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

Pinot Grigio. 2007. Villa Dolt, Friuli
OK – let's get the giggles about the name out of the way first. Yes, it is a little…unfortunate, but thankfully the wine's good.

Along with Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio is the white wine that tends to get ordered by the glass more than any other. It's safe, reliable and familiar.

And boring ? Well, yes it can be actually, so it always comes as a pleasant surprise to find an example that's raised its sights a bit, (or in this case, considerably), and hasn't been made for delivery to its point of sale in a 10-litre barrel and chugged as an almost-unnoticed accompaniment to cigarettes, crisps and chat.

Pinot Grigio's widely-grown throughout Italy. This comes from the Grave DOC region of Friuli, up in Italy's north-east, bordering Slovenia. 

The scent and taste of apples predominates here. The bouquet is light and floral; the taste similarly light and clean with quite a long finish reminiscent of a freshly-picked crisp, juicy green apple. Just a little hint of bite and acidity that stops the whole package becoming too soft and bland. The colour a pale, almost neutral, gold – like sundried hay.

This is a pleasingly versatile wine you'll enjoy drinking on its own – but unlike so much Pinot Grigio, this example has the character to go well with food. I think it'd be a pretty good partner to some dishes that don't normally go too well with wine, like one of the milder, creamier curries – a Korma or a Passanda for example. 

Pinot Grigio is a wine that deserves to shake off its 'house white' tag and a well-made example like this will help it achieve that aim. You can find out more about this wine, plus where it comes from and other wine too from the Friuli Grave DOC region here.

At A Glance…

• This week's featured wine: Pinot Grigio
• Vintage: 2007
• Producer: Villa Dolt
• Designation: Friuli Grave DOC
• Grape: 100% Pinot Grigio
• Strength: 12%
• Closure: Cork
• This bottle cost: €4.29

Click on the pictures in the text for larger images – and if you like Italian wine, why not check out last week's 'Everyday Italian Wine' – a really terrific Langhe Nebbiolo – and bookmark this site for future weekly posts.

Next Week: We're back in Tuscany to give one last chance to Chianti Classico. We've already had one disaster with a corked bottle, so let's hope this offering redeems the region's reputation and gives us a wine you'll really enjoy drinking at home and of course on your Villasfor2 Abruzzo villa vacation !

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 4:00 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.