Italian White Wines – Episode #220

April 19, 2007

Wines tasted in this episode:

Gary’s wines from Italy that make him very happy, did we mention they were white.

Having trouble seeing this video? Click here for the Quicktime version

105 Responses

April 19, 2007

Keith
first
April 19, 2007

Denise
almost first!!
April 19, 2007

glassrunnethempty
top 5?
April 19, 2007

Fingerlaker
mmmm italians
April 19, 2007

Le Vin au Blog
top 10!
April 19, 2007

glassrunnethempty
Gary found a comb!
April 19, 2007

RandyB
Top 10???
April 19, 2007

Gman
what- what- what? Top 10?
April 19, 2007

Jonathon M Chicago
NICE HAIRCUT!!!!!!!
April 19, 2007

Dave-from-Katonah
TOP TEN!!

is so lame!!
April 19, 2007

Jimkay
Don’t forget all the native grape varieties in Greece! Similar flavor profiles and food matching
April 19, 2007

brooklyni
awesome idea. there’s more out there than pinot grigio!
April 19, 2007

KAHUNA
Great haircut buddy! Italian whites with salt crusted whole fish- YUMMY- I do not recall seeing pinot grigio for sale at most restaurants in Italy. Not that I was really looking
April 19, 2007

KAHUNA
QOTD: Adultfriendfinder.com and Wltv of course for the lammo answer
April 19, 2007

RandyB
Gary,

Great topic. I can’t wait to try some of these gems.

QOTD: The closest social websites I have ever participated on are the WLTV Forums.

Nice haricut!

Ciao
April 19, 2007

philmyglass
Getting all spiffy for your Chicago trip? Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow GV.
April 19, 2007

3dvw
Speaking of wines to drink on hot summer days how about doing a show on some decent beaujolais. villages and cru.
April 19, 2007

waibeans
im ALL IN baby!!!

show me the money GV.
April 19, 2007

waibeans
ah damn.. you cut your hair. was hoping you would keep it for the photo sesh.
April 19, 2007

Benji
Nice, Italian wines again. See you tomorrow Gary!!
April 19, 2007

Kelly
How does everyone get here so fast?

Does anyone know about Balthazar in NYC?
April 19, 2007

panoca
Top # 25!
April 19, 2007

holgi
Du hast die Haare schoen

scnr
April 19, 2007

Atreyu
Great episode Gary, thanks for showing some good italian wines.
What about your hair?

QOTD: i used to use myspace and facebook, but once I got a girlfriend I quit. I guess that was my goal
April 19, 2007

geespot
Very interesting episode, again you’re expanding our wine horizons. Keep it up, thanks.

QOD: I used to be on Friendster, but the constant email spam drove me away. Now, I don’t bother with any of them.
April 19, 2007

Lentini
Great to see Italian whites getting some air time! How about some free shipping Italiwhites? Too greedy, aren’t I?

Answer of the day – I like the Wine Spectator forums, personally. I’m too old for myspace.
April 19, 2007

flavasauce
QOTD: friendster for a minute till it got boring.
April 19, 2007

Justmarsh
Kahuna you’re killing me! I think Adult Friend Finder would be a bit more than social “networking” hahaha!!
April 19, 2007

TagWorld Brian
QOTD: TagWorld baby!
April 19, 2007

njbabs
QOTD: Real life. although I’ve been known to check facebook once in a blue moon. Flickr is kickr too.

I’m ready for the summer whites – just need the summer.
April 19, 2007

stevo
QOTD: I like myspace for music. I check out bands all the time on myspace pages and it is a brilliant way to advertise and build buzz, especially for a new band, without spending tons of money on a website.

Check out http://www.myspace.com/thebirdandthebee

Interesting new band that I saw at the 9:30 Club in DC last week.
April 19, 2007

waibeans
QOD: social networking sites are over-rated! myspace is too commercial now (not like I ever used it to begin with) Flickr is probably the only actually useful one.

