Now, even if it’s simple, a flavorful wine isn’t a bad thing, of course. We need wine to pair with a pizza on a Tuesday night just as we need wine to pair with our Sunday feast. The Arboreto Montepulciano is the former. With that note, enjoy.

How’s it look? The Montepulciano is medium-bodied, with thin legs. It’s a deep indigo color, but quite translucent.

How’s it smell? This wine’s nose is robust and fruity, with ripe apple, strawberry, and plum aromas mixed with some pungent floral notes and a decent amount of alcohol aroma.

But how does it taste? This wine’s flavor profile is fairly simple, but powerful. The same plum, berry, and apple fruit flavors on the nose are present, but they’re dry and tart. There aren’t any bitter tannin flavors (maybe due to the fact that this wine’s almost two years old already), but there’s a strong alcohol flavor, especially for a wine that’s only % alcohol by volume.

What should I eat it with? Grilled meats, appetizers, or light dinner food. Again, pizza or spaghetti would pair well with it. Chicken parmagiana might go well, though veal parm would be a bit too rich.

How’s it look? The Vermentino looks like a light-bodied wine, with almost no legs. It’s transparent, and a brilliant yellow-green — almost like an apple juice.

How’s it smell? Musky and grassy, with some light, sweet fruit notes.

But how does it taste?  The La Cala is a red wine drinker’s white wine — dry and complex. It has tart apple and pear notes, but without any of the sweetness of most wines that hold those characteristics. Instead, this Vermentino is alkaline, with grassy notes and a bit of oak.

What should I eat with it? Roasted vegetables, seafood, or savory hors d’oeuvres would all pair well with this La Cala, if you didn’t want to drink it by itself.

Today’s wine, a 2010 Vitiano, from Italian winemaker Falesco,  utilizes Verdicchio and Vermentino grapes, two varietals of which I am altogether ignorant. This wine hails from Montecchio, which is near the geographic center of Italy (the shin of the boot, if you will.) The cursory reading I did suggests the former contributes acidic, citrus notes, and the latter provides slightly sweeter fruit flavors. The two together form a great value bottle in the $10-$12 range, with a flavor that’s both versatile and complex.

How’s it look? The color is golden yellow, with just a hint of green — reminiscent of yellow Chartreuse. When swirled, the Vitiano leaves almost no legs, suggesting that the wine has a thin body and a relatively low sugar content.

How’s it smell? The primary aromas are pear and lemon zest, with a hint of earthier scents reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc. There are no noticeable tannins, and the alcohol content is fairly smooth, considering this wine boasts a 12.5 percent alcohol content by volume.

But how does it taste? This is just a great wine, especially for the price. I’m usually a red wine drinker, but this one was complex and dry enough for me to enjoy in its own right. I got tart apple flavors and some grassy notes (again, like a sauvignon blanc), but with a bitter, vegetable alkaline base that kept this wine grounded. The wine had a light body, as expected (with very little sweetness, as expected.) I’ll pick this one up again.

What should I eat it with? I made a nice shrimp and parsnip risotto for dinner the night I sampled the Vitiano, but this wine would complement any meal that calls for a  white wine — be it an Italian meal like alfredo, fish, or chicken marsala, or something a bit more transatlantic, like a chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese, or even a grilled cheese.

Wine Category:

At one point, Santa Margherita boasted itself as the single most imported Italian Pinot Grigio into the United States. I’m not sure if that’s still the case, but it’s still popular and easy to find. I first discovered this wine when I was living in Baltimore a few years ago. Over the years, it has proven to be a consistently good Pinot Grigio.

Appearance: The wine is translucent (clear and light).

Color: It has a light yellow coloring, much like straw.

Aroma: At first I detected apples, followed by a faint sense of other citrus aromas. After my second inhale, I picked up the slight fragrance of peaches and apricots.

Flavor: This is a light-bodied wine. At first, I was hit with an intense golden apple flavor, followed by a little citrus and a hint of pear before going into the clean, crisp finish. The finish was a little empty – it was extremely brief. I wish it would have lingered just a little longer, but this was still a pleasantly refreshing wine.

Drinkability Rating: I would drink this on a semi-monthly basis. It would be more frequent if it didn’t cost so much.

Pairs Well With: I read on the producer’s website that this wine makes an excellent aperitif because it primes the palate for food; I agree that Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio is a perfect wine to serve with appetizers or before the first course. The wine also works well with fish, seafood, chicken, pork, salad and light pasta dishes.

Additional Comments: Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio is an excellent wine, but you need to be on the lookout for deals. I’ve seen it priced in wine stores anywhere from $18.00 to $27.00 per bottle. Personally, I wouldn’t pay more $20.00 retail for a bottle of this wine.

Happy sipping!

After dinner we decided to lay on the living room floor and watch Michael Clayton (read reviews of the movie in FlickRev). To go with our lounging and cinematic release, we had a bottle of Villa Conaro Prosecco Extra Dry.

For those of you who like the effervescent sensation of spumante, but do not like the heavy sweetness that comes with the bubbles, this is the bottle for you. This prosecco, which comes from Veneto, Italy, is a light straw-colored bubbly wine. My WTB and I had three or four flutes each and did not get the aftertaste or heavy feeling you get from most sparkling wines.

A sharp cheese and a baguette would be lovely partners for this delightful, moderately priced wine selection.  It also would make an excellent addition to a martini, giving a small amount of carbonation to lighten the drink.