The World Cup of Wines

By Matt Domino Published June 11, 2014

world cup wines — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The World Cup starts tomorrow! Whether you are swept up in the United States’ chances in the Group of Death without Landon Donovan, Brazil taking home the trophy as the host nation, or catching some of the magic of Argentina’s Lionel Messi, it’s a time to celebrate.

Since this is the World Cup after all, we’ve picked five wines from around the globe that you should have on hand over the next month while you watch as the champion of the “World’s Game” is crowned.

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First, there is the Tenuta Frescobaldi di Catiglioni from Italy. The Italians are always a favorite in the World Cup and this 2010 blended Tuscan red wine is a favorite of ours. With its ruby red color, rich notes of cherry, currant, strawberry and blueberry, and hints of spice, this is the perfect wine for the passionate fan.

The reigning World Cup champions are from Spain, a country that is no slouch, and perhaps slightly underrated when it comes to wine consideration, and the Naiades, D.O. Rueda is no exception. We’ve already paired this wine, with its sweetness and touch of minerality on the finish, alongside a fish dinner and needless to say, there were no regrets.

Portugal’s top player, Cristiano Ronaldo has fought through a leg injury to represent his team in the world’s most famous tournament. If you feel for the guy (though with his looks and his bank roll it’s hard to feel bad for Ronaldo), pick up a bottle of 2009 Sino da Romaneira, a light, floral red wine from the Douro region of Portugal.

Finally, when you think of Argentina, you think of healthy portions of steak with chimichurri, and most likely you think of the best soccer player on the planet: Lionel Messi. The Argentineans are poised to make another deep run in the World Cup behind La Pulga (“the Flea”). If you’re behind the Argentines, then you’ll be opening up a bottle of Cultivate’s “The Gambler” Malbec from 2011. While Malbecs aren’t known for their “nimbleness” like Messi, The Gambler is an approachable Malbec with a strong backbone and aromatic notes of eucalyptus and tobacco leaf. Trust us, you’ll enjoy it.

All you have to do is uncork a few bottles and enjoy the games. Just make sure to brush your teeth periodically. Nobody likes wino mouth.

Topics

Liquor, Beer, Wine & Drinks

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Matt Domino is a writer living in Brooklyn. His fiction has appeared in Slice and The Montreal Review, while his non-fiction…

Food & Drink

Meet Montepulciano, the Italian Wine That’s as Fun to Say as It Is to Drink

what is montepulciano italian red wine

There are a lot of visually pleasing, storybook tales in wine, and surely Montepulciano is one of them. The name is essentially three-pronged, referring to the gorgeous Tuscan town as well as a pair of distinctive red wine types.
Let’s start with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Think of it as Chianti’s lesser-known cousin. It’s made mainly from the same grape, Sangiovese, and usually blended with other reds like Caniolo Nero, among others. It is aged for two years, although many winemakers extend that timeframe to even out the wine even more.
The Montepulciano name here is merely a reference to the Italian city. An ancient wine, its first reference appeared in the 8th Century. Prior to the early 20th Century, it was given the long-winded title of “Vino Rosso Scelto di Montepulciano.” One of the first commercial producers, Adamo Fanetti, offered the “nobile” (meaning noble) moniker in 1930. His wines were beloved in Tuscany and soon many other producers hopped aboard. By 1966, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano was handed official DOC status.
Thought to be a quintessential Tuscan red, the wine is medium in weight, generally showing stone fruit flavors, well-integrated tannins, and a healthy amount of acid. It’s arguably the ultimate pizza wine but does well with all kinds of dishes. As with a lot of popular Old World wines, there’s typically a pastoral element to the wine, often in the form of earth and spice or tobacco, even leather.
Moving on to Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. As the name indicates, the wine is made from grapes grown in the Abruzzo region. Strangely enough, it’s nowhere near Tuscany. This photogenic spot east of Rome is set around the coastal town of Pescara, overlooking the stunning Adriatic Sea. Pretty as the coastline is, much of the winegrowing happens in the foothills of the nearby mountains.
Here, a large share of Montepulciano is grown, Italy’s second-most grown native grape species behind only —you guessed it — Sangiovese. Experts aren’t quite sure how the grape got its name but some assume that early on, it was believed that Sangiovese and Montepulciano were the same grape. It’s a reasonable theory given that the flavors are pretty similar and the grapes behave alike in the cellar.
The wine is very popular with production estimated at well over 20 million cases per year. A good chunk of that output makes its way to the States, where it finds a good home in specialty stores and supermarkets alike. Most is crafted in the Chieti province of Italy and the wine is known for having deep color, primarily due to anthocyanin content in the grape skins.
It’s a deep wine, with dark fruit flavors and, often, a bit more extraction. Compared to its namesake Nobile wine, the Abruzzo version is equally chewy and tannic, but less acidic. Often, it’s a bit more on the concentrated or jammy end of the fruit spectrum. It can show a dash of herbs, like oregano or tarragon. In addition to Abruzzo, the wine is made in regions like Marche and Puglia.
It should be mentioned that there’s also Rosso di Montepulciano, basically a shorter-aged version of Nobile. Picture it as the Beaujolais of Montepulciano, resting just six months before going to bottle and generally a bit fresher and more vibrant on the palate. Some even make a Rosé out of the deeply-colored variety.
You can't go wrong with either the Nobile or Abruzzo versions of Montepulciano. Just remember that they're two quite distinctive wines in terms of grape content but both very much up to the task of pairing with pastas and other vintage Italian fare. And while full in terms of flavor, they're medium-bodied and great with lighter dishes so look to them this summer, especially as fresh tomatoes start showing up.
Ready to get your Montepulciano on? Here are a handful to try:

Crociani 2016 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

Food & Drink

Soave Used To Be The Most Popular Italian White Wine in The U.S. Here’s How It Has Changed

White wine in a glass

About fifty years ago, Soave was the most popular Italian wine in the states. For a hot minute, the white even outsold Chianti.
Those were the days. Today, the northern Italian wine is more obscure stateside, tucked away in bottle shop aisles and on restaurant by-the-glass lists. This isn't to say to it's not worth tracking down, though, as the workhorse white is great on its own or paired with Italian dishes like gnocchi or squid-ink pasta.
Soave is a regional reference, not a grape one. There’s a medieval commune by the same name that’s home to about 7,000 people. The wine is made from a handful of approved varieties, including Verdicchio and Garganega. The latter must be at least 70% of the wine to take on the Soave title.
In its native Italy in the province of Verona, the Garganega grape does especially well, a late-ripening grape that boasts thick enough skins to fend off the incessant mist of the region. The Po Valley is famous for such humidity, especially in the fall when the grapes ripen and are most susceptible to disease pressure.

The Soave Classico region was designated such back in 1927. Generally, the soils of the west side of the region are limestone-based, producing bigger, fruit-driven wines. On the opposite side, the soils are volcanic, leading to wines that can show a more focused minerality. No red wine is produced in Soave (although Valpolicella is made nearby) and the area has several co-ops that vinify wine together.
Soave is generally light-to-medium bodied, with fruity flavors that fall somewhere between a Pinot Gris and a Chardonnay. Many suggest the mass-produced options offer nutty flavors and even a slight bitterness. Producers have pushed lighter, more approachable takes lately, making for trim wines that show melon and citrus and pair well with summer salads and lighter pastas.
Critics of the wine point to the region's rather large boundaries and some producers' tendency to push for heavy crop loads. The region absorbed some lesser growing zones during the height of Soave's popularity to keep up with demand and focused more on quantity than quality. But today's Soave benefits from two things: Established old vines in the areas where it truly flourishes, and the present generation of winemakers, many of whom are looking to make memorable, contemplative wines.

Food & Drink

What’s Valpolicella? Exploring One of Italy’s Most Famous Wine Regions

Valpolicella

Valpolicella is one of Italy’s most famous winegrowing regions, but most of us stateside know very little about it.
To begin, it resides in the north close to Venice in the Verona region, near Alto Adige. Winemaking goes back thousands of years, all the way to the ancient Greeks. It remains a cornerstone of the region today, based predominantly the approved grape varieties of Corvina Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara.
Valpolicella’s most famous boozy export is likely amarone, a hefty wine made from grape skins. This stuff comes in hot, often surpassing the 15% ABV mark and showing deep, concentrated fruit tones with very little acid. The fruit tends to get harvested later, when the rains come in, making disease pressure a real issue. Fending off potential faults and flaws is one of the biggest challenges in making amarone.
Strangely enough, Valpolicella is also known for the opposite — a bright and fresh red wine that begs for summer weather. It’s the kind of feathery yet flavorful red you can chill and should accompany you often as you bring fresh produce, seafood, and poultry out to your grill.
Much of this freshness comes from the climate. Neighboring Lake Garda and the Adriatic Sea keep conditions pretty temperate. The “classico” zone resides to the north in the many folds of the Monti Lessini topography, cooler still thanks to winds coming in from the Alps. An estimated 40% of the region’s wine production occurs here.
Some of the freshness is owed to the cellar style, which is somewhat inspired by nouveau (famous for Beaujolais). Fermentations are cool, aging is limited, and the resulting wines are light and fruity on the palate, showing things like sour cherry and pomegranate. Intriguingly, they tend to manage to hold on to some Old World-ness as well, in the form of moderate earth and spice.
In addition to the above grapes, there’s also Barbera, Sangiovese, and Bigolona. More intrepid vintners are looking to bring back native varieties like Oseleta as well, adding another voice to the local terroir conversation. A sweeter style, dubbed recioto, is also quite popular in Valpolicella. The name refers to the ear-like sections at the top of some fruit clusters, which tend to be the richest as they get the most sunshine and produce the most sugar.
While young, another popular Valpolicella style is Ripasso. It emerged in the late 20th Century and involves bringing in some of the pomace (or, fruit pressing remains) or partially-dried grapes from the recioto and amarone styles during maceration. It offers more structure and body without overwhelming the palate. It's become more and more popular since the 1980s and in 2009, ripasso earned true DOC recognition.
You don't have to switch over entirely to whites and Roses during the summer stretch and Valpolicella is tasty proof. Here are a few to try:

Tenuta Sant’Antonio "Nanfrè" Valpolicella