Dear Travelers,<BR> Does anyone have suggestions as to their favorite wines in Italy, esp wines not available in most of the US?<BR>Thank you,<BR>Geoff<BR>

Learning the wines of Italy is essentially as big a task as learning the wines of France.<BR><BR>One of my own personal favorites is Teroldego Rotaliano - - a spicy, jet-black red, vaguely similar to some Zinfandels or Syrahs. It's a varietal from the Trento region, in Alto Adige.<BR><BR>Great Pinot Grigios from this region also.<BR><BR>The "big Cadillac" wines are from the Piemonte, and from Chianti.<BR><BR>But there are great wines everywhere.<BR><BR>See some of the previous posts here which you can find under "enoteca".<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

topping, for GR<BR>

Aren't the Teroldego Rotaliano's a bit on the mellower side, i.e. their permitted alcohol contents is 11.5% (and up, of course). Suggest you try once the full bodied Chianti's. E.g. the Mazzei vinery in the tiny village of Fonterutoli (4 km south of Castelina in Chianti, on route 222).

My suggest is to consider that the best Italian wines are not only in Piemonte and Tuscany but, in my opinion, in South of Italy, too. Problem, or happy problem for the incumbent buyers, is that they aren't well known. Look at wines coming from Abruzzo, Campania and Sicilia.<BR>Feel free e-mail me for further news.<BR>

Vicenzo is very right. Campania is home to great wines. Lacryma Christi, Fiano di Avelino and Taurasi are Campanian wines known in the US. But there is wine grown all over the region. <BR><BR>I have fallen in love with Ischia Bianco. Its grown on Ischia, an island in the bay of Napoli. Ischia Bainco has a very tangy characteristic that reminds me of lime and minerals. Its just perfect with fish and pastas with olive oil sauces. They are near impossible to find in the US so I always drink them when I can find them in Sorrento/Naples. The neatest part about Ischia Bianco is that they are very reasonably priced. I have yet to pay over L40,000 for truly outstanding wines.<BR>

Rex,Eli,Vincenzo,dean,<BR> Thank you all (Rex, I knew that I could count on you) for your help! Any other thoughts? We can get a certain number of decent Italian wines in the Pittsburgh area but, just as the California vineyards do not ship some of their better wines, so I figured that the same is true in Italy. It would be nice to try them there and perhaps bring back "a few bottles" of our favorites.<BR> Great day and thank you to all.<BR>Geoff R. <BR>

I like "big reds" so I favor Amarone from the Valpolicella Area and Borollo from Chianti. I was recently introduced to Sagrantino a little-known varietal, but it one of the world's great wines. <BR>It has enormous body, with luscious aromas of violets and roses and is from the Montefalco Area. It will be hard to find, but worth the effort I promise you. <BR>I am partial to reds, but last night I had a beautiful Chardonnay from Sicilia. It was from the winery Planeta. Little or no oak, it had aromas of tropical fruit, a little lemony on the palate and had a long, slightly sweet finish. It was delightful. <BR>It is amazing to try the local, unknown wines of Italy. With a little help from wait staff, restaurant owners, hotel staff etc. we have consistantly stumbled upon great wines we have never heard of and will probably never see again. While I can't tell you I have never grimmaced as I sipped a particularly bad suggestion, I can tell you that there are great wines in almost every cornor of Italy.

Oooops! I get excited when I think about wine. Obviously, Borolo is from the Piedmmonte Region and Chianti from Tuscany. However, good bottlings of both are among my favorites.

Brunello from Banfi

Naturalis Historia 1997 by Mastroberardino

1997 is the year, the year .... just remember 1997 for red wines. Toscana, wherever. But 1997.

Brunello di Montalcino

Brunelo can be expensive and there's usually a need to age it (often 10+ years). Because of this I've found that Rosso di Montalcino is an affordable way of enjoying wines from that region, and it's at it's peak much sooner than Brunelo. Stick with the same great makers of Brunelo for the Rosso and you won't be disappointed.

I enjoyed the Orvieto from the town of Orvieto. Also the Pinot Grigios.

For Chiantis, you can usually find Castello San Melleto Chianti Classico, but try the award winning 1996.<BR><BR>Damage Gaja will set you back $180 but for a piedmont big red-- mama mia!<BR><BR>For a cheap drinkable red available from World Market, try Fossi Rossi ($5 a bottle) rustic, but good with pasta. Also somewhat available with a nice peppery quality "Mother Zin" which runs about $10.<BR>I agree with the Brunello advice above, however nothing can beat the atmosphere of drinking wine IN ITALY with the atmosphere. Even the house wine tastes better.

Hi GR. The specialty shop at McIntyre Square has a reserve Chianti from Collelungo that got rave reviews in the Wine Spectator. The only problem is I think , that it is about $45 a bottle. It could be one to put on your "wish list".

Dear All,<BR> Thanks again for many excellent suggestions! We will certainly try a number of them out.<BR> All the best,<BR> Geoff R<BR>

Buy the Brunello at the Montalcino agriculture cooperative in town. This is much cheaper than the wine merchants.

topping<BR>