Every 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 vacation !

Ischia Rosso. Perrazzo. 2006
This is actually one of the most interesting reds I've tasted in quite some time. First sniff was highly promising - though not that typically Italian, with a great spicy waft of cloves, cinammon, anise and liquorice. More Shiraz than Sorrento. But the first taste was a bit of a let-down. Quite hard and tannic. Definitely not a wine you'd want to sip on its own. And not that special either with either meat or cheese.

But. (There's always a but…)

This is the first and only wine I've ever tasted that goes perfectly with food in which cooked tomatoes are the predominant ingredient. And while you're debating whether to laugh scornfully or snort derisively at this statement, name me one - one - other wine that can successfully rise above the tomato's unique sweet acidity. I'll save you the trouble. There isn't one. Anywhere. And when you're talking of Italy, where tomato and wine play such pivotal roles, this is a startling realisation.

Rather than open a different bottle, I poured a glass of this Ischia Rosso to go with a thick, rich soup made of roasted tomatoes, with sweet red peppers; fresh borlotti beans; a plate of finely-shredded left-over porchetta; garlic; and a careful spoonful of hot, smoked Spanish paprika. Mediterranean fusion food !

This delicious soup has previously spelled death to all wine. But not this time. The two blended sensationally well. Same story with spaghettini and a plain tomato sauce. Ditto even with that Tuscan peasant staple pappa e pomodoro.

Don't ask How ? or Why ? Just accept and enjoy. Ischia Rosso's the 'house red' of the tiny island of Ischia that lies off Naples. This bottle comes from the Perrazzo winery - the oldest on the island, tucked away in Porto d'Ischia in the island's north-east corner - and the wine is a roughly 50-50 blend of two grapes about which I'm in absolute ignorance - Guarnaccia and Piedirosso. Don't go the the Perrazzo website seeking enlightenment. You'll find a modest list - and, unusually, prices too - of a dozen wines and a history of the winery that seems to have been last updated in 2003. 

Ischia Rosso - or at least this example - isn't a wine for modern tastes. It's far too hard and uncompromising to offer a wide appeal. It achieved DOC status in 1966 - three years after the system was instituted - but I suspect it was around and unchanged for a very long time before that. And to be honest, it's unusual and rather nice to come across such an unashamedly old style wine. Better yet that in these mass-market days, a wine of such limited appeal is still being made. If you can find it - try it.

At A Glance…

• This week's featured wine: Ischia Rosso
• Vintage: 2006
• Producer: Vini Perrazzo
• Designation: DOC
• Grape: Guarnaccia and Piedirosso blend
• Strength: 12%
• Closure: Cork
• This bottle cost: €5.24

Click on the pictures in the text for larger images - and if you like Italian wine, check out last week's 'Everyday Italian Wine' and bookmark this site for future weekly posts.

Next Week: Torre di Giano - an award-winning Umbrian white wine from a superb producer that you'll especially enjoy trying at home - and on your Villasfor2 Abruzzo vacation !

Abruzzo vacation, Everyday Italian Wine, Ischia Rosso, Villasfor2

This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 3:53 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.