Sweet Muscat wines, produced from a wide variety of Muscat grape varieties, can be found in many different styles throughout Italy. Sweet wines crafted from Moscato Bianco (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) are found in only about half of Italy’s wine-growing regions—and even then, usually in just a single DOC. We tasted a sweet Muscat wine from Liguria:
So far I have not managed to go to the Cinque Terre to experience the region’s famous, often dizzying, wine terraces, created on the steep coast with high dry stone walls. This is mainly because the 12 km long coastal strip of the Ligurian Riviera north of La Spezia is almost chronically overcrowded. The fact that the Cinque Terre is a World Heritage Site and is a national park in its entirety does not make it any easier to find a date when accommodation and restaurants and, above all, wineries are easily accessible.
Among the fortified sweet wines, there are wine styles that are offered in many different types. In addition to the sweet Malaga wine, this also includes Marsala from western Sicily. There are more than thirty different types of Marsala: 4 different qualities, three colors and four categories of residual sugar.
The Friulian DOC Colli orientale, like the DOC Collio, only came into focus in the 1970s, when both entered the wine market with large quantities of cool-fermented, fresh, fruity and aromatic white wines. This was mainly because the wines were made from internationally known varieties, especially Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. In the 1980s, international red wine varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir were increasingly planted in order to better position themselves internationally in the red wine sector.
The most common and best-known sweet wine in Tuscany is undoubtedly Vin Santo in all its varieties. According to the production regulations for wines from the IGT Toscana (Indicazione Geografica Tipica), other sweet wines may also be produced. Either a Passito, i.e. a sweet wine made from dried grapes,
Who has never heard of Frascati or maybe even drunk it. I knew Frascati from a long time ago, when it was offered almost exclusively in 1 1/2 or 2 liter bottles alongside the red, sweet Lambrusco.When I was looking for sweet wines that I had never tasted before, I came across the Cannellino di Frascati DOCG on the website of a well-known German mail-order wine company. I ordered it, without a moment’s hesitation, because of my acquaintance with the often slightly residual sweet Frascati wines in my late youth.
Pantelleria is best known for its capers, which are said to be the best in the world. Belonging geologically to the African continent, the Italian island, also known as the Island of the Winds, is only around 50 km east of Tunisia, but around 100 km south of Sicily.
“Of course” will say whoever searches the Internet for Marsala recipes from Italian websites. Carote al marsala, Risotto agli scampi, marsala e zafferano, Arrosto di maiale al marsala, Tiramisu al marsala – entire Marsala menus can be put together.
Tramin, located on the Adige south of Bozen, describes itself as the cradle of the Gewürztraminer. There the Cantina Tramin is to be found, a cooperative founded in 1898 by the local priest at the time.
About 20 km northwest of the Apulian Lecce is the small town of Salice Salentino, whose name is known to many, mostly because of its dry red wine, mainly produced from Negroamaro. It has to be be mentioned that the Salice Salentino also is produced pink or white and not only as a cuvée, but also from a single grape variety. The Salice Salentino Aleatico is also available in a sweet version, as well as liqueur wine.