You won’t find deep “verticals” of Grignolino in collectors’ cellars. This isn’t that kind of wine. No, this is the kind of wine you’d find vineyard workers drinking with their lunch during harvest. It’s also the kind of wine you’ll find on by-the-glass lists at cool wine bars.
Native to the Monferrato hills of Italy’s Piedmont region, Grignolino produces bright, spicy, ultra-refreshing reds that aren’t designed to win trophies. It may well have disappeared in favor of Merlot and Cabernet had wine-drinking fashion not shifted (at least a little) back toward the authentic and autochthonous. Now is the perfect time for this wine, not just because it is fall and this is brimming with ‘autumnal’ flavors of cranberry and warm spice, but because, in a broader sense, wine drinkers have embraced the pleasures of lighter-bodied red wine. Do you enjoy reds like Poulsard from the Jura? German Pinot Noir? Vicara’s 2017 Grignolino del Monferatto Casalese is right up your alley. Mine too—I can’t stop drinking the stuff!
As is often the case on Italian wine labels, the “del” or “di” (meaning “of,” or “from”) is a tipoff: Grignolino is the grape, Monferrato Casalese is the place, and both factor into the DOC name. Monferrato Casalese is a town in the hills between Asti and Alessandria, whose star grape variety is Barbera (not Nebbiolo, as in the hills further south around Alba). The name Grignolino is derived from a Piedmontese dialect word for “pip,” or “seed,” as it is a variety with lots of seeds, giving it an extra jolt of tannin. At the same time, Grignolino is not deep in color pigmentation or extract, so it tended to take a back seat to Barbera.
But its charms—bright, floral aromatics, refreshing tart strawberry fruit—have not gone unnoticed. Some subscribers may recall that Grignolino dominated the first Napa vineyard Joe Heitz purchased in the early 1960s (Heitz Cellars still makes sought-after Grignolino red and rosé). Generally speaking, though, Grignolino has not strayed far from home—like so many native Italian grapes, it’s not just region-specific but province-specific!
Vicara, meanwhile, is short for Visconti, Cassinis, and Ravizza—three long-established Monferrato families who merged their respective farms into one back in 1992. Farming about 40 hectares of vines in total, one of their missions has been to rehabilitate the image of Grignolino through more conscientious farming (they have been working biodynamically for many years) and careful treatment in the cellar. In the past, the variety was over-cropped and under-appreciated, relegated to ‘simple quaffer’ status. Today’s wine demonstrates just how much more it is capable of.
Fermented in stainless steel, then aged about four months in bottle before release, the 2017 Vicara Grignolino is an ethereal melding of bright, brambly fruit and mineral tension. In the glass, it’s a pale, brickish red with salmon-pink highlights, with aromas of wild strawberry, cranberry, red apple, white pepper, leather, crushed rocks, and underbrush. Light-bodied and low in alcohol, it has enough tannin and acid to make it a great match for food, and boy does it go down easy: This being the time of year for Thanksgiving wine recommendations, I submit this. Not only are its flavors complementary, its lightweight frame offers maximum versatility (it would also make a fantastic aperitif or first-course red). But whether its turkey with stuffing or something else (see attached) serve this slightly chilled (about 55 degrees, which will soften the acid and bring the fruit to the fore) in Burgundy stems and keep a few bottles handy. If your guests include some wine geeks, don’t be surprised if this is the first wine gone—even if there are some trophies on the table. Don’t miss it!
