Somm's Table

Given that California wine today is so known for varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay, it’s easy to forget that Italian grape varieties actually have a long history in the state. The Gold Rush brought immigrants from different countries, many from European countries with strong winemaking traditions. Those immigrants brought their grapes with them and the wine industry grew in the decades that followed and the grapes planted were as diverse as the people who brought them. There were quite a few Italians in the mix (both during the gold rush and afterward), a fact evidenced by the number of Italian names you still see on some of California’s oldest and most established wineries, names like Gallo and Mondavi.

Unfortunately, California’s wine industry came to a screeching halt just as things were getting going thanks to Prohibition, and waves of disease like Pierce’s Disease and Phylloxera didn’t help either. When things finally got up and running again, people tended to plant what was fashionable, and for most of the 20th century that largely meant French grapes (Zinfandel is a bit of an exception). Nonetheless, pockets of Italian grapes remained all along, and always at least a few winemakers interested in working with them, but in recent years (from the 1980’s onwards) there has been renewed and increasing interest in these varieties.

I have to admit that whatever the first examples of Cal-Ital wines (as the category is often referred to) that I tasted were did not impress me. They kind of left thinking that maybe Italian grapes really should stay in Italy since they just didn’t seem to translate well in their California versions. Maybe I was trying the wrong producers. Maybe California winemakers were still working out how best to handle these grapes. Maybe it was my own expectations and inability to allow for the grapes to express themselves differently here. (I’m guessing it was a combo.) Whatever reason though, they just weren’t landing with me for a long time.

At the same time, it seemed to me that the grapes should work here – I mean, our climate is much more similar to parts of Italy like Tuscany than Bordeaux or Burgundy, where Cab and Pinot respectively come from. So I remained curious and kept trying – was also probably exposed to better examples, and slowly my perceptions have shifted and now it’s a category I get pretty excited by. Today, I’m going to share two examples of white wine blends that use Italian varieties that really grabbed my attention in the past year, both of which take their inspiration from Italy’s Friuli region, from winery's specializing in white wine, and both of which I found to be very fairly priced.

Massican Annia Napa Valley 2016

Average price: $36

Massican’s Annia managed to grab both my and Greg’s attention separately. I think I tried it first while I was working at Bay Grape. It’s both friendly and interesting right away. It doesn’t hurt that I also find the price reasonable (usually mid- $30’s) and I have to admit that I tend to find it more beguiling than some of Massican’s pricier wines, which are nonetheless very good. Greg first tried it at a fundraiser gala some friends had invited us to. This particular party offered tastings from various wineries and restaurants, and in a room full of excellent options this wine brought a “hey, you gotta come try this” from Greg.

Dan Petroski is the man behind Massican. He left the magazine publishing world, having worked at Time Inc. for ten years, headed to business school at NYU, then shortly afterward changed course and made his way to California to pursue winemaking. He’s also the winemaker for Larkmead Vineyards, and a major voice in the wine industry addressing climate change. (You can read some of his op-eds for Sevenfifty Daily here.)

He chose to do something unusual with Massican, opting to create a white-wine-only label in Napa. They harvest six grape varieties in and around Napa Valley and Sonoma County – three northeastern Italian white varieties (Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, and Pinot Grigio), one southern Italian variety (Greco), and two international varieties (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc). They make four different wines using these grapes.

The label itself is an homage to Petroski’s Italian heritage. The name Massican is taken from the Monte Massico mountain range in Campania in southern Italy. Both of his grandparents were born nearby. Annia was his mother and he named his flagship wine for her. (Annia also happens to be the name of a DOC in Friuli.)

Annia is always a blend of Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, and Chardonnay. (In the case of the 2016, the percentages were 60/31/9.) I couldn’t find a tech sheet for the 2016 vintage, but the wines are low-intervention, typically are aged in neutral oak, and use very little sulfur. You can find details for the 2019 here.

On the night we opened this bottle, I picked up notes of peaches, lemon, gold apple, pineapples, a bouquet of gold flowers and honeysuckle, with hints of ginger. It was round with a beeswaxy, creamy mouthfeel, and the fruit notes were bouncy and bright. Just delightful.

We had it with baked mac and cheese with crab and bacon and it was such a good match. The roundness of the wine matched the creamy texture of the food perfectly, while still being super refreshing.

As an aside, I also recommend checking out Massican’s Instagram account. In what has to be one of the most creative uses of the platform I’ve seen, Petroski decided to create a magazine via the feed. It looks at all kinds of different topics (not wine specific at all) and it’s absolutely beautiful.

