What We Have Been Drinking—European Edition (8/23/23)

Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

This past week has been a busy one: my wife and younger son, Sebastian, left my older son (Nathan) and me in Lyon to fly back to Houston. Just a few hours later, Nathan and I boarded a series of trains to get to first Como, Italy, then we crossed into Switzerland to visit Lugano then Zermatt. As you might have imagined, I managed to have a bit of wine as well.

2022 Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis, Tuscany, Italy: Retail 25€, Restaurant 38€. My son and I just arrived in Como, on the banks of the eponymous lake after a week in France and Switzerland. The six hour train from Lyon was long and essentially devoid of any decent food so we were hungry. I found a quaint place not far from the lake and ordered this as I am a fan of the grape and region (does Arneis exist outside of Tuscany? Good question). We started with some Iberico ham. Holy mother of Jesus. Then Linguine Carbonara—the first of the trip that rivals my own, and then a caprese. Whoa. The wine? Fantastic. Light to medium straw in the glass with lemon, yes, but also green apple and some earth, curiously. The palate is tart, even bracing, with a good balance of fruit and minerality. The fruit never quite catches up to the acid, but this is a delight. Excellent. 92 Points.

A theme for the trip was certainly Carbonara, as it is Nathan’s all-time favorite dish that I make. He kept saying mine is better, but I am pretty sure he was just being nice.

2020 Donnafugata Sul Vulcano Etna Bianco DOC, Sicily, Italy: Retail 24€, Restaurant 49€. 100% Carricante. I would have to go back and check, but I am pretty sure that I have written more about the wines from Donnafugata than any other Italian producer, and it is likely not close. I fell in love with the wines and the people of Donnafugata on two separate visits to Sicily, an island where I hope to soon return. So even though I was nowhere near Sicily, when I saw this on a menu in Como, I did not hesitate (although the restaurant price was a bit high for Europe, but I digress). Carricante might not only be my favorite Sicilian white variety, it may be my favorite in all of Italy (but that will require decades of further research, naturally). Brilliant straw color in the glass with bright fruit: Asian pear, green apple, and lemon rind. There is also a distinct mineral note that carries over to the palate which is quite tart initially followed by fruit and that mineral aspect returns to dominate the lingering finish. Excellent. 92 Points.

2021 Anselmi San Vincenzo, Veneto, Italy: Retail 18€, Restaurant 39 CHF. 70% Garganega, 15% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Chardonnay. It was our first night in Lugano, a town I had not been to in literally decades. I loved it back then and my first impressions this second go-around certainly confirmed my long-held adoration. For dinner, I found a little hole in the wall called La Tinèra, which specialized in local dishes, but the only local wines they had were all red, so I opted for this wine with which I also have a long history–I met Lisa Anselmo several times in New York back when we were living on the East Coast. No sooner did we sit down, the rain started falling, so we scurried inside and downstairs into a little sweat box of a dining room. The menu itself, the actual physical menu, was a mess, as it was littered with absolutely horrific pictures of the food. I usually shy away from restaurants that include photos in the menu but I had a good vibe about this place, and it was late enough that we had very few other options. I actually opted for the dish that had the absolute worst picture in the menu. By a lot. I am not quite sure why, but the server, a guy who had to be 93, assured me it was good. He was spot on. The melon and prosciutto was fantastic and my Luganiga al cartoccio, essentially a local sausage with risotto, the dish with the horrendous photo, was incredible. So much so that I considered going back to the same restaurant the following night, sweating my brains out in the cellar, AND ordering the same damned thing. It was that good. The wine? Oh yeah. The Anselmi. One of my favorite Italian producers and this is their flagship wine. Straw, on the verge of yellow with mostly tree fruit, pear and apricot but also some lemon and kiwi, interestingly. The palate is pretty forward and powerful with a quick shot of fruit followed by an intense acidity. The wine finishes well, lingering long enough so as to ponder my lunches with Lisa Anselmi, however many years ago. Excellent. 91 Points.

Believe it or not, but my photo of this fantastic dish is waaaaay better than the one in the menu.

2022 Terre di Gudo Bianco di Merlot, Ticino DOC, Switzerland: Retail 20 CHF, Restaurant 45 CHF. It was our last night in Lugano, a city I had not visited in at least 20 years. I really wanted to take my college junior son here since he is spending his first semester in Lyon, France. I hoped to spark his nascent wanderlust with a town that not many Americans know but is a true jewel. Whether or not that happens (fingers crossed) remains to be seen but one thing was certain: on our last night here, I was going to have a bottle of white Merlot. Ticino, where Lugano is situated in Switzerland, produces almost exclusively red wine, and almost all of it is Merlot. There is some Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, apparently, but recently white Merlot has surfaced. A bit of color, maybe yellow with a slight red tint in the glass? And the nose is a mélange of apple and red fruit (or is that my mind playing tricks?) along with a hint of tropical (pineapple). The palate is balanced, with nice fruit, a peppy zing, and an above average finish. I perseverated over this wine for a while, wondering if it appealed to me more due to its novelty or its merits. I landed on the latter. Excellent. 90 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: Trying to select a Wine of the Week this go around is essentially akin to choosing between Lake Como and Lake Lugano. Both have incredible view and charming towns and the food in each city was incredible. But. If I had to choose, I think I would opt for Lago di Lugano. The surrounding mountains are more dramatic, the city is more vibrant, and the food, quite honestly, we found to be just a little better. Besides, Lago di Como already has George Clooney, the lake is big, but it can’t handle both of us. With that in mind, along with the fact that I try very hard to drink locally as much as I can, the 2022 Terre di Gudo Bianco di Merlot, comes from Bellinzona, a mere 30k from where we enjoyed it.