lesser Known Italian White Wines You Must Try

Ep 99 

Italy tends to be far more known for their red wines, and if I'm being totally honest with you, I used to not think very highly of the Italian white wines. 

Admittedly, there are a lot of mass produced boring white wines made in Italy that are shipped to the USA. But on the flip side, there are some really incredible Italian white wines that are so good and do not break the bank. 

Today, we're going to talk about five lesser known white wines from Italy! From the fresh, lemony essence of Soave, sourced from Italy's Veneto region, to the mineral-rich crispness of Greco di Tufo, each wine offers a unique perspective on Italy’s white wine potential. Noteworthy mentions like Fiano and Etna Bianco further illustrate the diverse palate of Italian white wines, which can range from citrus-forward to more earthy or nutty profiles.

So, if you are ready to try some of Italy’s white wines that are full of incredible value and taste, then today’s episode is for you!

Resources:

A Guide to Piedmont Wines - https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-95

Episode Highlights:

• Geographical location of Soave

• Tasting notes of the Garganega grape

• Verdicchio tasting notes

• Etna Bianco geographical location

• Carricante grape tasting notes

• Fiano as an alternative to a low acidic wine and tasting notes

• Greco di Tufo tasting notes

• Friulano tasting notes

• Ribolla Gialla tasting notes

• Malvasia tasting notes

• Pecorino (the wine, not cheese!) tasting notes

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Transcript

0:09

Interested in learning about wine, but not sure where to start? You're in the right place. Welcome to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. I'm your host, Haley Bullman, and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a wine enthusiast turned wine educator and founder of the Seattle based wine tasting business Cork and Fizz. It is my goal to build your confidence in wine by making it approachable and lots of fun. You can expect to learn everything from how to describe your favorite wine to what to pair with dinner tonight and so much more. Whether you're a casual wine sipper or a total cork dork like myself, this podcast is for you. So grab yourself a glass and let's dive in. Hello, and welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. Today, we are continuing our Italian wine miniseries with a really fun one. We're gonna talk about five white wines and specifically lesser known white wines, though honestly, just saying white wines from Italy means that they're probably lesser known because Italy tends to be far more known for their red wines. And if I'm being totally honest with you, I used to not think very highly of the Italian white wines. And admittedly, there is a lot of bulk mass produced boring white wine made in Italy that is shipped to The US. But on the flip side, there are some really incredible value white wines from Italy that are so good and they do not break the bank. So some of these you may not have heard of that's why I'm gonna tell you about them now. I wanna introduce you to five lesser known white wines from Italy. And just wanted to give this quick caveat in case listening to this, for those who do know Italian white wines, Gavi would be on this list for sure. But I already talked about it in the Piedmont deep dive episode, which was I think four episodes or so before this one. So go listen to that one after this one, if you haven't already to learn about another amazing white wine called the Gavi. It did not make this list simply because I'd already talked about it. And of course, there is an honorable mentions beyond the five because you know I can't narrow it down to just five. I started making this list and I had like 15 different wines that I thought of. So I narrowed it down to five to talk to you about because we don't have all day, but I also wanted to list, some of the other ones at the end so you know what to be on the lookout for. Just a quick reminder, you are not on my mailing list yet. What are you waiting for? I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under 15. Head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, and so much more. Now let's get back to the show. Okay. Let's dive into our Italian white wines. Starting off, we're gonna talk about soave. It is s o a v e. This wine is found in the Northeastern Italian region of Veneto, which is actually the same region that you'd find prosecco. It is made from a grape called Carguinaga, but suave is what you will find on the label. It is a super fresh lemony and has this mineral note to it. So think waterfall or the smell of the pavement after it's rained. And it has an acidity similar to what you'd find in a Chablis, which is a very expensive, well, not always, but decently expensive Chardonnay from Northern Burgundy. That mineral note in the Suave actually comes from the region's powdery