Sagrantino di Montefalco 'Duca Odoardo'. DOCG. 2005. Terre de la Custodia

How do you pour a bottle of wine ? Grab it by the neck and slosh it into the glass, onto the table, and over anyone who happens to be sitting nearby ?

Seize it firmly around the middle; tilt your glass and gently trickle in a thimbleful ?

I ask because this bottle of Sagrantino di Montefalco has got a generous thumb-shaped indention low down underneath the label and a similar, finger-size groove on its reverse, which makes the insouciant palm-underneath-the-bottle transfer of wine to glass perfected by sommeliers worldwide an absolute doddle.

You can decide for yourself whether this is all irredeemably precious, or an actually quite clever piece of wine bottle design.

A talking point then before we've even pulled the cork !

This Sagrantino di Montefalco is a dry, red DOCG wine from Umbria made from the Sagrantino grape.

Oddly, there's no necessity for the wine to be produced in – or even near – the original production area in the comune of Montefalco. As long as it comes from Umbria and is made of 100% Sagrantino grapes – that's good enough.

It's very tannic; very long-lived and actually rather good.

Don't confuse it with a sweet passito wine of exactly the same name (and also with DOCG status) also made in Umbria from semi-dried Sagrantino grapes

This particular bottle comes from the well-regarded Terre de la Custodia winery near Perugia under the Duca Odoardo brand-name.

It gets between a year and 15 months in wood and then sits waiting patiently before it's released 30 months after the vintage.

The makers confidently assert it'll last well in bottle for 15 years and more and with the tannins in evidence here, you wouldn't disagree.

A word of reassurance in case all this talk of tannins makes you nervous. There are tannins that make your mouth feel as though it's been coated in finely-powdered sawdust; then there are tannins that just dry and concentrate the fruit flavours into a delicious long finish.

Luckily, we're dealing with the latter here.

The colour is a deep garnet. In the glass you get wafts of violets and bramble fruit. Very classy. A sip reveals black cherries and mulberries which then linger a long, long time.

This 2005 vintage is hardly yet hitting its stride and as it will just go on improving. By the time it's run the course recommended by its makers – and provided you haven't succumbed to temptation and opened it – it will be a very special bottle indeed.

Not for drinking on its own. Roast red meats, game and strong cheeses are suggested. Or you could make a proper Welsh Rarebit – and I mean a proper Welsh Rarebit, not just slapping a slice of processed cheddar onto a piece of pre-sliced bread and sticking it under the grill – which would accompany a glass or two of this excellent wine to perfection.

At A Glance…

• This month's "Special Italian Wine": Sagrantino di Montefalco 'Duca Odoardo'
• Vintage: 2005
• Designation: DOCG
• Grape: 100% Sagrantino
• Strength: 13.5%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Terre de la Custodia
• Website: www.terredelacustodia.it
• This bottle cost: €16.29

Next Month…
The region of Alto Adige in north-east Italy is producing an increasingly interesting and impressive range of white varietals. We sample a Riesling from one of the area's best producers. It's a wine you're going to enjoy trying at home – and in your Abruzzo holiday villa !

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I don't want you to think we do nothing except go and watch resurrected rock stars and take bookings for our Abruzzo holiday villas. 

Far from it.

We've been to the opera too.

Not exactly the opera, or even an opera. More like bits of operas. Those greatest hits that you can never put a name to – and don't even realise you know – but which you can hum along to as soon as you've heard the first couple of bars.

Once a year, the town of Casalbordino – about an hour to the south of us – stages a full bells and whistles evening of opera, with a full orchestra, a choir and a palette of talented singers.

And on this occasion, not a fat lady in sight. 

Casalbordino's a pretty town and was dressed to the nines for the evening. A huge stage was set up at one end of the Piazza Umberto I right in the town centre, with the beautifully-lit church of Santo Salvatore providing a perfect backdrop.

This being Italy, it was hardly a surprise to see the names of Verdi, Puccini and Rossini writ large and the rest not exactly writ small, but more like left out altogether to make room for Donizetti and Leoncavallo.

This parade of national heroes was broken only by one grudging nod in the direction of Bizet and another to Orff. No Mozart ? No Mozart. Boo !