Arbe Garbe Sonoma Valley V. 2017

Average price: $36

In the Before Times, my all-women tasting group would have a holiday party every year, during which we always have a white elephant wine gift exchange – It’s always super fun with lots of screeching, cursing, and laughs. I scored this bottle of Arbe Garbe a couple of years ago. To be honest, I didn’t know much about it other than that I’d heard good things about the winery and that I really liked the label. (Let’s be honest.)

The winery’s story is as pretty as the label – and so is the wine for that matter. Husband and wife team, Letizia Pauletto and Enrico Maria Bertoz, were sweethearts in their native Friuli and eventually decided to move to California to pursue their dreams. I love this description of their journey together from their website:

Born and raised in this beautifully mystical scenario, we met at the waning of a torrid Friulian summer. Two philosophy students working harvest in the vineyards nearby to earn some money and follow their dreams. It was the late nineties and nothing seemed to make much sense with Kurt Cobain gone and a generational sense of vague displacement. Quickly our visions fused, our imagery fueled by the same fascination with Beat literature and old American folk and rock music. We packed up a guitar, a few books and little else and crossed the ocean. America was as big and wild as we had pictured it and so beautiful, we knew at once we were destined to stay.

After moving to California, Bertoz worked at several wineries, and the couple ultimately decided to start Arbe Garbe as a way to connect to and pay homage to their roots. The name Arbe Garbe means “bad weeds” in the Friulian dialect and is a reference to the plants that are often used as cover crops (these are also depicted on the labels, which also change from year to year.)

Every year the blend for their wine is a little bit different. The breakdown for the 2017 was 55% Malvasia Bianca, 30% Ribolla Gialla, and 15% Tocai Friulano. The Malvasia saw 24 hours of skin contact, while the Tocai and the Ribolla saw 12 hours of skin contact each, followed by light pressing and native fermentation. (You can find additional details here.)

This wine was also had beautiful aromatics, was rich, layered, and complex. It had lots of golden fruit notes – baked yellow apples, pineapple, tangerine, Meyer lemons, and peaches — along with dried flowers, beeswax, and hints of dried herbs on the finish.

I opened this one to go with lobster rolls I made as part of a week-long celebration of Greg’s birthday last year. Well, by lobster rolls I mean that I cooked some lobster tails sous vide in lemon butter and put them on buns with a little mayo – so they were like lobsters on rolls. This was another delicious match in which the wine’s texture and flavors matched those of the food beautifully.

I have to say, I’ve made myself hungry while writing this post! I’d love to revisit both of these meals.

*****

If you're interested in more Cal-Ital wines, here are a few other wineries that make wines in this category that I've really liked (this is by no means an exhaustive list):

Ryme Cellars and their second line Uphold Wines. I've previously featured wines from Uphold, which donates profits from the wines to charitable causes, here and here.
Lepiane Wines - This is a one woman show, very small production. We'll be taking a look at some of the wines later in the year, but Lepaine's Barbera is a particular fave!
Matthiasson, as well as their second line Tendu .
Unti Vineyards . You can find their rosé mentioned in this post.

*****

This month the rest of the Italian Food, Wine, Travel blogging group is taking a look at Italian grapes grown outside of Italy. Linda of My Full Wine Glass is hosting and you can read her invitation here. What a fun topic! If you see this early enough, feel free to join our chat on Twitter at 8 am PT/11 am ET on Saturday, March 6th by following #ItalianFWT.

Be sure to check out the rest of the group's posts:

Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Cheesy Bites, a Colorful Board, and a Barbera...from California
Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm: Italian Grapes Grown Outside of Italy and Served Out of a Box? Che Diamine!!!
Andrea at The Quirky Cork: Tuscany Meets Turkey with Chateau Murou Montepulciano Sangiovese
Jeff at FoodWineClick!: Italian Grapes from Unti Vineyards at the Winter Grill
Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog: A Splendid Cal-Ital: 2016 Giornata Nebbiolo Luna Matta Vineyard
Jennifer at Vino Travels: Remy Wines: Italian Grapes in Oregon and a Winery After my Heart
Terri at Our Good Life: Italian Grapes in Lodi Paired with Grilled Salmon Tacos
Gwendolyn at Wine Predator: Italy in California: from Aglianico to Zinfandel and Italy in California: Nebbiolo from Humboldt's Terragena and Santa Barbara’s Silver
Susannah at Avvinare: Vermentino, A Star In and Out of Italy
Lynn at Savory the Harvest: Honoring An Italian American: Palmina Wines in Santa Barbara County
Linda at My Full Wine Glass: Native Italian grapes find a home in the land of Pinot Noir

Additional reading and sources used for this post:

This post contains affiliate links, including these Amazon Associate links, from which I might receive a commission at no cost to you.

