This month the Italian Food Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) group of food and wine bloggers is exploring Italian Wines From Non-Native Grapes.

With a rich wine history that dates back at least 3,500 years, and perfect conditions for growing wine grapes, it’s no wonder Italy is one of the most exciting wine regions in the world. It is home to more than 350 authorized grape varieties across 20 wine regions.

The vast majority of grapes grown in Italy are autochthonous, meaning they are the result of natural cross-breeding or mutations that happened in Italy. But there are also many important non-native (sometimes referred to as “international”) grape varieties grown in Italy.

There are substantial plantings of international grapes such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir in Italy.

For example, Merlot is grown in 14 of Italy’s 20 wine regions. In fact, the first time I enjoyed an Italian wine from non-native grapes was when we visited Italy in 2016. We stayed at an agriturismo in Umbria and we tasted a their Merlot. It was so good a bottle made its way home with us!

Chardonnay in Italy

Chardonnay has a long history in Italy, but it was often confused with Pinot Blanc.

In the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region this confusion appeared in the synonyms for each grape with Pinot blanc being known as “Weissburgunder” (White Burgundy) and Chardonnay was known as “Gelber Weissburgunder” (Golden White Burgundy). By the late 20th century, more concentrated efforts were put into identifying Chardonnay and making pure varietal versions of the wine. In 1984, it was granted its first Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) in the Alto Adige region. By 2000, it was Italy’s fourth most widely planted white wine grape explains the Italian Wine Connection.

It’s mostly planted in northern Italy where much of it is used to make traditional method Italian sparkling wines such as in Franciacorta and Trento DOC.

2017 Cantina Terlan Kreuth Chardonnay

The wine I chose is from the Alto Adige (or Sudtirol to the German-speaking two-thirds of its inhabitants) region in farthest northern Italy. It is the northern part of the larger Trentino-Alto Adige wine region. It is located just south of Austria and is bordered by Veneto to the east, Lombardy to the west.

Founded in 1893, the Cantina Terlano winery is now one of the leading wine growers’ cooperatives in Alto Adige (a.k.a. South Tyrol), with a current membership of 143 growers working a total area of 190 hectares.

Fruit for this wine comes the Terlano DOC within Alto Adige. It’s 100% Chardonnay from vineyards at elevations between 260 – 350 m on volcanic soil mixed with sandy loam.

Tasting Note:

It pours a brilliant straw yellow color with inviting aromas of apples, pineapple, clove, guava, lemon peel and a bit of sandalwood. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied with mouthwatering acidity and green and Fuji apple, guava, pineapple, lemon curd flavors with a lengthy finish that shows very appealing mineral lemon notes. 13.5% abv|$SRP – $30

Food Pairing

A few years ago we were gifted with a pasta maker and Lida Matticchio Bastianich’s “Mastering The Art Of Italian Cuisine”. I’m conscience-stricken that I’ve yet to use the pasta maker. Well, at least I used one of Lidia’s recipes (well sort of; Her recipe call for Razor clams and I substituted Mussels)

Here’s what my fellow #ItalianFWT group of bloggers found during their exploration of Italian Wines From Non-Native Grapes. I bet you find a food and wine pairing or three you’d like to try!

• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla whips up Deviled Eggs and a Chardonnay from Alto Adige
• Lynn of Savor the Harvest discusses a few of The ‘Other’ Wine Grapes in Italy 
• Linda of My Full Wine Glass offers us Trentino: Another Option for Pinot Noir Fans
• Jennifer of Vino Travels – An Italian Wine Blog presents Blending the Non-Native Grapes of Puglia with the Trentatre Rosso
• Susannah of Avvinare contributes Oltrepo’ Pavese – Pinot Noir Reaches New Heights
• Deanna of Wineivore dishes up Butternut Squash Risotto Paired with Organic Merlot
• Gwendolyn from the Wine Predator blog explores Chardonnay Blanc de Blanc: Ivaldi’s Andrea Alta Langa DOCG #ItalianFWT
• Wendy of A Day In The Life On The Farm wonders An Italian Merlot? Sì, Grazie
• Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog shares Mussels With Garlic and Parsley Paired with Cantina Terlan Kreuth Chardonnay

To find out more about Italian Wines from Non-native grapes, please join our Twitter chat Saturday, August 6th, 2022 at 10am CDT using hashtag #ItalianFWT. Hope to “see” you there!

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