volcanic tufa soils. I actually just featured a $6 bottle of Suave from Trader Joe's on a morning talk show segment here in Seattle. And I paired it with the Trader Joe's spinach and artichoke dip. It was so good. If you were anywhere near a Trader Joe's, I highly recommend going and finding that, Suave and pairing it with the spinach and artichoke dip because, oh, it was such a good pairing and perfect for not having to spend a lot when you have people coming over. Actually, if you go on my website, corkandfizz.com, I have a whole freebie of Trader Joe's wine and snack pairings. I didn't mean for this to become a promo for that, but I figured, hey. If you're listening to this, you might be interested in that. So at least at the moment of recording, it is on the homepage. If you just scroll down, you'll find the video of that segment that I did along with a button to download that freebie. If, like I said, you're near Trader Joe's and want to find some great wine and snack pairings, you'll find that Suave on there. For the Suave, tasting notes are gonna be peach, lemon zest, honeydew melon, some fresh herbs, and kind of like a seashell salinity. Like, think about the smell of the ocean. And believe it or not, this white wine can also age for a little bit. So give it three to seven years and it will gain texture and orange notes though. I will say for this, keep in mind, not all of a particular type of wine can age. So just because Suave can age doesn't mean that $6 bottles from trader Joe's will age well. Like, that one, drink right away. That one's meant to be drink right away. But if you go to your local wine shop and find a high quality, well produced Suave not saying the other one isn't, but I'm saying it's produced to be drink right away. This nicer one potentially from your local wine shop, they'll be able to tell you if that one has the ability to age a little bit longer. Okay. That was Suave. The next one I'm gonna recommend is called Verdictchio. This is v e r d I c c h I o, verdicchio. And it is delicate yet unique due to its occasional oily texture. And think like similar to Viognier. And so when I say oily, I just mean like when it's in your mouth, it just seems to coat your mouth more, but it's not full bodied. Right. It's still light and delicate, but it just has this kind of oily texture to it. In terms of tasting notes, you're gonna get peach and lemon curd, so it's a bit sweeter in smell than a suave. It also has this unique almond note to it and a similar minerality. This one is meant to be drank young, so don't hold on to it for more than three years. Now for verdicchio, most of the times the the wine is labeled by the grape verdicchio. Some of the most famous versions of this wine, you have Verdicchio de Castelli di Giesi. This is from the Le Marche in Central Italy, and it has the name of the grape in it. So it's super helpful. And this version is gonna be more floral. Then there is a wine made up in the Veneto in Northern Italy. Remember that's the same region where our Suave came from. It's called Lugana. And this is actually technically so one source that I was reading said that this was a version of verdicchio, but another source said it's actually a close relative. And it's even closer than, like, other varietals are close. Like, they're like it's like super close. I don't know what that means, but it's like it's a very, very, very close relative. But it's actually its own grape. So Lugana is the region in Veneto, and we thought it was a verdicchio grape that this wine was made out of, but it's actually its own grape known as turbiana. It has more tropical fruit, and the almond note becomes more of a hazelnut flavor. This region, from what I can tell, there was a lot of contention recently about a railway expansion going through the area, and they were trying to fight it and prevent these tracks from being taken or put down because they would lose 25% of their vineyards. And it is not a big region to begin with. This was a while ago though. And from what I can tell, the protest that they put forward didn't make a difference. And and feel free to correct me if you're listening to this and, you know, more about the the rail ray going through Lucana. But I do believe they lost about 25% of their vineyards due to this railway expansion. And it was like 750 acres in exchange for, like, four minute faster on the railroad because they put these new railways down. So as much as I I do love a good high speed train and going to Europe and getting to take the trains is amazing and it's so convenient. But I feel like in this case, there there could have been some considerations taken into place because, like, let's say small, small wine region, and it's really important to preserve these. So if you ever get the chance to try Lugana, definitely give them some support. Okay. So that was our second white grape, Verdicchio. Now let's talk about Aetna Bianco. This is a white wine made in the Aetna