The talent was impressive, with the unfortunate exception of the Bass, who had what can most kindly be described as a bad day at the office. Happens to us all. But rarely as publicly.

Happily, tenor Giuliano di Filippo and mezzosoprano Chiara Chialli were both in thrilling voice and while their talents kept ears and eyes busy, touch enjoyed the feel of the chilled bottle of sparkling Pecorino; and taste and smell were more than happy with the delicious nibbles we'd brought along.

All five senses contentedly occupied. Can't often claim that.

So I've inched forward towards a full-blown, full-on opera experience. Preferably at that fantastic open-air arena in Verona.

In the meantime, Casolbordino opera on a summer evening – even with a dodgy Bass – is a pretty good alternative.

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Pecorino Frizzante, Terre di Chieti IGT. NV. Cantina Colle Moro
Rose Veneto Frizzante 'Duca della Rocca' IGT. NV. Colombara

Let's once and for all debunk the dictum that when it comes to 'special' wine, the higher the price, the better the quality.

This month we have a bottle of one of the best summer wines you're ever going to find at a scandalously low €1.45; and a bottle of the best Italian sparkling wine I've ever tasted, at a princely €4.

We discovered the sparkler on the last weekend in May, when wineries across Abruzzo open their doors and invite you in to have a look round; sample their wines; and enjoy a few nibbles.

At the Cantina Colle Moro in nearby Frisa, we were offered a taste of a wine introduced only this year, a sparkling Pecorino.

Now, as we've mentioned here before, the Pecorino grape is an old Abruzzo heritage variety, rescued from the brink of extinction in the mid-90's.

Happily, we're right in the middle of its production area and the still white has not only become a firm personal favorite, but has also replaced Trebbiano as our 'house white' that you'll find waiting for you on your arrival for a Villasfor2 holiday.

But a sparkling variety ? Using the 'Charmat Method' – in which a natural sparkle to the wine is developed in a tank, rather than, (as with champagne), in a bottle – Cantina Colle Moro have with brilliant success transformed their pretty good still Pecorino into an absolutely outstanding fizzer.

Unlike Prosecco, which at its best from the Vadobbiadene – Conegliano area of the Veneto is a wine of lightness and delicacy, Colle Moro's Pecorino Frizzante is rich and full-bodied, not a million miles away in taste from a Pinot Noir-laden champagne.

There are other similarities. A yeastiness on the nose of fresh-baked brioche and a long, dry, tingly and almost spicy finish.

Absolutely vice-free and absolutely delicious.

The only thing that made me blink was the crown cap closure – rather like a bottle of Coke. But I guess it's a logical extension to the screw cap. Regard it as a conversation piece rather than a deal-breaker.

And if that's good, wait till you taste the rose frizzante sold under the Duca della Rocca brand.

From the Colombara co-op based in the small town of Cazzano just to the west of Venice, this is a mongrel of an IGT wine containing heaven-knows-what varieties which, due to the angelic skills of a blender, have been transformed into the ultimate summer gulper.

There's not even the tiniest hint of the mean, thin, sharpness you might expect from a wine this cheap. Nor of an excess dosage of sugar to mask its deficiencies.

Instead, there's a riot of strawberries, raspberries, cherries and redcurrants, beautifully dry and silky, cascading into your glass in a fun, frothy, pink cascade that's utterly beguiling. And at only 10.5%, it won't leave you feeling sandbagged on even the most scorching summer's day.  

€1.45 ? Yes, €1.45. Silly, isn't it ?

Both this month's recommendations can happily be drunk on their own, or with any light summer food. Both are extraordinarily good and I recommend them to you.

At A Glance…

• This month's 'Special Italian Wines': Pecorino Frizzante, Terre di Chieti & 'Duca della Roca' Rose Veneto
• Vintage: Both NV
• Designation: Both IGT
• Grape: Pecorino is 100% Pecorino; Rose Veneto blend is not stated
• Strength: Pecorino – 12%; Rose Veneto – 10.5%
• Closures: Pecorino – Crown cap; Rose Veneto – Cork
• Producers: Pecorino – Cantina Colle Moro; Rose Veneto – Colombara
• Website: www.collemoro.it
• These bottles cost: Pecorino – €4; Veneto Rose – €1.45 

Next Month…
From Umbria, we sample Sagrantino di Montefalco, a much-praised DOCG red from one of the region's best producers. It's a wine you'll enjoy drinking at home – and in your Abruzzo villa for two !