I ❤️ Cru Beaujolais. These wines check so many boxes in what we’re often looking for in a wine, with food-friendliness likely topping that list of virtues. These wines just have so many different uses at the table. It’s also very nice that they tend not to break the bank.

We love all kinds of wines, but medium-bodied reds are probably the broad category we go through the most at home. We usually enjoy our wines with food and these just work with such a broad range. I love big reds as well, but they require a little more thought in pairing because they can easily overpower the wrong dish. These wines are also kind of seasonless. I believe in drinking whatever you want year-round, but there are points at the height of summer where I just can’t bear to even think about drinking a big red. On the flip side, while I do drink white and rosé wines in the winter, on really chilly nights I tend to gravitate towards red.

Cru Beaujolais also have this nice added feature that they kind of straddle fruity and earthy flavor profiles, which means they’ll go solidly well with a particularly wide range of foods. Looking for one bottle to pair with lots of different flavors at the table? Want to fill your rack with wines that will just work with dinner without having to give it any thought? Grab some Cru Beaujolais!

This map borrowed from WineFolly.com

I’ve covered France’s Beaujolais region a few times before – I went into the greatest depth on the details here – but here’s a quick recap. Gamay is the star grape. The Beaujolais Crus are communes or villages that have established a reputation for quality over time and each has its own personality. These villages get to have their name displayed on the label instead of Beaujolais. There are 10 in total and I’ve slowly been making my way through them. We’ve previously spotlighted wines from Morgon, as well its Côte du Py subregion, Chénas, Fleurie, and Saint-Amour. Today, we’re adding Régnié to the list! This will mark the half-way point in our journey through the Crus.

RÉGNIÉ

Régnié (pronounced “rehn-yay”) is the youngest of the crus – it gained its status in 1988. It’s also tiny, taking up just one square mile! The grapes are grown on hillsides with vineyards usually sitting at over 1,000 feet above sea level. The soils here are known for being mineral-rich and made up largely of pink granite. Despite being a small area, 80 growers produce wines in the area, making an average of 2 million bottles per year. It also boasts more organic vineyards and winemakers than any of the other Crus.

Even though Régnié is located right next to Morgon, one of the region’s largest and most famous crus, the personalities of the wines are nearly opposite. Where Morgon is known for bigger, more structured, savory wines that can age, Régnié is prized for being aromatic and bright. The wines also tend to show best when enjoyed early, usually within 3 to 5 years is recommended. The wines display red fruits like raspberries, cherries, and red currants, sometimes with a hint of peach, a touch of spice and minerality.

THE WINE

Today’s wine is the Julien Sunier Régnié 2018 and both Greg and I really enjoyed this one.

Julien grew up in Dijon but had no family connections to wine. He really had no idea what he wanted to do when he finished up school. His mother was a hairdresser and one of her clients just happened to be famed Burgundy winemaker Christophe Roumier, who offered to take him on so he could “see what this wine stuff is all about." He caught the bug and went on to work for wineries in New Zealand and at Bonny Doon here in California, both locations which allowed him to indulge in his passion for surfing. Along the way, he also developed a deep respect for organic and biodynamic practices. Once he returned to France, he spent time working some other impressive names in Burgundy, then at a large negociant in Beaujolais where he got to know all 10 crus very well.

He eventually set up his own domaine in 2008 with parcels in Fleurie, Morgon, and Régnié, working his vineyard according to his own organic and biodynamic principles. He’s become a big advocate for natural wine and is launching a mini-négociant project designed to help train young growers and winemakers how to work naturally in Beaujolais.

On the day we opened it, we picked up notes on the nose of dark raspberry, grape candy, black cherry, a touch of spice and flowers. There’s also an earthy meatiness which starts off stronger, but then quiets down and melts into the background. Greg described the palate as blackberry compote with black licorice, singed blackberry bramble, and dark flowers, and I thought he hit it pretty well although I’ll add a smattering of red berries and few sprigs of herbs to the mix. The fruit had a nice balance being just at the midpoint of being tart and ripe. For me, this wine gave off a pretty, coquettish vibe, like it was batting its eyelashes flirtatiously at me.

It was medium-bodied but smooth with plenty of fleshy fruit, medium alcohol, lots of freshness, and just enough tannins for a delicate grip on the finish.