DOC. So Aetna is the region and Bianco just means white wine of Aetna. And the Aetna region is found on the island of Sicily. This wine is made from Caracante, which can be anywhere between 60 to a % of the wine. And if there is, the Caracante does not make up a % of it. You can also have Carato, which is a max 40% with the addition of Trebbiano and or Mina La Bianco making up only zero to 15% of it. Now the caveat to this, if the wine is labeled Etna Bianco Superiore, it must be 80% Caracante, and the grapes have to come from the Milo area. Now diving into these two main grapes a bit. So talking about the Caracante and the Catarato. Both are ancient varieties that originated on the island of Sicily, and both are fairly high yielding. Remember, that means they'll kinda just like they will grow a lot if you let them. Now Caracante is a slightly more interesting of the two, makes sense that we can use it a %, in the wine if we wanted to. And this is due to its razor sharp acidity. And oftentimes the acidity is so high that the winemaker will choose to counter it with contact on the lees. And lees is l e e s. The lees are what are left behind. So when a winemaker's making wine, right, they start with grape juice and that has sugar in it. And then they introduce yeast or there's just yeast on the outside of the grapes that just gets introduced naturally. And that yeast will go around and eat all of the sugar and produce alcohol along the way. Now when all the sugar is gone and the yeast has had its full, it dies. And that yeast, when it dies, becomes Lee's, the L E E S. And when you leave the wine in contact with the Lee's, especially a white wine, it gives it a little bit fuller bodied. It gives it a little more texture and it can also give it some kind of more bread y like flavors. A winemaker will also potentially other than leave it in contact with the leaves will have the wine go through malolactic fermentation. Now the original, what I talked about where the yeast eats the sugar is just what we typically call fermentation. That's how we get grape juice to become alcoholic wine. Now a malolactic fermentation is just a different type of fermentation. And this is where the malic acid in the grapes, which is similar to like the acidity of like, think of like a green apple, that malic acid gets transformed into lactic acid during this form of fermentation. And lactic acid is the acid that you'd find in milk. So it is much creamier. It's not quite so tart. So malolactic fermentation, when you hear me say like the acid of like milk, right, that might make you also think of butter. And that is true. Malolactic fermentation can cause some of those buttery notes in your wine, but that's only if a winemaker stops the malolactic fermentation partially through. If it goes all the way through, you're going to get just this softer acidity that's not quite so assaulting and you're not going to get that overwhelming butteriness by any means. Now Caracante again, our very acidic grape also has really strong aromas that fall typically under the categories of citrus, herbs, and minerals. Now, the other main grape of Aetna Bianco is Cattarato. And this grape produces a wine with a fuller bodied, low acidity, and honestly, a fairly neutral tasting wine. So that's why it's primarily a blending grape, and you can see how these two grapes tend to work really well together. Right? We have a super high acidity, very aromatic grape that just kinda gets balanced out by this fuller bodied lower acidity grape that doesn't take away from our very exciting Caracante, but it just balances it. The Carahato is actually a descendant of Gardenaga, which is the grape that's used to make sove, which was the very first wine that we talked about. Now Carratto is also famous for being used in Sicily's famous sweet and fortified wine, Marsala. So it is interesting in its own respect as well. It doesn't always need Caracante to help it. It just makes a little bit more of a unique wine on its own. Okay. That was Etna Bianco. Our next white that I wanna tell you about from Italy is Fiano, f I a n o. This podcast is sponsored by Votgil. When you're enjoying a glass of wine, temperature matters, and you don't need to be a wine expert to know this. You know this the minute you realize you forgot to put the bottle of wine in the fridge, and now you're stuck with lukewarm Sauvignon Blanc that is the opposite of refreshing. You know adding ice cubes will just water the wine down, but it seems like it's your only option. Not anymore. I wanna introduce you to one of my favorite wine gadgets, Vochill. This gadget is as simple as it is elegant. It will keep wine perfectly chilled in your own wine glass. No more clunky metal or plastic tumblers or ice in your wine. While this gadget is an absolute must during the summer months, I don't enjoy wine without it from June to September. It's also incredibly useful for those days when you're craving a glass of white or rose, but