Santo Stefano 2008 Pinot Grigio

I'm not a Pinot Grigo fan.  So much of what passes as acceptable is rather weak and tasteless.  But there are exceptions.  The other night, Mary produced a wonderful dinner consisting of a pan fried veal chop with sweet peppers and onions, with a sweet potato and mushrooms as perfect side dishes.  The wine at hand was a Santo Stefano 2008 Pinot Gregio.  This wine comes from the Veneto region.  It was a very pleasant surprise.  It was crisp, lively, with nice fruit and an almost honey flavor.  The finish was long and elegant, very fresh and exciting.  At first taste the fruit exploded to the roof of my mouth and lingered downwards.  It was straw colored with an odd pinkish hue.  Very different.  The Wine Grapevine  reviewed it very favorably:

"The De Stefani family have been tending their vines and producing wines for four generations in the Veneto region.Their Pinot Grigio is produced from grapes from their Pra' Longo estate and their belief is that the clay soil there, combined with its proximity to both the sea and the mountains, gives the wine a unique character and produces impressive complexity and depth of flavour. Its delicate and elegant nose offers attractive fresh fruit, which follows through to a rich, smooth, full-bodied palate. Although the sumptuous fruit dominates, there is underlying nuttiness to add interest and it feels smooth and well-balanced throughout the long, flavoursome finish."

I recommend this wine.  It's enjoyable and gives much more than the usual Pinot Gregio.  You will enjoy the price, as well. 

Ruffino Orvieto Classico 2008

Mary and I opened a Ruffino Orvieto Classico, 2008 for lunch today. It was surprisingly good with crisp acidity and a wonderfully floral bouquet. At first it showed a strong hint of green apple but later it turned to a lush scent and taste of ripe pear. The finish was long and opulent. Most surprising was the subtle taste of honey and hints of lemon zest which were complimented by great balance and structure. We had found the 2007 vintage rather bitter and unappealing. What a nice surprise on a snowy winter's day. Oh, and it's very affordable at around $10.00. I highly recommend this wine for nice light dishes.  

Ruffino Orvieto Classico is 50% Procanico, 30% Grechetto, 10% Verdello, and 10% Canailol Bianco.  Vinification is all stainless steel.  No oak here.   

This wine begs for fish dishes such as scallops, shrimp, flounder in butter sauce, etc.  Its crisp acidity does wonders for all fish based recipes.  We actually had it today with a home made guacamole dip made from fresh avocado.   It was superb and complemented the oily base of the avocado. We normally have this wine on a warm, summer's day but it showed itself well during mid-winter.  This is clearly the sign of a versatile and pleasing wine. 

I hope you enjoy this wine as much as we did.  Give it a try.