THE PAIRING

You might’ve seen the wave of focaccia art going around the interwebs. Bakers decorate focaccia dough with veggies, nuts, and charcuterie arranged to look like beautiful scenes. Some of my girlfriends decided to make a quarantine cooking project out of trying our hand at this art form.

It’s also a perfect baking project to do with kids. My friend Jenny in NYC made these with her daughter Isa.

I decided I’d combine my focaccia art attempt with this blog post, and would then try our wines with some different cheese and charcuterie options. I made a batch of dough using this recipe from King Arthur Flour, stretched it out on two sheet pans and let them rise in the fridge overnight, as indicated by the recipe. The next day, as the dough came up to temp out of the fridge, I gathered up different veggies I had around and cut them up and laid them out (this is a great way to use up leftover bits of veggies!), and then just let creativity take over.

I spent about an hour happily prepping veggies and assembling my first “masterpiece” into what looked like a floral quilt design. This type of craftiness is not really my strong suit, but I had fun playing around. At this point, I invited my darling husband into the kitchen for his input. Greg loves to backseat drive in the kitchen and I thought I’d be nice and give him the opportunity. This proved to be a very bad move. First, while he opted not to decorate his own, he happily critiqued my first attempt, lamenting that I had not applied a “rule of thirds” to my design.

🙄🙄🙄

Then as he turned to leave the kitchen – which is small and often requires me to be creative about where I put things while working – he bumped into the precariously placed sheet pan with the focaccia I’d just decorated and sent it crashing to the ground.

🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄

Luckily, he had kindly taken pictures on his phone of the original.

My first attempt at foccaia art.

Luckily as well, I still had the second sheet pan of focaccia dough. I’d planned to keep number two simple with herbs, garlic, and onions, but now I added a simpler version of the first design on top of what I had. (It was starting to get late and we were getting hungry.)

My second attempt at focaccia art, pre-baking.

2nd attempt at focaccia art once baked. This sheet of focaccia was thinner than the first and ended up with some very thin browned sections where I stretched it a little too much.

It might seem a little gross, but I decided to bake the one that had crashed to the ground after removing the original toppings. I couldn’t bare the thought of wasting all of that flour right now and it was going into a super hot oven. Plus, no one was going to eat it besides the two of us.

First focaccia, cleaned up and redecorated, after baking. Next time, I'll add the garlic slices towards the end of baking, as they toasted up a little too much.

It actually turned out pretty fine, so all's well that ends well I suppose. I’d absolutely do this again, but next time Greg can decorate his own and I’ll keep him far, far away from mine.

We enjoyed a couple of cheeses and some ‘Ndjua alongside our focaccia and Régnié. Our first cheese was Marin French’s Petite Crème, a lovely, creamy brie style cheese. Located in West Marin County, Marin French started in 1865, making it the oldest continually operating cheese company in the US. Their Petite Crème is a go-to as it’s velvety and lightly tangy – pretty much just what you want in a triple cream brie style cheese.

Cheese number two was a drunken goat cheese treated with the marc of Traminer wine from Perenzín Latteria in Italy’s Veneto region. Perenzín has been making cheese since in 1898, and I actually had the chance to visit last year and I hope to share more with you about that visit soon. This cheese is complex with layers of flavors. It’s tangy and salty with herbal and floral notes mixed in. I think the wine marc also add a little bit of a fruity to note to the cheese.

Greg and I were kind of split on which cheese went better with the wine, Greg slightly preferring the Traminer goat cheese, me slightly preferring the combo with the Petite Crème. We both agreed though, that it made a pretty solid match with both. Personally, I found that the pairing with Petite Crème brought out the wine’s silky side and highlighted a lavender flavor. On the other hand, the cheese from Perenzín brought out darker, more savory notes in the wine teasing out black olive and umami flavors.

I figured the pairing was going to be a stretch with our spicy ‘Ndjua salami from Journeyman Meat Co., given that heat can be tricky to pair with wine. However, these days, we roll with what we have around. The spice did overpower the wine a bit, but it wasn’t half bad. It did better than expected. I’ll note as well that the wine paired very nicely with the black olives on our focaccia.

This spread happily helps show that the Cru Beaujolais tend to make a pretty solid wine choice, regardless of what pairing you throw at them. We found this one incredibly delightful and it proved particularly versatile.

If you want to try making focaccia art at home, here are a few articles that can help guide you:

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

The winery recommends this wine with “a good paté or dried sausage.” As well, I found this handy set of pairing recommendations for the wines of Régnié on DiscoverBeaujolais.com.

In addition, check out these previous pairings for Cru Beaujolais.

Wines from this region are also mentioned in these posts, which also include additional pairings.

