{"id":14563,"date":"2021-01-10T14:25:29","date_gmt":"2021-01-10T14:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/?p=8563"},"modified":"2021-01-10T15:46:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-10T15:46:22","slug":"italian-wine-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Wine for the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Branch out from the traditional whites and reds this holiday season.<\/p>\n

It’s time to stock up. \u2018Tis the season of merriment, and packed schedules have you jetting from one holiday party to another, passing hours at the table or gathered \u2018round the buffet with friends and family.\u00a0 Each of these parties requires at least the standard gift for the generous hosts: a bottle of wine.\u00a0 You\u2019re thinking you\u2019ll do the usual, swing by the closest grocery or beverage store, grab the most recognizable bottle (sporting a penguin or un-shoed foot), and present the Merlot or Chardonnay to be popped and consumed. Consumed, I said \u2013 not particularly enjoyed \u2013 for these mediocre bottles have made their rounds. This year, however, we\u2019re going to let you in on a little list of Italian wine secrets to switch up this lackluster cycle and brighten your merry days. Ecco<\/i> your Italian wine holiday shopping list:<\/p>\n

1. Your Holiday Red Wine: Barbera<\/h3>\n

Most wine stores carries several varieties of Italian wines.<\/p>\n

This wine is my little secret. Hailing from the Piedmont region, famous for its excellent food and wine, Barbera is my favorite, and one of the most drinkable, everyday Italian wines. I bring it to most parties and suggest it to all who will listen to my rants about how good it is\u2026.and I have yet to meet a person who does not like it. Barbera is well-balanced, low in tannins with a light-medium structure, often fruity, but not sweet, and delightful to drink. And although traditionally it pairs well with poultry, lamb, braised meat, mushrooms, and tomatoes, I would personally take the point of view that it can be appreciated when consumed alone or with just about any dish. Another plus is that even though it is not extremely well-known in the United States, Barbera is becoming increasingly more available.<\/p>\n

2. Your Holiday White Wine: Gavi<\/h3>\n

Tired of the common choice between a common Chardonnay and a lackluster Pinot Grigio that calls to mind yellow-tinted stale water? Me too. And even though I\u2019ll lean towards rosso<\/em> more readily (or should I say \u201cred\u201d-ily?) than whites, Gavi has won my heart. It\u2019s an extraordinary Italian wine – dry, full-bodied, fruit-forward, and perfectly pairs with poultry, grilled vegetables, and goat cheese. In addition, if you\u2019re making pasta this holiday, Gavi marries well with not only tomato-based sauces, but also cream and pesto flavors.<\/p>\n

\u00a03.\u00a0Your Holiday Bubbly: Franciacorta<\/h3>\n

Italian whites, such as Gavi or Soave, are elegant alternatives to the usual Chardonnay.<\/p>\n

Sure, I\u2019m well aware that Champagne is the New Year\u2019s drink. But I don\u2019t often opt for it. Why? I find its Italian alternative, Franciacorta, more flavorful, consistent, and, honestly, way less pretentious. Italy\u2019s answer to France\u2019s sparkling wine is made by using the Classic Method in the Lombardy region (not too far from France) and contains Pinot Nero, Pinot Bianco, and Chardonnay grapes. So try popping a bottle of this to ring in the New Year<\/a> – I think you\u2019ll be pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n