Have a great time in Chi-Town for everyone that’s going to the 1st official WLTV party… set the standard for the rest of us.

- I’m assuming there will be no ep tomorrow since GV will be in transit -
April 19, 2007

E
Italian whites that aren’t Pinot Grigio. What a wonderful idea for an episode!

I’m assuming that letting these get any less young and fresh isn’t going to do much for them.

QOD: I just don’t get myspace. It looks like remedial HTML. Feh! If I wanted a personal website, I’d make one.
April 19, 2007

garyv
http://corkd.com/people/garyvaynerchuk
CORKD
April 19, 2007

Colleen
Good episode. I have just recently started to drink white wine…and will definately try these.
and..
The hair is much better short!!
April 19, 2007

mas
What do you think of Arneis? I like them, but feel they are a bit overpriced … always surprised that they are up in the $19-$23 range…

QOTD: Don’t use them.
April 19, 2007

Kathleen Lisson
QOTD – I love myspace. My myspace profile has photos of winery tours and my ‘Wine and Stories from the Vineyard’ blog, with winery reviews, book reviews, and a blog about my favorite WineLibraryTv episodes!
Do you have a Myspace page for WineLibrary? I would add you to my friends list!
Kathleen
http://www.myspace.com/gamay
April 19, 2007

waibeans
saw your corkd page.. so what about setting up something like that for WLTV? I always thought you guys should build your own social networking site: custom designed, integrated into the SS.. cellar tracking and rating system.

corkd is probably as good a site as there is out there atm, but its rating system sucks and it’s not WLTV!

my .02
April 19, 2007

kingfunk
hey kelly balthazar is down in soho area, I think spring street. Its real big and noisy. I’ve only had drinks there. Don’t really know about the food.
April 19, 2007

dude
GREAT episode, look forward to these when I head to Italy in July. QOTD: gotta be facebook, i mean c’mon, i’m a college kid!
April 19, 2007

NewbNamedRay
Corkd is nice. The only thing is it can be a bit of chaos with the wine “names”, people trash the labels and such.
I have actually been using BottleTalk myself. http://www.bottletalk.com/wine/profile/raykrueger
It seems to be a relatively small community right now though. They’ve got a great little feature where you can pull an rss feed from people’s profiles. So down on the right side of my blog there’s a little widget that shows my 5 most recent entries at bottletalk. A nice little feature.
April 19, 2007

kingfunk
“its a party in your nose.” that sounds like a lot of people i used to hang out with back in the day.
April 19, 2007

exNorCallurker
QOD: Yelp!
April 19, 2007

Greg B.
Nice,Nice,Nice. Anything Italian is great for me. QOTD Myspace and Youtube still doin it for me right now, but looking for better.
April 19, 2007

SoCal
Nice education G,
I will put these in my “must seek out” list.
QOTD: not much outside WLTV forum.
April 19, 2007

Dave-from-Katonah
Gary – Great episode on something I know little about, although I liked that Arneis you did a while ago. As far as the Ribolla goes, have you had any others from the WL inventory? Or how about the Refoscos?

QOTD- need I say? WLTV, of course!
April 19, 2007

Dave H
Fantastic episode–a great category, and long overdue IMO. With this and last week’s Languedoc/VdP episode you’re finally shining a spotlight on the sorts of wines I love to drink–honest, well-priced, interesting, place-driven wines that are perfect for everyday drinking, often good enough for a little more, totally great food wines, but that people need a bit of education about because all they know is Bordeaux/Burgundy/Rhone/Champagne in France, and Barolo/Chianti/Super-T/Pinot Grigio in Italy, and all of these tiny confusing appellations, and obscure varietals (especially in Italy) are just darn hard to keep track of and have a sense of what you’re buying. Lucky for me I’m exposed to tons of these sorts of wines because they litter the by-the-glass lists at serious mid-priced NY restaurants, and I happen to live across the street from a great Italian wine bar. But more education, and more context, is great.