you don't wanna wait for the bottle to chill in the fridge. Vochill offers a stemmed and stemless chiller in multiple colors, so you're bound to find one that's perfect for you. They also make the perfect gift. I should know. I got one for my mom at Christmas a couple years ago, and she loves it. Head to vochill.com. That's v0chill.com to get your perfect wine chiller, and don't forget to use code cork and fizz for 15% off your order. This podcast is sponsored by the Cork Crew Virtual Wine Club. Interested in trying new wines, but not sure where to start? Or maybe you've been listening to this podcast for a while and you love the idea of tasting wine live with me. If that's you, come join my Court Crew virtual wine club, and you'll get to sip wine with me twice a month while I help you find new favorite wines. The Court Crew is not your ordinary wine club. This is a community of people who are passionate about exploring new flavors, learning about different wine styles, and having fun along the way. And the best part about this club, Purchasing the wine is completely optional. Plus all events are recorded and you have access to the full library of recordings as a court crew member. So you can always catch up if you can't make it live. Oh, and did I mention it's virtual, which means you get to do all of this from the comfort of your sofa in your PJs. No need to worry about driving in crappy traffic, finding a designated driver, or spending an arm and a leg on a taxi. Wanna give it a try without the commitment? You're in luck. Right now, I'm offering a free class pass to anybody who wants to try out the Court Crew virtual wine tasting club. With this pass, you'll be able to join a Court Crew event of your choosing. No strings attached. I don't need your credit card. I don't need you to sign up for anything. You'll be my guest. Simply head to corkandfizz.com/ free class pass to get your class pass and be one step closer to becoming a member of the best wine tasting club around the court crew. I can't wait to see you there. Now let's get back to the show. And this is primarily found in Campania in Southern Italy, and the best is called fiano di Avellino, and this is a DOCGR, highest classification in Italy. The wine itself uses those extended lees contact. Remember, the lees are the dead yeast after they've eaten all the sugar. It adds texture and flavor to the wine. A fiano is great for those who are looking for an Italian white wine that's not so high in acidity. And, yes, mom, I'm talking to you. This is the white wine for you. Don't worry. I didn't forget about you. I didn't just put all high acidity white wines. You should try a fiano. Typical tasting notes here include honeydew, Asian pear, yellow apple, hazelnut, and orange zest. Aging can especially bring out that honey and hazelnut flavor. So this is another one of those white wines that if you get a good quality, well made Fiano, it can age five to ten years. This grape is also used to make a really delicious sweet wine. I'm not gonna talk about sweet wine too much, because that's gonna be in a later episode, but it's actually made that sweet wine is made by air drying the grapes. Okay. The last white wine that is included in our top five list is Greco di Tufo. This is a DOCG of the Campania region. So we're in the same region that Fiano is primarily found in in Southern Italy. Greco di Tufo grape is a clone of Greco Bianco and is believed to have been introduced to Campania by an ancient population from Sicily in Greece. And it's named after the volcanic tufa soils found in the region. It is a mineral rich wine, crisp, refreshing, lemon, pears, toasted almonds are all tasting notes you'd find here. And it's another one of those wines that you should drink early. One to three years after bottling is probably about as long as you want your Greco di Tufo to last. Oh, and spelling for this one, g r e c o, Greco, d d I, Tufo, t u f o. Now for our honorable mentions, because it is impossible for me to just name five white wines from Italy. And I said I was just gonna list them, but okay. I have a couple little notes on them that I wanna tell you about. So if you're willing to listen, if you're not sick of my voice yet, here are some other Italian white wine. We have grechetto, g r e c h e t t o. And the only reason this didn't make the official list is because I had to narrow it down to five, and I don't think I've actually tried this before. So I was like, I don't know if I should recommend something I haven't tried. So I'm still gonna put it on the honorable mention list, and you and I both need to try this wine. It is found in Umbria in Northern Lazio in Central Italy. It is medium bodied, notes of white peach, honeydew, strawberry, flowers, seashells, and salinity. And according to wine folly, this wine, the Grachetto, can actually be mistaken for a dry rose if you taste it blind. How cool is that? Okay. Next white, Friulano. This is a grape local to