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Lunch was at La Cantina di Biffi in Sulmona. Not because George had lunched there a few days before, but because it looked nice; and it was lunchtime; and the only other choice seemed to be a Chinese restaurant.

Yes, there are Chinese restaurants in Abruzzo. And though I'm sure this was a crackingly good establishment, based on our experiences so far, Chinese restaurants in Abruzzo are unremittingly awful.

Aside from being a pretty town in the mould of many other Abruzzese pretty towns, Sulmona has two key selling points: Candy and garlic.

Sulmona's justly-famous red garlic is a real garlic-lovers' garlic. Pungent and powerful. At La Cantina di Biffi they chop it – not too finely – fry it, and stir it into polenta of a sublime creaminess.

Then they spoil it by rationing you to a meagre little portion – and anything less than a kilo of this delicious unctuousness counts as 'meagre' – as part of a really rather good antipasti platter.

Quite pricey at €13 each and contributing to a bill of €70-odd. But you can't expect my good friend and distant dining partner George Clooney to eat anywhere cheap for heaven's sake.

But this – and other touches of creative pricing – might've explained why George looked a little…well…gloomy in the photo proudly produced by the cantina's owner.

He'd probably just been given the bill.

That's enough precious blog space devoted to Gloomy George. Think instead of sweeties of an almost unnatural gloss and colour artfully fashioned into cute little flower shapes.

When it comes to confectionery, what's more important: eye appeal or taste ? Whether you're an aesthete or a glutton, you'll be thrilled that Sulmona's sweeties score highly on both counts.

And not as avariciously-priced as a Cantina Biffi starter either. Had George lunched on chocolates, sugared almonds and nougat instead of fancy antipasti, he'd have been all smiles come the post-prandial photo-call.

We again contributed significantly to the profits of Sulmona's hospitality industry with sloppily-served drinks in the smart bar right opposite the Chiesa della Annunziata, watching its medieval facade getting a quick scrub-up in preparation for a visit from Pope Benedict two days later.

A visit to anywhere alongside George Clooney and the Pope. Not many people can say that.

Anyway, here's the plan: Wander round undeniably delightful Sulmona and take in the sights; buy candies and garlic. Then get in the car, drive 15 minutes or so to the lovely little village of Pacentro; and have lunch.

Osteria Maggiore and Taverna de li Caldora, though as yet untried by us, have been sampled by Vf2 Guests and given top marks. And I don't think Gloomy George has discovered them yet.

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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 !

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Fiano di Avellino DOCG, 2008. Aminea

Here's a little winey conundrum.

In April 09, we featured a bottle of Italy's new superstar DOCG white, Fiano di Avellino. From one of Campania's finest producers, this bottle cost €10.65 in a specialist wine shop.

Under the spotlight now is another bottle of DOCG Fiano di Avellino. Not from one of Campania's finest producers, this bottle cost €4.49 in a cut-price supermarket.

Question is, are they comparable ?

The expensive Fiano was a truly delicious summer white, reminiscent of a good viognier, with the same hints of peach, apricot and melon and a long, dry finish.

To be honest, the cheap Fiano doesn't suffer too much in comparison. It too is made with 100% Fiano grapes, though if your palate is as finely-tuned as Eric Clapton's Stratocaster, you might just possibly judge this a little less refined; a little less full; and with marginally shorter finish.

On the the other hand, that you can buy two bottles of the cheaper stuff for less than one bottle of the expensive brand and still have enough left over for a bag of crisps could perhaps be the crucial clincher.

Quantity and quality – not something you come across too often…

So how come one bottle costs €10.65 and the other only €4.49 ? I suspect this may be a rebottling/rebranding of a job-lot of this wine bought-up by the cut-price supermarket.

It doesn't carry the usual labelling you'd find on a 'regular' bottle of Fiano di Avellino from the producers Aminea and the fact it has a plastic cork – highly unusual for a DOCG wine – indicates it may have been round the block more than once.

Not that this in any way detracts from the wine. Let's not be wine-snobbish here and equate price with excellence.

