Grechetto, Trebbiano, Tell Me More

Grappolo di grechetto. Source, Wikipedia.com

One of the exciting things to do when coming to Italy, besides trying all the delicious foods and site-seeing, is to sample the delicious Italian wines. Practically every region in Italy is wine producing, some not so famous, yet equally tasty. In Umbria, the white wine that is autocthonous, say that five times fast, simply meaning having an origin in the region, is grechetto. Grechetto is a white grape, often blended with trebbiano, that produces a dry white wine, principally in the areas of Montefalco, Spoleto, Terni, and Orvieto. The wine it produces is a zesty light-medium bodied white wine that is perfect with everything from lighter fare to creamy tagliatelle dishes that need some acidity to cut the fat, so to speak. As a still wine it is delicious. Also called pignoletto (PEEN-YO-LEHTO) as a sparkling, or spumante, it is even better, rivaling the better known franciacorta and is on par with champagne, in my opinion. It is made in the Martinotti method or charmat, just like prosecco, so the fruit qualities are focused and not overwhelmed by the signature yeasty notes of a method champenoise. A pignoletto spumante has flavors of white peach, golden delicious apple, lychee and pear. Grechetto spoletino, the still wine version, noticeable flavors may be pear and apple, dried fruits, tropical fruit like pineapple, banana, or kiwi, grapefruit, and white flowers like camomille and acacia. Next time you are visiting Italy, ask for a glass. It is typically available everywhere and works as a sipper or meal pairing. A presto!