THE GEEKY DETAILS

A lot of the details appear right on the bottle for this wine, which you can see here.

Here are a few additional notes on the winemaking.

Vinification & Elevage: Indigenous yeast fermentations in concrete vats at low temperatures, to preserve fresh fruit flavors and a delicate tannic structure. After fermentations are complete, fruit is slowly pressed, over a 24 hour period, using an ancient vertical press Julien acquired in the Côte D’Or.

Aging: 20% aged in cement and 80% in neutral French barrels.

Julien Sunier uses all organic farming practices, although this site is still under conversion for certification.

You can find lots of additional details as well for this wine on the winery’s website, as well as on the websites for Polaner Selections and Floraison Selections. Of note is the fact that the vineyard site is located on the famed Cote du Py hillside on edge of the Morgon appellation.

MONEY TALK

I purchased this wine from Minimo in Jack London Square here in Oakland for $32 (the average price on Wine-Searcher.com for this vintage is $35. It’s a little pricier than some Cru Beaujolais (although not as pricey as others) but it’s carefully made from a conscientious winemaker using natural techniques and we both really enjoyed it. I’d say it’s a very worthy Attainable Indulgence!

PRO TIP

One more plus side to Beaujolais, in general, is that many can easily take a light chill, making them a perfect choice as we start to roll into warmer weather.

Photo credit on the majority of these pics to Greg Hudson.

*****

The rest of the French #Winophiles blogging group is exploring Cru Beaujolais wine this month as well, led by Cindy of Grape Experiences. Be sure to check out their posts to better get to know more of the crus!

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm experiences A Casual COVID-19 Visit with Charcuterie and Chateau de Poncie Le Pre Roi Fleurie.
Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Tuna Pâté + Joseph Drouhin Hospices De Belleville Brouilly 2016.
Jill at L’Occasion explores Soil + Wind: Tasting Cru Beaujolais with Château du Moulin-à-Vent.
Payal of Keep the Peas is Welcoming Summer with a Berry Delicious Brouilly.
Lynn at Savor the Harvest honors Fleurie - The Queen of Beaujolais Crus.
Jane at Always Ravenous explores Cru Beaujolais: Tasting and Food Pairings.
Jeff at Food Wine Click! enjoys Cru Beaujolais at the Grill.
Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares Flowers for Julien –Beaujolais in May.
Linda at My Full Wine Glass discovers Gamay and Granite – A Beaujolais Love Story.
Susannah Gold at Avvinare finds Cru Beaujolais – An Endless Discovery.
Pinny at Chinese Food and Wine Pairing discovers Cru Beaujolais – Cedric Lathuiliere Fleurie Paired with Frog Legs.
Lauren at The Swirling Dervish meets Morgon de Jean-Paul Thévenet, One of the Beaujolais Gang of Four.
Kat at The Corkscrew Concierge is Exploring the Differences & Pairing Versatility of Cru Beaujolais.
Martin at Enofylz Wine Blog considers A Taste of Chénas, Beaujolais’ Rarest Cru.
Terri of Our Good Life pairs Cru Beaujolais with Rustic Foods.
Gwendolyn at Wine Predator is Comparing Louis Tete’s 2016 Brouilly and Morgan Gamay from Beaujolais With Pairings.
Over at Grape Experiences, Cindy is loving The Wines of Fleurie – An Enchanting Introduction to Cru Beaujolais.

Additional source used for this post:

Wine Scholar's Guild: What makes each of the 10 crus Beaujolais special - With Map
Paris Wine Company: The 10 Crus of Beaujolais Explaing (. . . and Then Some)

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, from which I might earn a commission at no cost to you.

Massican Annia Napa Valley 2016

Arbe Garbe Sonoma Valley V. 2017

THE WINE

THE PAIRING

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

THE GEEKY DETAILS

MONEY TALK

Chicken Thighs with Apples, Onions, Kale, and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Notes:

Did you make this recipe?

RÉGNIÉ

THE WINE

THE PAIRING

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

THE GEEKY DETAILS

MONEY TALK

PRO TIP

INSTAGRAM

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Massican Annia Napa Valley 2016

Arbe Garbe Sonoma Valley V. 2017

THE WINE

THE PAIRING

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

THE GEEKY DETAILS

MONEY TALK

Chicken Thighs with Apples, Onions, Kale, and Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Notes:

Did you make this recipe?

RÉGNIÉ

THE WINE

THE PAIRING

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

THE GEEKY DETAILS

MONEY TALK

PRO TIP

INSTAGRAM

Sign up for my mailing list!

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