Italy's Beaujolais is as rare as good chicken
 Share
|
Email
Print
|
Italy's Beaujolais is as rare as good chicken
I always look for excuses to order light-bodied red wines, which can span a far wider variety of dishes than big reds (from, say, veal shoulder to tuna tartare), and they’re ideal with chicken. But they’re tricky. Sometimes they seem too thin, or astringent, or plain wimpy.
On a recent trip to Piedmont, the Italian region known for its weighty reds, I was reminded of how much I like Grignolino, the Beaujolais of Italy. It’s fresh and lively, with bright acidity and enough tannin to give it substance (the name is from a dialect word for pips—seeds—which contain tannin), and it has a light body that suits it to white meat. Grignolino was long a wine of the aristocracy, and is said to be a favorite of the Piedmont-based Agnelli family, the modern-day aristocracy of Italy. But very few Grignolino vines survived the late-nineteenth-century phylloxera epidemic, and today just 1 percent of Piedmont vineyards are planted with them. Luckily, the handful of producers who do make Grignolino take special care with it, and one of the most highly regarded, Accornero, sells its Bricco del Bosco Grignolino at Smith & Vine, in Brooklyn, New York (718-243-2864, www.smithandvine.com). Find a bottle, try it with an heirloom bird, and you’ll be supporting several endangered species. —
AP
|
Submit Your Photos of America at Work
Send us your images of friends, family, and neighbors on the job. We'll publish the best. Read more › |
The History of Thomas Edison
This Must Be the Place: Byun
Video Documentary: The Impact of a Principal
James Fallows on Obama's first term, Raymond Bonner on the death penalty, Christopher Hitchens on G.K. Chesterton, and more
Browse back issues of The Atlantic that have appeared on the Web. From September 1995 to the present, the archive is essentially complete, with the exception of a few articles, the online rights to which are held exclusively by the authors.
See All Back Issues: September 1995
How the iPhone Is and Is Not Like a Chipotle Burrito
Salamanders, Ponytails, and Valentine's Day Drinking
Behold, 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'
Carla Bruni to Represent the Working Class
Why America Keeps Getting More Conservative
Should Building Taller Be Much, Much Easier?
Join the Discussion
After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus