Vancouver Internatonal Wine Festival Trade Seminar Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC and Cicchetti

OPEN PINOT GRIGIO DELLE VENEZIE DOC and experience a wonderful world. Shaped by a unique territory that includes Veneto, Trentino and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Everything here is special: from the microclimate to the traditions, from history to art. So is the  wine that expresses them. Pinot Grigio delle Venezie: the DOC certified wonderful.

Vancouver Internatonal Wine Festival Trade Seminar Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC and Cicchetti

Creative Pairings with Italy’s Most Popular White Wine

Cicchetti (from the Latin word ciccus, meaning ‘small quanity’) are small snacks
consumed in Venice at Bacari, traditional osterias.

Cicchetti tasted during the trade seminar included four Apollini and two Panettoni.

APOLLINI – Also known as “Coda di Aragosta” (ioe. Lobster Tail), this exquisite pastry is a symphony of textures, featuring crispy layers of ultra-thin dough, tender choux pastry, and a luscious filling.

PANETTONE – Traditional Italian Christmas bread, Panettone is made by Chef Emiddio with “lievito madre” or “mother yeast”, and top-quality ingredients, including two savoury versions.

A blind tasting of six Pinot Grigio paired with delicious bites of Corte Giara Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023 and Panettone.

Corte Giara Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023

Straw yellow in colour.

Light and delicate on the nose, characterised by a subtle elegant floral nuance followed by hints of golden delicious apples and distinctive vegetal notes.

Dry and medium-bodied, the palate faithfully reflects the nose, being tangy and satisfying, while at the same time simple and exceedingly enjoyable.

APPELLATION
Pinot Grigio delle Venezie D.O.C.
GRAPE VARIETIES
Pinot Grigio
VINEYARD LOCATION
Eastern hills of Lake Garda
SOIL CHARACTERISTIC
Morenic, stony and well drained
TRAINING SYSTEM
Guyot

Food Pairings
Try with mixed grilled fish, peppered mussels and clams, sea bass baked in salt, Valencian paella, baccalà (salt cod), chicken salad, nuts and exotic fruit.

Best served at 10°C (50°F).

HARVEST
Carried out in late August
PRESSING
Soft pressing of the whole grapes
FERMENTATION
In temperature controlled stainless steel thanks
AGEING
4 months in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, 2 months of bottle ageing
ALCOHOL CONTENT
12,63% Vol

This wine exhibited fresh notes of brioche and glazed donuts with a touch of wheat and some slight oak. Stonefruit aromas that followed to the palate with hints of fresh pineapple and an expressed freshness. Excellent acidity. The wine balances well with the richness of the pastry and the challenge of the zesty guacamole and tuna.

Available at Robson Wine Beer and Spirits
retail price at this store: 26.30 CAD

Giuseppe Campagnola Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023

REGION
Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.

GRAPES
Pinot Grigio from best situated hillside vineyards in Veneto region.

VINIFICATION
Hand-picked and machine-picked grapes. Soft pressing and fermentation in white at controlled temperature (14-15 °C). The wine is then stored in special stainless-steel tanks until bottling.

TASTING NOTES
Light straw color with greenish reflections. Fine, elegant, clean and intense aroma, dry flavour with pleasant green apple aftertaste.

ANALYSIS
Alcohol 12% Vol; Total acidity 5,8 g/l; Residual sugar 5,5 g/l.

FOOD PAIRINGS
Excellent as aperitif, with hors d’oeuvres or with sea food salads and fish dishes. Perfect with meats and light meals. Serve chilled at 8 – 10 °C

Aromas of light citrus, violets, floral with stonefruit. Clear spice and dusty rose scents with a touch of blood orange. A little denser than the previous wine. Creamy, smooth and rich with more body, riper. A little less acidity. The wine is mellow and stood up well to the salted cod and creamy apollini which was very filling.

Available at Robson Wine Beer and Spirits
retail price at this store: 23.60 CAD

Tommasi Le Rosse Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023

A delicate and characterful wine that comes from an area that is known for its fine reds: a challenge launched by the Tommasi family in 1997 that has proved a great success.

TASTING NOTE
A bright straw yellow with pale green reflections, on the nose it offers notes of ripe fruit (pears and Golden Delicious
apples), evolving in the glass with delicate hints of hay and almonds. On the palate it is dry and well-balanced, with a
particularly fresh, tangy finish.

VINIFICATION and MATURATION
10 days’ fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats.
4 months’ maturation in stainless steel tanks.
GRAPES
Pinot Grigio 100%
ALCOHOL
12% vol.
ORIGIN
The Le Rosse vineyard in the hilly
Valpolicella Classica zone.

SERVING TEMPERATURE
8-10°C

SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Excellent as an aperitif, or with hors d’oeuvres, fish dishes, risottos, white meats and fresh cheeses.

This wine was slightly lighter in colour with rich aromas of stonefruit, mango, pineapple, tropical scents with citrus. A delicate wine, very fresh. More flavourful than the scents would suggest. Flavours of lime with minerality, salty with good acidity. With enough body to stand up to the tomatoes and saltiness of the dish. This wine would pair with many dishes.  

