Each month, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious Special Italian Wine for you to drink and enjoy at home – or in your Abruzzo villa for two !

Colomba Platino 2007

This is one of those ultra-delicious Italian white wines that can only be drunk when it's at least 90˚ in the shade. And preferably eating outside.

And also preferably eating – or rather extended snacking – on vast plates of prosciutto and salami; artichoke hearts; ricotta made just hours ago and cut with fresh herbs and garlic; good bread; with salsicce and little lamb cutlets sizzling away contentedly over charcoal and a big bowl of fresh figs, cherries, white peaches and those little golden coscia pears.

Which is all very fine when someone else is preparing this idyllic feast. Less appealing when it's you.

That classic old Italian summer standby Tonno e Fagioli, which I've now proved you can assemble from start to first forkful during halftime in a World Cup football match, was an entirely satisfactory alternative.

And the wine. Outside high summer, it just wouldn't taste the same.

A pleasant lemony tang rises from the glass. The colour, appropriately, is of sun-bleached hay. The taste is citrus with undertones of melon and green fruit and there's a lovely long finish, dry and quite sherbet-like, which cleanses and refreshes the palate on a scorchingly hot day – but in cooler climes, might seem just a little on the sharp side.

Colomba Platino is a brand-name Sicilian white from the much-respected Duca di Salaparuta winery, which has holdings all over the island.

This comes from vineyards on the south coast of the island around the towns of Cattolica and Ribera in the province of Agrigento.

It's made from 100% Insolia grapes and though this particular bottle is from the 2007 vintage, I'd suspect younger would be better, even though this certainly hasn't suffered from hanging around in the couple of years since it was released.

It's true that if you limit your choice of Italian wine to DOC/DOCG examples, you might reckon a few centesimi shy of €10 is stiffish to pay for an IGT wine. But ignore the ratings and just ask yourself if you like it. And if the answer's yes, a case should see you through the next few hot weeks rather nicely.

At A Glance…

• This  month's 'Special Italian Wine': Colomba Platino
• Vintage: 2007
• Designation: IGT
• Grape: 100% Insolia
• Strength: 12.5%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Duca di Salaparuta
• This bottle cost €9.13

Next Month…
Not that I'm given to sweeping statements or anything, but I'll be featuring the best Italian sparkling wine I've ever drunk. Period. And a pink, fizzy, thirst-quenching, summer gulper from the Veneto. Both fantastic – and fantastic value – wines that you'll certainly enjoy drinking in your Abruzzo villa for two !

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 6:40 am and is filed under Eating and Drinking, Special Italian Wine, 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.