If you're happy to pay €10.65 for a top-quality bottle of DOCG white – go right ahead. But don't turn your noses up at what's basically the same wine and, irrespective of its provenance, a rare bargain.

If you're looking for a dozen bottles of a really good Italian summer white for sipping in the shade and are prepared to stray from the well-trodden path of Pinot Grigio and Frascati, you won't find a better wine, with a better pedigree at a better price.

At A Glance…

• This month's Special Italian wine: Fiano di Avellino    
• Vintage: 2008    
• Designation: DOCG    
• Grape: 100% Fiano    
• Strength: 12.5%    
• Closure: Plastic cork    
• Producer: Aminea    
• This bottle cost: €4.49

Next Month…
It's been a while since we featured a Sicilian wine, so we'll be sampling a bottle of an IGT white from one of the island's oldest and most respected producers. It's a wine made for summer drinking that you'll enjoy sampling at home – and in your Abruzzo villa for two.

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Taurasi 'Radici' DOCG. Mastroberardino. 2005

Taurasi is the wine that finally dispelled the old myth that no Italian red wine of any note is produced south of Tuscany.

Aglianico del Vulture from Basilicata is good; Taurasi, from neighboring Campania and also made from the aglianico grape, is better. Much better.

Taurasi owes its name to the region where it's produced within Campania and this particular offering comes from the Mastroberardino winery that for years, practically single-handed, carried the banner of Campania wines into the worldwide market.

Taurasi was awarded DOCG status in the early 1990s and since then, its popularity – especially outside Italy – has soared, with a corresponding hike in prices.

It's not a wine for the faint-hearted. Rich, powerful and profound. Think of a kind of southern Barolo and you won't be far wide of the mark.

Scents of mulberries and black pepper provided the initial impression. The first taste was tannic – a legacy of the 18 months this wine spent in oak before bottling. It really will repay decanting a couple of hours before drinking to soften the edges a little and this bottle of the (pretty good) 2005 vintage could quite easily have lain in a rack improving for at least a couple more years before opening.

Once those tannins have been allowed to mellow a little, you're left with a wine that simply improves with every sip. That first impression of mulberries and pepper developing with hints of dark chocolate and wild mushrooms and lingering with a long, dry finish.

Definitely not a wine to drink on its own. Definitely a wine to partner roast meat and rich braises. Or in this particular instance, a perfect medium-rare sirloin steak. With chips. (And why not ?)

Once upon a time, Taurasi was a pretty decent – and much cheaper – 'secret' alternative to Barolo. The best Barolo still fetches nose-bleedingly high prices both retail and restaurant, but lower down the pecking order, prices between the two wines is now much of a muchness.

It basically comes down to personal preference, but if you haven't yet tried Taurasi on the basis of an unbroken loyalty to Barolo, give it a try – and do it soon.

At A Glance…

• This month's Special Italian wine: Taurasi 'Radici'
• Vintage: 2005
• Designation: DOCG
• Grape: 100% Aglianico
• Strength: 13.5%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Mastoberardino
• Website: www.mastroberardino.com/eng/index.asp
• This bottle cost: €21

Next Month…
We're staying in Campania to revisit the region's best white wine Fiano di Avellino DOCG. And with a specific question in mind. Can a bottle of this wine from a cut-price supermarket chain possibly compare with another costing virtually twice as much ? Is it really a wine you'll enjoy drinking in your Abruzzo villa for two – or one to forget ?

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Passerina Tullum DOC. 2008. Feudo Antico

'Here' said my friends Nick and Michele, handing me a heavy, chunky bottle. 'This is the best white wine we've ever tasted in Italy.'

They've conducted such exhaustive research on the subject, that this was an opinion to be respected.

But Passerina from the Tullum DOC region ? Feudo Antico ? No, I'd never heard of them either.

Curiosity was further aroused by the old-fashioned, heavy foil capsule around the neck; and the tiny, minimalist, duck egg-blue label. And as for the taste…

Actually, the taste had to wait for a few hours while the bottle chilled-out in the fridge. Which allowed time to find the answers to a few questions.

Centred around the small town of Tollo in Abruzzo – about 15 miles from Villasfor2 – Tullum (the Roman name for Tollo) is Italy's newest DOC region, attaining this status in the summer of 2009. Most wine guides/blogs/sites haven't yet caught up with this, hence the dearth of info.