And you even pronounced everything (nearly) correctly!!! I was totally braced for “Vare-da-CHEE-uh” or whatever. Amazing stuff.

Next time maybe throw a Fiano in there–a grape that’s just getting on my radar but I’ve had some really interesting and distinctive examples–and if you need an awesome, polished Ribolla, I’m really interested to see what you think of Movia’s (NOT inexpensive, though. and even not technically fully Italian, which is fun). And just, more of these sorts of wines. From France, Chinon, Cahors, Loire Chenin Blancs, VdP everything; from Italy, you’ve barely hit even the obvious stuff like Barbera, Nero d’Avola, Aglianico for crying out loud, much less the obscure stuff.

More!
April 19, 2007

Adam
I want to be on the show!
April 19, 2007

LPapi
132 Yes! I wanna be on the show!
How does that work Gary?

QOTD: http://www.evdoinfo.com, http://www.evdoforums.com, and tv.winelibrary.com
April 19, 2007

Jennifer
Have a safe and fun trip tomorrow, Gary!
QOTD: WLTV, of course. I like YouTube. Nice forum for newer talent and finding old school vids.
April 19, 2007

dublin
Soave, nice. Had my first Soave in Vegas last year and was pleasantly surprised as to how floral the nose was and how dry the taste was, but in a very good way; loved it.
QOTD: I live in Hollywood. Enough said.
Cheers!
April 19, 2007

Fiorentina!
Happy Haircut Gary!
I’m so completely overjoyed that you decided to do an episode on Italian Whites that you get 3, count ‘em, 3 exclaimation points!!! However, what do you think about the Cortese grape?
QotD – I really don’t use social networks on the computer…I am a old fashioned type of guy, so I like to see the people whom I’m talking to…I love to see the looks on their faces whenever I write a story about the wine…sure, it’s always good to meet new people, but that’s just it…I like to meet people.
April 19, 2007

Badger Ann
The first of many “obscure italian wines” episodes? I hope so! QOTD: I don’t follow anything like MySpace, etc. Kind of creeps me out, in a way.
April 19, 2007

Randy
Yo Gary:

I’m a bit of an anomaly here, I think.

QOTD: Jaiku.com, Twitter.com, MySpace, Digg and Del.icio.us all qualify as social-oriented. But I do agree that WLTV Forums is basically a social networking format.
April 19, 2007

Paul M
QOTD: WLTV Forums
April 19, 2007

Garret Nagle
My prefered social networking sites are WLTV and Facebook.

Today’s episode has fueled an interest in white wines for me, perhaps because of your enthusiasm and freshness, considering you normaly taste reds here. Allmost like your palate was inverted today.
April 19, 2007

Alos Diallo
Facebook
April 19, 2007

Wildebeest
facebook.com….NOT myspace! Murdoch can lick my %$#!!! They all seem to have their problems though. To tell the truth, I actually have a myspace page. I’ve contemplated deleting it, but some of my friends can only be contacted on there, and people still read my blogs from time to time, though I don’t update them often. Here’s the link, if you want to look –> click here
April 19, 2007

Dale Cruse
QOTD: Cork’d! Here’s my profile: http://corkd.com/people/dalecruse

GV: I just added you as a “Drinking Buddy.”

@NewbNamedRay: Cork’d also has the RSS feature you described.
April 19, 2007

JonE
QOTD: Social networking? Crack a bottle make some friends. What’s computer dad?
April 19, 2007

Winodontist
Very Nice Episode. I knew nothing about Italian whites and I rarely venture out beyond Chard or Reisling.
I don’t do those social websites, I have actual friends, not virtual ones. WLTV forum is the only one I do.
Hell yes I want to be on the show, where can I sign up?
April 19, 2007

portman
Very nice exposure to wines I didn’t know existed. My warm weather whites have been pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc. Now I feel smarter… I did have a Picpoul-de-pinet(?)last year. You provide a fantastic resource. Thank you.

