Each Saturday, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious, top-value 'Everyday Italian Wine' for you to try at home - or enjoy on your Abruzzo holiday !

Vipra Rossa. 2006. Bigi
In the normal course of events, faced with the choice of all the fantastic wines that Italy has to offer, you're not going to get wildly excited by something called Red Viper, even if it does come from the highly-prestigious Bigi winery in Orvieto. But if you can see through the marketing hype - and let's face it, you're buying the bottle for the wine inside, not the branding outside - you're going to find you've got hold of an excellent example of modern Italian wine-making.

This is a thoroughly engaging, well-made and utterly vice-free Sangiovese and Merlot blend. The Sangiovese gives it that authentic Italian hit of sunshine and red cherries; the presence of Merlot adds to that big waft of fruit coming from the glass and in the mouth provides a typically plummy overlay and softens the finish. 

At a reasonably gentle 13%, this is a wine that definitely punches above its weight. It'll hold its own admirably with big red meat and robust pasta dishes - and even that wedge of pungent cheese you've chosen to go with your final glass. And a big plus - this drinks perfectly well on its own when you fancy 'just a glass of red'.

Ever on the lookout for what to recommend when you're staying in our villas for two, I'm seeing more and more of these blends on the shelves here in Abruzzo - especially from the big wineries - as they look to broaden their output away from the traditional DOC varieties. And therein lies a problem. With Italian wine production and labelling laws so restrictive and convoluted they make Germany look laid-back in comparison, non-traditional blends like this sangiovese/merlot mix can never attain DOC status, irrespective of quality.

It can call itself IGT - Indicazione Geografica Tipica - which is a grudging step-up from the former classification of mere 'vino da tavola' - but it fails to address the anomaly that any wine, however good, falling even fractionally outside Italy's rigid DOC laws is doomed to be officially regarded as plonk. 

Not that this wine aspires to greatness, but we'll all have tasted DOC wines considerably worse. You'll either be tickled or not by the branding - though you'd have to be a bit po-faced not to be just a tiny bit amused by the scarlet viper's fangs on the capsule. Just remember not to judge the book by the cover…

At A Glance…

• This week's featured wine: Vipra Rossa
• Vintage: 2006
• Producer: Bigi
• Designation: IGT
• Grape: Merlot/Sangiovese blend
• Strength: 13%
• Closure: Cork
• This bottle cost: €4.49

Click on pictures in text for  larger images - and you like Italian wine, why not check out last week's 'Everyday Italian Wine' - and bookmark this site for future weekly posts

Next week: Frascati Superiore - the white wine of Rome from one of the very best producers for you to try at home; or in Rome - or on your villas for two Abruzzo holiday  !

Abruzzo holiday, Everyday Italian Wine, villas for two

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 1:13 am and is filed under David's 'Everyday Italian Wine', Eating and Drinking, Vineyards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.