Tullum's also Italy's smallest DOC. Only wine made from grapes grown inside the boundaries of the Tollo comune qualify for DOC status and the initial annual production run is a miniscule 66,000 litres.

To put this amount in more meaningful perspective, it wouldn't even come close to filling Villasfor2's decent – but hardly Olympic-size – swimming pool. It's a drop in the worldwide wine ocean.

But a pretty good drop nevertheless.

Passerina's yet another of those heritage Italian grapes – especially white – that have in recent years been dragged back from the brink of extinction and brought back into production.

Abruzzo's own (rightly) much-lauded Pecorino is the prime example here and another hit could be in the offing with this Passerina from the new Feudo Antico winery.

It's a wine that'll surprise you. The bouquet has the unmistakable petrol whiff of a good riesling; and there are distinct echoes of a good riesling in the taste too, rich, fragrant and slightly minerally, with that unmistakable cut of clean, refreshing acidity.

And like Riesling, I'd think this would age well too. Though perhaps not for the decades over which a great riesling can improve. No need to panic should you come across – say – a five year-old bottle.

Are Riesling and Passerina related ? I wouldn't have thought so – but to me at any rate, there were such similarities, that maybe a shared fragment or two of DNA lurks somewhere in the glass.

Such is the microscopic size of the production run, you may have to wait until you visit Italy in general – or Abruzzo in particular – to try it.

A pretty good reason for booking an Abruzzo villa holiday I'd say !

At A Glance…

• This month's 'Special Italian Wine': Tullum Passerina
• Vintage: 2008
• Designation: DOC
• Grape: 100% Passerina
• Strength: 13.5%
• Closure: Cork
• Producer: Feudo Antico
• Website: www.feudoantico.com
• This bottle was a gift – but the indicated price is around €10.

Next Month…

All Italy's very best red wines come from either Piedmont and Tuscany. All that is, except one. Taurasi DOCG is from the sun-baked slopes of Campania and in April, we'll be tasting a bottle from one of the region's finest producers. It's a wine to savour both at home – and in your Abruzzo villa for two.

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A little background. In February 2008 I began a series of weekly wine blogs called David's Everyday Italian Wine, featuring wines costing under €10 a bottle.

A year and some 50 bottles of everyday Italian wine later, this series had pretty much run its natural course and morphed into the monthly David's Special Italian Wine, raising the price bar to wines costing over €10 a bottle.

The instant observation is that paying over €10 a bottle provides a quantum leap in quality ahead of those wines costing maybe just a few Euros less.  The wines below all fall into the good/better/best category and most provide stunning value for money – far better than you'd get from an equivalent-priced bottle in France.

In February 2009, we started off the series with Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOC. 'Il Fondatore' 2003. Cantina Miglianico. I've long had a soft spot for Miglianico and although their top-of-the-range offering isn't yet up in the super-league of premier Montepulciano D'Abruzzo wines, it's still a terrifically good bottle.

In March, a taste test. How did 'ordinary' Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, 'Le Casere'. DOC. DVS Co-Op stand up to the more highly rated (and much more expensive) Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, Superiore di Cartizze, 'Tenimenti Dogali'. DOC. MVS Co-Op ? The answer ? Very well. The Cartizze's excellent. But for the same money, I'd rather have a couple of bottles of 'Le Casere'. And some loose change left over.

The new superstar Italian white Fiano di Avellino. DOCG 2007. Mastroberardino came under the spotlight in April. More on Italian whites in a moment – this bottle was extraordinarily fine.

The town of Montalcino in Tuscany is renowned as the home of Brunello. As we discovered in May, for less money – much, much less – the town's 'second growth' Rosso di Montalcino 'La Magia' DOC 2006. Schwarz is a highly acceptable alternative.

In June, July and August, we looked at whites to drink in summer: Soave Classico 2007. DOC. Tommasi Viticoltori; Greco di Tufo DOCG, 2007.Mastroberardino; and Pinot Grigio. Venezia Giulia IGT. 2008. Jermann.