QOTD: I only dabble in this forum. My kids do the other ones like myspace and facebook. Look over their shoulders from time to time….
April 19, 2007

HungryChuck
Hey Butch!…looks like we’re ready for summer!… Great show… looking forward to some of those italian whites I was not aware of until now…..
April 19, 2007

MzTeaze
Now I have to purchase a wine for this week and it looks like I will try a white from Italy!

QOTD: Yahoo!, WLTV as a newbie
April 19, 2007

Chef Paul
I guess this site since I have never networked socially online. My high school only had 3 computers and I never took a computer class until after the Marines. I’m not that old, but it was right on the edge of the technology explosion…yeah, but I guess it was a few years after the “Punch-card Bunch”.

We have some decent Italian whites at work that we’re pushing off the list this month, so maybe I can get my boss to buy a few bottles for “our Vayniacal research”

-To those we have lost…that you may be in heaven for ten years strong before the devil knows you’re dead
April 19, 2007

Dave-from-Katonah
Yes!! I want to be on the show!!
How does that happen, Gary?
April 19, 2007

t_moderne
First!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

smell that?
that’s sarcasm.
April 19, 2007

Ken
Serious nose?? I guess itâ€™s the opposite of a clown nose!! This episode is really what I needed. Admittedly, I know very little about Italian whites and you hit the nail on the head when you talked about Pinot Grigio â€“ I am sure that Pinot Grigio has prejudiced me against Italian whites. I have always believed that the best Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Gris if you will, is Alsatian. Since the Ribolla you featured bombed out, could you kindly recommend one that you tried and have liked?

QOTD: Iâ€™m not into the social networking websites because Iâ€™m busy enough with my family, business, and my own outdoor pursuits. I spend enough time on the web doing other things â€“ like watching WLTV!! I guess Iâ€™m a little old school and still prefer to pick up the phone to communicate with friends or I send emails to them.
April 19, 2007

Photo Joe
Verdicchio’s are great! I tell everyone to have it with some salmon or almost any fish and it never goes wrong.

QOTD: I do myspace, until they come up with something better http://www.myspace.com/photojoe01
It helps me to stay in touch with people I can’t see all the time.

Great show!
April 20, 2007

ChrisR
Great ep. Really fun to discover new varietals. I’ve never had Ribolla. (almost sounds like a disease) but I will definitely try one.

QOD: WLTV forum
April 20, 2007

aaronT
QOTD: I’m a myspace junkie. Don’t tell anybody though, I’m kinda closet myspace. I think I’m too old for this kinda crap.

Italian whites: find them a little intimidating, too many varietals I don’t recognize so I don’t know what to expect (and we’re big on trying to match the wine with dinner). We’ll try to be brave this year and pair “mystery varietal X that I can’t pronounce” with cod, or whatever.
April 20, 2007

Lars
QOTD: Compuserve … Are they still around?
April 20, 2007

diego de la p...
nice episode gary, intresting italian wines, something strange happened to us today we bought three italian wines in a new italian store over here, a muscato from the veneto that was a nice value, a fun wine. We opened a valpolicella and was corked, we opened the frescati and was corked too, haha bad luck but we will seek for more italian whites.
keep the good work!!

QOTD: facebook and wltv
April 20, 2007

Jay
QOTD: Stern Fan Network
April 20, 2007

TSchampaert
You’re revving up my way! Go on like that. Pity for the Ribolla: maybe an ep on Ribolla Gialla with wines from Radikon and Gravner. Really should do that. Or get a Ribolla Nera out of the cupboard, then you’re the cool guy.
QOTD: facebook.
C ya
April 20, 2007

Formally Known as Big man
Im gonna have to go with facebook
April 20, 2007

DryDrew
QOTD: truthfully WLTV Comments is the only social involvement I have on the internet otherwise I am an enormous fan of Google groups, Google chat and looking into Google Base I think it will be huge
April 20, 2007

waibeans
you know what? I totally forgot about a really useful social networking site, and I’m surprised no-one else here has posted it. Its not really a social site, but it is ALL about networking: http://www.linkedin.com

Its a business oriented site, where you build up employment/business contacts. Its great for keeping in touch with old co-workers and finding new contacts.

