Winey Tasting Notes: Looking For Some Italian Sunshine with Vini Ciccariello’s Pinot Grigio del Vento

It’s happening again…the sparkly snow is being replaced by slush and rain and mud. Could it just get any uglier outside? At least you can walk in the snow without having to scrub the floors every time you come back inside (thank you, doggie dearest). I know that some of us might not be snow lovers, but seriously, I’ll take it over grey icky slush and mud any day. Except in July.

So maybe it was the thought of the lovely Italian sunshine that caught my eye when I spied this bottle of Pinot Grigio. OK, more likely, it was the $4.99 price tag, but still…..the whole Italian countryside sunshine thing was appealing.

Vini Cicariello Pinot Grigio del Veneto (2010, 12% Veneto, Italy) has a lot of good things going for it in addition to its price tag. First off, it’s a really pretty color. Not a hint of grey. Just light gold. Like the sun in early spring. I need to stop that. It has an aroma of herbs and lemongrass. It tastes of tangy minerals and lime (maybe a teeny bit of lemon, but I really noticed the citrusy lime). To get the best out of this wine, serve it really, really cold (in January in Ohio that is room temperature. OK, just kidding – but sometimes it feels like it is). When it’s chilled, it gets very crisp and lively in your mouth and has a medium body (didn’t expect that…nice surprise).

It came pretty close to being summertime in a bottle for me. It had to – take a look at the picture on the winery’s homepage:

Seriously, how could it not? (That’s a pic of the Gulf of Gaeta…the winery is in the hills above it.)

If you like a crisp (no sweet at all here) white, this one is for you. Drink it alone, or with some lighter dinner offerings (just cause we can’t/refuse to grill outside at this time of year doesn’t mean you can’t make ’em in the kitchen). And it’s $4.99 a bottle….so buy one for now and one for…an hour from now?

Cheers!

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