A Fun Fizzy Red Italian – Perfect For Pizza Night

PERFECT PIZZA WINE

"Italians, it turns out, aren’t big on vino with pizza. Beer, yes (Peroni, usually) and sometimes even Coke. There is one rather obscure exception: Gragnano, the frizzante red that comes from the town of the same name on the Sorrento Peninsula outside of Naples. The wine is typically drunk young and served chilled. Give the 2017 Iovine Gragnano a try! It has a touch of sweetness, a smoky finish, and a slight effervescence that cuts the fattiness of cheese and oil on dishes like pizza... or try it with a cheeseburger! Locals describe the blend as ‘inky, grapey, and similar to Lambrusco, with smaller bubbles.’ The wine has DOC status, appealing to those new-school pizzaioli who aspire to Neapolitan authenticity in all things." – Lance Montalto, The Wine House

Meet Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi, a 30th generation winemaker and President of the Frescobaldi Group, this Thursday, February 7, for an in-store tasting of wines from several of the group's Tuscan estates.

"Deep purple. Rich, dense aromas and flavors of blueberry and black cherry, lifted by a light spritz. Luscious but vibrant in the mouth, finishing very long and classically dry. Outstanding quality for the price, but you have to like red wines with a little fizz. Perfect with burgers and pizza." – Ian D’Agata, Vinous (November 2018)

FROM THE IMPORTER

Penisola Sorrentina Gragnano Wine

60% Piedirosso, 30% Aglianico & 10% Sciascinoso. Piedirosso (a.k.a. Palombina), a specialty of Campania, forms the base of the cuvee and adds ripe fruit characteristics as well as lively acidity. The name ‘piedirosso’ (red feet) reflects the bottom of the vine, which is red, similar to the red feet of a pigeon. Aglianico adds depth and savory notes, while Sciascinoso (Piedirosso’s counterpart in the red wines of neighboring Lacryma Christi) adds vibrant color and freshness. The base wine is vinified in temperature-controlled stainless steel and then in a process similar to Prosecco and Lambrusco, the wine goes through a long secondary fermentation in autoclave.

Appellation: Penisola Sorrentina Rosso Gragnano DOC
Zone: Municipalities of Pimonte and Gragnano (Naples)
Blend: 60% Piedirosso - 30% Aglianico - 10% sciascinoso
Vineyard age (year of planting): Piedirosso 1963 -Aglianico 1963 - sciascinoso 1963
Soil Type: Volcanic (made up of volcanic deposits from eruptions of the Vesuvius)
Exposure: Various
Altitude: 200-450 meters above sea level
Color: ruby red tending to dark red, foamy
Nose: Elegant, berries, fresh
Flavor: young, sapid, pleasantly fruity
Serving temperature (°C): 10-12
Match with: pizza, vegetable dishes, and fish dishes

ABOUT IOVINE

The members of the Iovine family have been viticulturists and have produced wine for four generations since 1890. They own approximately 15 hectares of vineyards in the Sorrento Peninsula, in Irpinia and in the zone of Benevento, but they also supervise the vineyards of growers with whom they have worked for many years. Especially in the area of the Sorrento Peninsula property is extremely fragmented (some vineyards extend for barely 1 hectare) it is therefore a condicio sine qua non to buy grapes.

The wines of the Sorrento Peninusla are unique and made from a unique zone: the soil is volcanic (made up of deposits of ashes and pyroclastic material from millennia of volcanic eruptions), the vineyards are steep with a gradient of up to 45% and stand on terraces with a width between 10 and 1.5 meters. The training system is mainly Pergola Sorrentina, a traditional method which is an integral part of this wonderful landscape. The vineyards can only be worked, in the best of cases, with motorhoes and with small tractors, in the most difficult cases, completely by hand. The harvest is carried out with mules. Needless to say, natural viticulture is pursued and only copper and sulphur base products are sprayed. Another unique feature is that the vines (the varietals here are Piedirosso, Aglianico and Sciascinoso also known as Olivella due to the olive shape of the berries – the average age of the plants is 50 years old) are ungrafted and therefore exclusively Vitis Vinifera Europea, as phylloxera does not survive in these soils. Each parcel has a little nursery, where the vines with the best characteristics are propagated by offshoots (called calatoie in the local dialect). The wines are Penisola Sorrentina DOC and made in the Gragnano and Lettere subzones, three of the wines are sparkling. The wines of this area are ancient: they were very much appreciated by the Romans who had numerous country villas where wine was made and also shipped and later the popes used to drink these wines especially in the summer. These wines can be defined petit vins, they are not wines to be matched with roasts nor they are to be aged, but they are a good match with pizza and, although they are red, also with fish and vegetable dishes.