Check it out!
April 20, 2007

cdavis
Summer cut?
April 20, 2007

cdavis
QOTD: I am not into the facebook, myspace, etc. Those sites = drama in my opinion. I do like linkedin.com for networking and I recently got into the social aspect of forums with WLTV. I visit many tech/programming forums daily for work, so its nice to use WLTV as a social forum.
April 20, 2007

Lb in KS
QOTD: For me…it MySpace. I don’t have a great MySpace…space, but for the reason Stevo said. The music. It’s a great place to find music you’ll NEVER, EVER get to hear on the radio. Todays radio is SO out of touch with the public. Unreal. Oh, BTW G….. hope you don’t mind…I have the “Train your Palate” ep # 148 on my MySpace
April 20, 2007

jack
qotd: i’m not into any of these myspace, friendster stuff. it’s like a virtual high school popularity contest. those sites are so cluttered with junk i just can’t get throught it. what i do use everyday and love it as an excellent form of communication is instant messenger. im, whether it be aol or msn or yahoo, is a great tool to keep in touch with friends and family as well as coworkers.
April 20, 2007

QueSeraSyrah
Great episode! I have really been getting into Italian whites lately. I was excited to see you feature a Ribolla Gialla (even though it was a bit dull). Try the La Tunella Ribolla if you ever are in the mood to attempt another try with the varietal. They also make a 50/50 blend with Tocai Friulano called Bianco Sesto. Definitely one to check out as I feel it is an amazing white for the price! Another fun Italian white that you didn’t touch on was Grechetto (a good example is Arnaldo Caprai).
April 20, 2007

JHollo77
QOTD: I think I might be too old for myspace, friendster, etc. I have a problem with socializing on the same networks as the students I work with!

Great episode — Definitely interested in Italian wines since we’re headed there in a few months. Last night we attended a winemaker’s dinner and really enjoyed Fattoria di Zerbina wines. Favorites were the ‘04 Sangiovese Ceregio, ‘03 Sangiovese Pietramora, & the ‘01 Scacco Matto with dessert. Great stuff!! Hurting today, though…

By the way, nice haircut!
April 20, 2007

cgf
G-man,
nice epsiode guy. With the weather warming an italian white sounds delicious.

QOTD: facebook.
April 20, 2007

Jim
QOTD: Myspace, with a little bit of facebook, they’re changing the online social networking world.
April 20, 2007

JayZee
Nice episode, Gary. You are SO RIGHT about Pinot Grigio. One of my female friends will just about ONLY drink Pinot Grigio. What a waste! As for me, I do enjoy a good Verdicchio or Arneis from time to time. I have even had a somewhat dry Frascati that worked very well with a light fish dinner with a lemon cream sauce.

QOTD: You’re joking, right?
April 20, 2007

JPomps
I just recently found out about wine library and very excited to participate, an excellent program. In fact, I have spend the better part of the last two weeks watching pass episodes, it’s kind of addicting. I had to comment on the Italian whites episode for my first response since I am currently living in Venezia, the home region of Soave. A great wine that varies greatly from vineyard to producer. The other evening I drank an interesting single vineyard Soave classico from Tamellini 2002. Amazing how a white treated with proper barrique fermenting and aging can develop in over four years. The nose believe it or not was similar to concentrated Mosel riesling with notes also of a cloying Sauterne, nice acidity and not overwhelmed by oak. Althought some of my favorite garganega grape wines have been unfiltered juices from the Gambellara D.O.C, rustic and old world driven. Bringing the term “mele cotto” to a new level. Friuli is awesome, especially the whites from the Collio D.O.C., friulano, sauvignon, pinot bianco, chardonnay, ribolla gialla, pinot grigion, and even a few rieslings that I have been fortunate to find, very interesting. If you haven’t tried a white from the Collio, you must. Definitely unique bringing more minerality and complexity to the table. Anyone tried ribolla gialla from Slovenia, probably a little more difficult to locate in the states, from what I have tasted, Slovenia is an absolutely an up and coming region in the wine world. Okay, enough for now. Thanks for the show Gary! Ciao!
April 20, 2007