4. Other Alternatives<\/h3>\n

While looking for Italian wines to pair with your dishes, remember two things 1) wines from a region pair best with dishes from a region; and 2) wines from the North, Central, and South taste like the terrain on which they are produced (see this article for an in-depth explanation). That being said, here are some other alternatives for you to try:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • If you are looking for a big, bold red that would stand up to an expensive Napa Cab, consider\u00a0Brunello di Montalcino\u00a0(Tuscany) or Barolo (Piedmont).<\/li>\n
  • A light red comparable in body to Pinot Noir would be\u00a0Valpolicella\u00a0(Veneto).<\/li>\n
  • Alternative whites are the quality Pinto Grigio\u00a0wines\u00a0from the Alto Adige region and Greco di Tufo Bianco (Campania).<\/li>\n
  • Prosecco\u00a0(Veneto) is a relatively widespread, less-dry bubbly that will tickle your taste buds and not break your bank.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Did we leave any wines off the Italian holiday list? Share your thoughts and comments below!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Tis the season of merriment, and packed schedules have you jetting from one holiday party to another, passing hours at the table or gathered \u2018round the buffet with friends and family. Each of these parties requires at least the standard gift for the generous hosts: a bottle of wine. This year, we\u2019re going to let you in on a little list of Italian wine secrets to switch up this lackluster cycle and brighten your merry days. Ecco your Italian wine holiday shopping list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[427],"tags":[721,1255,1257,1229,1258,1256,1254,459,1262,410,943,1259,374,1260,275,1261],"class_list":["post-14563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-wine","tag-ask-the-experts","tag-barbera","tag-brunello","tag-christmas","tag-franciacorta","tag-gavi","tag-holidays","tag-italian-food","tag-italian-wines","tag-piedmont","tag-prosecco","tag-red-wine","tag-veneto","tag-white-wine","tag-wine","tag-wine-tips"],"yoast_head":"\nItalian Wine for the Holidays - It's All About Italy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Italian Wine for the Holidays - It's All About Italy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tis the season of merriment, and packed schedules have you jetting from one holiday party to another, passing hours at the table or gathered \u2018round the buffet with friends and family. Each of these parties requires at least the standard gift for the generous hosts: a bottle of wine. This year, we\u2019re going to let you in on a little list of Italian wine secrets to switch up this lackluster cycle and brighten your merry days. Ecco your Italian wine holiday shopping list.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"It's All About Italy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-10T14:25:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-10T15:46:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1281\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Select Italy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Select Italy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Select Italy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cd6bb8d85286f98fe2a5cb85526165a\"},\"headline\":\"Italian Wine for the Holidays\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-10T14:25:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-10T15:46:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":672,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ask the experts\",\"barbera\",\"brunello\",\"Christmas\",\"franciacorta\",\"gavi\",\"holidays\",\"italian food\",\"italian wines\",\"Piedmont\",\"prosecco\",\"red wine\",\"Veneto\",\"white wine\",\"wine\",\"wine tips\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Food & Wine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/\",\"name\":\"Italian Wine for the Holidays - It's All About Italy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-10T14:25:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-10T15:46:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cd6bb8d85286f98fe2a5cb85526165a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1281},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/food-wine\\\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Italian Wine for the Holidays\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"It's All About Italy\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cd6bb8d85286f98fe2a5cb85526165a\",\"name\":\"Select Italy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Select Italy\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/selectitaly.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/selectitaly\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Italian Wine for the Holidays - It's All About Italy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Italian Wine for the Holidays - It's All About Italy","og_description":"Tis the season of merriment, and packed schedules have you jetting from one holiday party to another, passing hours at the table or gathered \u2018round the buffet with friends and family. Each of these parties requires at least the standard gift for the generous hosts: a bottle of wine. This year, we\u2019re going to let you in on a little list of Italian wine secrets to switch up this lackluster cycle and brighten your merry days. Ecco your Italian wine holiday shopping list.","og_url":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/","og_site_name":"It's All About Italy","article_published_time":"2021-01-10T14:25:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-10T15:46:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1281,"url":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Select Italy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Select Italy","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/"},"author":{"name":"Select Italy","@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5cd6bb8d85286f98fe2a5cb85526165a"},"headline":"Italian Wine for the Holidays","datePublished":"2021-01-10T14:25:29+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-10T15:46:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/"},"wordCount":672,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg","keywords":["ask the experts","barbera","brunello","Christmas","franciacorta","gavi","holidays","italian food","italian wines","Piedmont","prosecco","red wine","Veneto","white wine","wine","wine tips"],"articleSection":["Food & Wine"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/","url":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/","name":"Italian Wine for the Holidays - It's All About Italy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-10T14:25:29+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-10T15:46:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5cd6bb8d85286f98fe2a5cb85526165a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg","width":1920,"height":1281},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/food-wine\/italian-wine-for-the-holidays\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Italian Wine for the Holidays"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/","name":"It's All About Italy","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5cd6bb8d85286f98fe2a5cb85526165a","name":"Select Italy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Select Italy"},"url":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/author\/selectitaly\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/wine-4813260_1920.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9F0fg-3MT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30645,"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14563\/revisions\/30645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}