Discovering Lesser-Known Italian Whites

by Laurie Daniel

Pinot Grigio

PINOT GRIGIO IS ON FIRE. Volume sales in the past three years for Pinot Grigio—also known as Pinot Gris—are up 50 percent in the United States, and although the varietal has less than 5 percent of the market share, some experts think it actually could challenge Chardonnay’s dominance (currently 20 percent) in the near term.

I’m all for white wine drinkers trying something other than Chardonnay, but Pinot Grigio? I sometimes call Pinot Grigio the white wine for people who don’t like flavor. Sure, there are some good ones, but many are insipid at best.

Given its commercial success, it’s surprising to find out that Pinot Grigio isn’t among the 20 most-planted grape varieties in Italy. It’s far outpaced, for example, by Trebbiano. And there certainly are more interesting Italian white grape varieties, ranging from Arneis to Vernaccia. As a group, these wines are crisp and refreshing, and many have an interesting minerality. They don’t rely on too much oak or super-ripe fruit, yet some still have surprising weight.

Wine lovers in the Oakland-Berkeley area are starting to discover the charms of these wines—perfect alternatives to Pinot Grigio—which are becoming more readily available in wine shops and restaurants. "I love their crisp acidity. I love their freshness," says Ray Keifetz, who works at the Rockridge branch of Vino!, a small local chain of wine stores. "I’m really crazy about Italian whites."

Trace Conway, wine buyer and general manager at Eccolo in Berkeley, likes how food-friendly these Italian whites are. The Italians, she says, "make the wines to go with the food of that region, rather than making wine for wine’s sake."

These wines, she adds, are brighter and livelier than many of those made in California. "I think you get a truer expression of the grape," she says, because the wines aren’t encumbered as much by oak. One of her favorites is Erbaluce, a white varietal from northern Piedmont. "I serve it as an alternative to Chardonnay," she says.

Peter Eastlake at Vintage Berkeley wine store loves these alternative whites and when prompted starts listing his favorites, wines like Soave, from near Verona; Inzolia, from Sicily; Falanghina, from Campania. He sells a Tamellini Soave, for example, that he praises as having a "nutty richness not derived from oak. For $14, you could put it in a blind tasting of grand cru Chablis, and it wouldn’t stand out as an oddball," says Eastlake. "For the money, it’s amazing." And, he adds, "I don’t have a Pinot Grigio in the store right now."

Eastlake’s comments about the Tamellini Soave highlight another attractive feature of these wines: You can find wines of very high quality that are affordably priced. At a tasting earlier this year in San Francisco of wines that were awarded "tre bicchieri" (three glasses) by the Gambero Rosso, Italy’s best-selling wine guide, there were three Soaves priced at $25 or less. The tre bicchieri designation is the guide’s highest accolade. (There was only one Pinot Grigio in the room, by the way.)

One thing these wines do have in common with Pinot Grigio: Most don’t improve with age. Freshness is one of their attributes. Eastlake advises that consumers shouldn’t buy anything older than 2004; 2005 is even better. "They’ve got an 18-month fun factor."