Saturday, July 2nd

Wines of Veneto
1:00 - 3:00

Getting to know Italian wines can be a nearly full time job! There are over 350 unique indigenous grapes in Italy, (at least), and over 400 recognized appellations. This makes learning Italian wines in depth to be a daunting task, but there are ways to get break the information down into manageable units. A good way to start is to realize that each of Italy's 20 major regions tend to specialize in a few primary wines, and that's a great place to start. For this week, we'll look at wines from Italy's Veneto region in the Northeast of the country. Veneto administratively forms part of the Triveneto zone, along with its smaller neighbors Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In terms of geography, culture and wine styles, it represents a transition between the alpine, Germano-Slavic end of Italy and the warmer, drier, more Roman lands to the south. Veneto is slightly smaller than Italy's other main wine-producing regions, yet it generates more wine than any of them. Italy’s best known sparkling wine Prosecco comes from this region, and we will taste a very old school, tradition style on Saturday. The ever popular Pinot Grigio is probably the most widely planted grape in the region, and we will sample one of our favorites that we’ve been working with for well over 10 vintages. We will finish up with two varieties that you might not associate with Italy – Pinot Bianco, better known in areas such as Alsace, France as Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Nero, the amazing Pinot Noir grape revered in Burgundy and other areas. Both are excellent examples of the success the Veneto has had with international grape varieties. Our good friend Jen Salomé of the Haw River Wine Man will be on hand to guide us through. So if you are in town for the holiday weekend we hope you will spend part of it with us!

Bele Casel Prosecco Col Fondo
Asolo DOCG, NV

Bidoli Pinot Grigio
Friuli Grave DOC, 2020

Cantina Colterenzio Pinot Bianco ‘CORA’
Suditrol Alto Adige DOC, 2021

Cantina Colterenzio Pinot Nero
Suditrol Alto Adige DOC, 2020