Available at 98 BC Liquor Stores
retail price at this store: 23.99 CAD currently on sale at $20.99 until March 31

Tenuta Corte Giacobbe Ramato Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023

DESCRIPTION
Pinot Grigio vinified according to the old tradition in the Republic of Venice. They must remain in contact with the skins for about 12 hours, acquiring a particular copper colour. It stands out for its minerality due to its area of origin.
VINIFICATION
After the clusters are de-stemmed, the berries macerate for 12 hours on the skins, giving the wine its quite distinctive coppery hue, and are then gently pressed. The must is gravity-settled for clarity, then inoculated with cultured yeasts; it ferments at a temperature of 13°C in order to preserve the classic varietal fragrances.
MATURATION
A minimum of 3 months in steel tanks, with once-weekly bâttonage of the fine lees, followed by a minimum of 45 days’ bottle-ageing.
SENSORY PROFILE
Limpid and clear to the eye, with a distinctive coppery tonality. Fragrant peach predominates on the nose, complemented by impressions of tropical fruit, such as pineapple and heightened by subtle floral notes of spring wildflowers. Elegant and silk-smooth in the mouth, yet firmly-structured and full-bodied. Beautifully crisp, it progresses regally into a lingering finish.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
An ideal partner with light and vegetarian entrees, and perfect with fish.
ALCHOL
13 % vol.
SERVING TEMPERATURE
10-12 °C

This wine showed a slight blush in the colour. More fruit forward, red fruit, rhubarb, strawberry. Just a bit funky yt refreshing. A complex high acidity wine with depth and nice body. Would pair well with rich food and paired well with the beef of the apollino. The wine concludes with an abundance of flavour.

Dollarton Liquor Store
retail price at this store: 29.40 CAD

Mezzacorona Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023

An international wine grape amongst the most difficult to cultivate, passionately cared for by the members of Mezzacorona who grow the grapes in the hilly areas.

Production area
The appellation “DOC delle Venezie” represents a vast wine district located in the Northeast of Italy, covering the regions Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto and the province of Trento. This area boasts a unique microclimate which has favoured the production of those wines with specific characteristics and are renowned for a distinct know-how in the production of Pinot Grigio.
Grapes
Pinot Grigio
Characteristics
A delicately complex wine with an intense fragrance, it is dry with a pleasant, slightly bitter after taste.
Alcohol content
12.5%
Serving temperature
50-54°

Pungent aromas of stonefruit with slight oakiness and minerality. Versatile, very acidic and bold. The wine cuts through the richness of the palate cleanser of burrata. The wine’s richness, while light, and the acidity means it pairs very well with the anchovy. Light and fresh versus the rich and flavourful panettonne.

Available at 188 BC Liquor Stores
retail price at this store: 19.99 CAD

KRIS Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie DOC 2023

Ironically, “grigio” means “gray” in Italian, which couldn’t be further from the truth in the case of KRIS, which is bursting with colorful aromas and flavors developed in high vineyards of the Veneto region. With enticing aromas of acacia flowers, lime, tangerine and hints of apricots and almonds, KRIS Pinot Grigio is bold but clean and refreshing on the palate, and offers a long finish tinged with orange blossom and honey.

Appellation
Delle Venezie, Denominazione di Origine Controllata.

Varietal Blend
100% Pinot Grigio

Wine Characteristics
Pale yellow in color with brilliant greenish reflections, enticing aromas of acacia flowers, citrus, tangerine, and hints of apricots and almonds. KRIS Pinot Grigio is lean and refreshing on the palate with hints of blossom and honey.

FOOD PAIRINGS
Recommended with salad, roast vegetables, risotto, lightly flavored pastas, omelettes, quiches and grilled white meats or salmon.

Beginning with sweet scents, candied fruit, cinnamon, cloves and star anise. Some hints of minerality. More delicate than expected. Light, fresh. The wine cut the fat of the prosciuto and complimented the richness of the panettone. A crisp, lingering finish. The panettone is dense but also with a sweet note so it is challenging the wine, the spiciness works with this wine.

Available at 57 BC Liquor Stores
retail price at this store: 21.99 CAD currently on sale at $19.99 until March 31

Menu designed by Emiddio Isernia, Executive Pastry Chef/Owner of Antise Vancouver.

About the DOC Delle Venezie Wine Protection Consortium

The DOC Delle Venezie Wine Protection Consortium was established in 2017 through the collective will of the entire wine production chain in Northeast Italy to create the largest supra-regional integration model. It unites the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Autonomous Province of Trento, and Veneto into a single major denomination.

Protecting, enhancing and promoting Pinot grigio: with these objectives the Consorzio DOC delle Venezie brings together all the operators of the production chain of Triveneto Pinot grigio to guarantee and certify the quality and origin of our wine.

With a production area of 27,000 hectares and an output of 250 million bottles—supported by a production chain comprising 6,141 grape growers, 575 winemaking companies, and 371 bottling companies—DOC Delle Venezie currently accounts for 85% of Italian Pinot Grigio and 43% of global production. www.dellevenezie.it

We protect and enhance Pinot grigio delle Venezie designation of origin.

We strengthen the promotion and development of the wine production chain of the territories of Pinot Grigio.

We guarantee the respect of the best quality parameters and the traceability of our wine.

Stefano Sequino, “the importance of implementing production management measures promoted by the
Consortium, tools that help maintain market stability, which is a tremendous value for our stakeholders.”.

Monitoring activities, entrusted to Triveneta Certificazioni, are fundamental to the continued success of DOC Delle Venezie. Thanks to a rigorous system verifying compliance with production regulations and the use of the State seal applied to the entire annual production, equivalent to approximately 230 million bottles, Delle Venezie-certified wines guarantee high standards.

Learn more at pinotgrigio.wine

Read our previously published DOC Delle Venezie Wine Protection Consortium article here. Also our review of the Pinot Grigio Perfect Pairings lunch. linked here where we tasted five more wines, not including these six.

Wine notes and pairing descriptions courtesy of DOC Delle Venezie Wine Protection Consortium and the wineries. My notes (in italics). Images: (except as noted) MyVanCity. I received a complimentary tasting for myself and a guest.