Friuli. Yeah. Makes sense. Right? Friuli's in Northern Italy. It's really close to Veneto. It's like a Sauvignon Blanc that's Friulano, but with bolder fruit and a little subtler herbal flavors. If you don't like the greenness in a Sauvignon Blanc, try a Friulano. You're gonna get notes of peach, green pear. There is still a little herbal, so I have tarragon here as a note. But then you also have grapefruit and that kind of mineral gravel rocky aroma. Next up, still in the region of Friuli, you have the grape called ribola gialla. And this is widely planted in Northeastern Italy in the province of Friuli, as I mentioned, and it's actually really popular for orange wine, so that skin contact style of white wines. Either way, whether it's a white or an orange, you can get notes of baked apple, tangerine, citrus, beeswax, and herbs. The next one, I think I have two more. Okay. Last two, I had to mention Malvacia. This is a family of white wine grapes actually, so we're talking mostly about Malveja Bianca in Italy. It's used to produce either dry, sweet, sparkling, or specialty wine, so it is used everywhere. It is also blended with Trebbiano to make the incredible dessert wine, Vinsanto and Chianti. And don't worry. We're gonna talk more about that in a later episode. And it is also it's kind of a funny note. It's also a common grape to plant in the board game Viddaculture. So if you're a total wine dork like me and also love board games and want to connect your love of wine and your love of board games, go get the game Viticulture. So fun, and Malvaggia will come up all the time. Okay. Last white grape that I wanna mention is called Pecorino. And, yes, this is the same name as the cheese, but it is not just a cheese. Pecorino is also an incredible delicious white wine. It is grown in Central Italy, namely in Marche and Abruzzo. It is light to medium bodied, higher acidity and alcohol. I think like if you're somebody who likes Sauvignon Blanc in the summer, Pecorino is a beautiful spring or fall wine. I mean, you can drink it whenever, but if you think about it, like if you think of Sauvignon Blanc as the summer version, I think of Pecorino as the fall version. Like it's just like a warmer Sauvignon Blanc, if that makes sense. But like I said, still light to medium bodied and higher acidity. You get notes like this nutty kind of note along with fresh herbs, tangerine, and the salinity. So kind of like a salty sea kind of situation going on. But yeah, those are some Italian white wines that I would highly recommend giving a try. Italian whites are usually a really good deal. They are normally not very expensive, and they normally taste very, very good. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. If you loved it as much as I did, you know what I'm gonna say next because you've heard me say it a million times. Well, actually, 98 times, and this is gonna make 99. I would love it if you could take a quick second, rate it, leave a review. You can do it on whatever app you are listening to it right now. So if you open your phone and you look at the app, there's either a spot where you can put however many stars I'd recommend five stars, but you know, it's up to you. And then a lot of times either Apple Podcasts, I don't know if Spotify allows this yet, but Apple will allow you to review the entire podcast. And I think on Spotify, you can actually leave comments. So let me know which of these white wines are you most interested in trying. And like I said, it only takes a few minutes. If you're driving, please wait until you're not driving anymore. But I would so appreciate it if you could do that. Now in next week's episode, we are gonna talk sparkling and dessert wine from Italy. Now if you listen to my podcast for a while, you're probably expecting an interview because we've just done two solo episodes. I mean, I'm a girl that loves patterns. I love sticking to a routine. So for, you know, for a while, this podcast has been two solo episodes followed by two interview episodes with the same person, and then we go two solo episodes, AKA just me talking. And then we do an interview again. But here's the thing. I ended up booking some non Italy related interviews that I am so excited for you to hear, but I wanted to finish this mini series first. And I have two more Italian focused episodes that I want you to hear. And one of those is that sparkling and dessert wine from Italy. So don't worry. There are still plenty of interviews coming your way. We're just gonna finish off the Italian wine miniseries first. Thanks again for listening, and if you want to learn more about wine, come follow me corknfizz on Instagram. And if you're interested in exploring new wines, like so many of these delicious Italian white wines, come join my incredible virtual community of wine lovers. It's called The Court Crew. Head to thecourtcrew.com to learn more. And you can use code wine101 when you sign up to get your first month free. Cheers!