For me, it's the development of white wines – especially from Campania in southern Italy – that really captures the imagination right now. The region produces two oustanding DOCG whites in Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo – as well as the stellar red Taurasi DOCG.(Which we'll be trying out very soon…)

The production of classic Italian reds, all situated in Tuscany and northwards, is estabished, traditional and settled. Why fiddle around with wine that sells in crateloads worldwide and commands premium prices ? Why indeed…

Not so with production of white wine, which has become dynamic and innovative, with excellent production techniques and the reintroduction of many heritage variety grapes. This all provides an infinitely more exciting range of wines than NZ SauvBlancs and endless and depressing rows of Chardonnay and Pinot Grigrio and for now, at incredible value.

After the summer excursion into white wine, in September, we were back with the reds – Barbaresco. DOCG. 2005. Terredavino. Safe ground really. Barbaresco's a bit under-valued and this was a grown-up and good value bottle.

The onset of autumn in October provided one of the hits of the year. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. DOCG. 1998. Talosa. Pure good fortune to find a very good wine, from a very good year, at a very good price, eleven years after the vintage. Peak condition and utterly delicious.  

In November and December, we suggested a couple of wines for Christmas. Pantelleria Passito Liquoroso. DOC. 2008. Cantine Pellegrino really did provide the perfect accompaniment to everything from creamy young gorgonzola, to Pannetone, and very English Christmas pudding, mince pies, dates and walnuts.

On Christmas Day itself, Barolo. DOCG. 2004. Fontanafredda just drank like a dream with a crown roast of turkey and all the traditiona trimmings. Fontanafredda is a terrifically good producer – as I never tire of saying, proof that 'big' doesn't necessarily equal 'bad'. Their wines across the board are of consistently excellent standard and keenly priced. For around €18, this Barolo was unbeatable.

And so to January 2010 and another new white. If Campania is leading the way in this field, the good news for us is that Abruzzo's not far behind. Pecorino 'Unico' IGT. 2008. Tenuta Ulisse is made from a recently rediscovered heritage grape variety, laden with fruit, locally-produced and really rather good.

The best ? A coin-toss between this Pecorino and the Fiano di Avellino if you're after a white; between the Talosa Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the Fontanafredda Barolo for the reds. Your choice. Tough call…

Next Month…

Back on the tasting trail with something of a scoop – a wine from Italy's newest and smallest DOC region – right here in Abruzzo. It's a white wine – and one you'll definitely enjoy drinking at home, or in your Abruzzo holiday villa.

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I came across this little widget that allows you to run simple polls and questionnaires on your website or blog.

And in a moment of idle curiosity, I thought it'd be fun to run a poll to see what everyone's favourite Italian food was.

Lasagna ? Pizza ? Spaghetti Bolognese ? Parma Ham ? Risotto ? Easy !

"Hold on a minute," said Pauline. "What about Spaghetti Carbonbara ? All those lovely salami and cheeses ? Minestrone ? Canneloni ? Osso Bucco ? Chicken Cacciatore ? Aubergines and Artichokes ? Tisamisu ? What about ice cream for heaven's sake !"

"Good point," I replied quickly as she paused for breath.

We eventually ended -up with a 'What's Your Favourite Italian Food ?' poll with about thirty-odd choices. Which was a little…unwieldy.

So, to coin a cooking metaphor, the idea went onto the back burner and instead, I posted the topic onto the LinkedIn professional networking site.

Two weeks later, the pattern of answers is clear. Everyone in the world – well, OK, everyone who subscribes to LinkedIn – loves Italian food: everyone has a special favourite.

And they're pretty well all different.

Pasta in all its many guises: Carbonara; Alla Vongole; Pesto; Puttanesca; Arrabiata. Bistecca alla Fiorentina. Crostini. Beef braised in Barolo. Bruschetta. Polenta (Polenta ?). Fritto Misto. Gnocchi. Carpaccio. Bressaola.

And Pizza. Lots and lots of different types of pizza. From Quattro Formaggi to Calzone.

And that's just a…er…taste.

What all this entirely unscientific research points to is that the mere mention of a favourite Italian food brings a smile to the face in a way that few – any ? – national cuisines can match.

You just can't imagine anyone coming over misty-eyed at the mention of Coq au Vin or Crepes Suzettes; or Paella; or Frankfurters and Sauerkraut.

When it comes to the ultimate comfort food Italian food seems to be in a class of its own.

What's your favourite ?

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