Sarah L
I love these theme driven shows and you’ve been on a streak! Yes, I wanna be on the show.
April 20, 2007

Matthew L
Thanks for this episode Gary. I admit that I’ve steered away from Italian whites–other than Prosecco.

QOTD: I haven’t made the Myspace of Facebook plunge yet. I probably frequent http://www.afrocentriconline.com the most.
April 20, 2007

Harold
Great great episode Gary. Thanks again for once again highlighting a lesser known wine type.
April 20, 2007

Matt the Lurker
QOTD – I have a great answer, but it’s only for people with a demented sense of humor like me.
April 21, 2007

Bobinnati
Thanks for an enlightening episode. QOTD – don’t currently use any social networking sites (other than places like WLTV forums). My kids don’t want me on Facebook – not sure why, but I may just get an account anyway…….
April 21, 2007

Martin
I learned so much today! I’ve only used Italian whites for cooking. These are what I’ll be drinking this summer for sure. Thank you.
April 22, 2007

YoungDave
YES! An Ep. about wines from the Mother Country (for my heritage, anyway). I truly have been thinking about trying to buy more Italian whites because it’s definitely an area about which I have little knowledge and experience. Thanks again, BIG G.

QOTD: As a college student, of course I’ve gone through the last 4 years with Facebook (although it’s now available to anyone, not just college students) and log on every day. NOT a myspace person. Yet.
April 22, 2007

Shotgun
Excellent coverage of a grossly underappreciated category of great wine.
April 22, 2007

winefornewbies
Ever had a Pigato? Had my first earlier this month out in California. Yummmmmm.

Great show, as always.

And sure, I’d be happy to be on the show.
April 23, 2007

cruster
I’m a social networking maniac. Cork’d ( http://corkd.com/people/cruster ) and Flickr are both rocking!
April 23, 2007

kyoung989
QOTD – Digg and facebook for me.

BTW, I’m a huge fan of Diggnation and I nearly fell off my chair when they announced you were sponsoring them on their most recent vidcast (http://revision3.com/diggnation/2007-04-19). I hope the spot will send a bunch more tech guys like myself to the site. Love the show, keep it up.
April 24, 2007

Susan
Gary -
Nobody is later than me!!!!!
White Wines!!!!!!!
Great Ep!
QOD:
WLTV Forum!!!!!!
We always agree on
EVERYTHING!
April 24, 2007

Rink Man
Nice episode. Can’t wait to introduce to my wife, who loves whites.

QOD: I stay away from them.
April 28, 2007

Steve R
Darn… now the secret is out about Soave. I love that I can get great aperitif wines from the region for such a low price, especially with quality makers such as Inama and Pra. Now, the prices will climb…
May 9, 2008

LuvsChandon
“A Party in your nose” luv it!

I’m gonna pick up a bottle of Fattoria Laila Verdicchio to serve with some halibut this weekend!!!
November 17, 2009

John J.
qotd dont have a fav really, but Ive been hearing alot about dailybooth lately.

How about having a vin jaune on the show Gary?

Italian White Wines – Episode #220

Wines tasted in this episode:

105 Responses

Leave a Reply

Subscribe To WLTV

Crush It Book

Follow Me

What's Hot!

Things To Do

Favorite Episodes