Chosing wine at an Italian restaurant

Italian wine has come a long way in the last thirty years. For example Chianti in  Sixties and Seventies Britain was a cheap wine in raffia covered flasks, but it has now grown into a  well regulated and finely crafted wine that belongs to Italy’s strictest wine classification DOCG, a guarantee of quality that it shares with only five other big Italian wines: Barolo, Brunello, Vino Nobile, Barbaresco and one white wine, Albana di Romagna.

Italy’s wine growers have refined their grape varieties and wine-making to produce a huge number of world class wines. Italian restaurants in Britain can choose from 450 traditional DOC wines, the six DOCG big players and a growing number of new designer wines, such as Tignanello and Solaia, created for the world market by innovative wine makers in the best growing areas.

When you are choosing an Italian wine to go with your meal in a restaurant, it helps to consider what you will be eating so that the wine can complement your food. The big red wines are delicious but can overwhelm the subtle flavours of a delicate pasta sauce or seafood. They are best matched with a hearty red meat dish or game.

Italy produces a whole range of white wines that go perfectly with antipasti, seafood and light pasta sauces. Smooth, dry Frascati Superiore, rich, fruity Pinot Grigio, or crisp and elegant Gavi di Gavi are but a few of the whites you could choose to start with.

If you prefer red wine and want to choose one to go throughout the meal, a medium bodied Valpolicella or Chianti Classico can take you from a full-flavoured tomato based pasta dish through to a main meat course, working well with both.

To drink the big red wines like Barolo, Amarone Classico or Brunello di Montalcino, if makes sense to choose a main course of red meat or game which will complement the rich aged flavours of those wines. Select a white wine to accompany your antipasto and primo and then experience how well Italian food and wine go together as your Brunello is effortlessly complemented by the rich taste of a perfectly cooked steak or a venison casserole.

Ask your wine waiter for suggestions and enjoy a taste exploration of Italy through its wines, trying a different one each time you eat out, with so many subtle flavours and different grape varieties, and plenty of very different wine producing regions it will be a satisfying journey that you’ll keep coming back to.

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