I'm surprised nobody has started this thread yet since there are so many excellent Italian wines - and many of them are pretty cheap.

To get the ball rolling here are two of my favorites - both in the $10-$20 range:

Red: I am a big fan of Barbera d'Asti (DOC) - excellent drinkability and usually a good deal at your local wine shop. Sometimes my local store has a Barbara d'Alba (DOC) that is usually a buck or two cheaper with no loss of character.

White: I really like the golden hued, full bodied and slightly acidic/bitter flavors of the Vernaccia di San Gimignano (DOCG) and I am amazed that versions of this prized white are really cheap - sometimes under $10!

I just happen to like inexpensive wines but feel free to include any price ranges or vintages in your listing. I'm really interested to see what everyone is drinking out there.

The only Italian wines I have been introduced to so far are Barolos, they are robust red--very dry and full bodied, high in tannin, acidity, and alcohol. They are best served with food, as I am told most Italian wines are.

We opened some 2001 Gianfranco Alessandria recently, and found an extensive and deep range of what seemed like woodsy fragrances, with the main flavors of smoke, chocolate, tobacco and hints of limestone soil. The warm fruit somewhat softens the ample but balanced tannins. We got it at 680 SGD/case at wholesale rates (which should be about 340 USD) for a friend's wedding, am not sure what a bottle costs off the shelf.

They were finally declared too expensive to serve out at the reception, so friends and family are now going to polish them off at various intimate gatherings...I can assure you I am looking forward to it! Most of my friends prefer whites, saying, girls are supposed to stick to whites, but I tell them I love my reds, thankyou!

I am going to try out the ones you have mentioned, Justin, and let you know how they were.

In the last years in Italy wine became so common and many Vinerie (Wine bar) were opened.
Every year in Verona there is one of the best wine shows called Vinitaly http://www.vinitaly.com
I stayed there with some friends of mine three years ago, I think is better now, and we tasted many great wine unknown to me as: Cannonau from Sardinia, Nero d’Avola from Sicily, Morellino di Scansano from Tuscany, Pigato and Vermentino from Liguria, Grumello and Sassella from Valtellina, Barbera and Grignolino from Piemonte, Francia Corta from Brescia, Primitivo and Negroamaro like the famous music group from Puglia and many others.
So if you are going to Italy and you are in one of these regions trust me and try those ;-)

ThanX. ho scritto tutti

I live in Rome and dine out quite often in some nice traditional restaurants. I'm usually with Italian friends and so we never go to touristy places.
I've become quite a connoiseur of red wines as I think the wine really does make the meal...
I used to like Barolo and Montepulciano d'Abbruzzo but for about three months now everywhere we go, I insist to have a rather particular Sardinian wine called Assajè. It is absolutely gorgeous. The first time I tried it we were at Jimmiz wine bar on Via Veneto and it was love at first taste. It's seems to be the only red wine that doesn't leave that rather bitter aftertaste in your mouth.. it just seems like sipping velvet. I love it and would recommend it to you all.

Assajè - dall'omonimo vocabolo gallurese che significa "è già qualcosa". E' prodotto con uve Carignano provenienti dai nostri vigneti, vinificate in vasche di acciao inox.

Ha colore rosso rubino intenso con netti riflessi viola.
I profumi sono intensi, persistenti, educati, di spettro ampio ed articolato, con un finale piuttosto lungo e piacevole. Si avvertono le bacche rosse e ammostate e la rosa appassita, il mirto e l'eucalipto, ed infine sentori speziati.
In bocca è morbido, gradevolmente sapido e speziato, con polpa dolce, soda e nel contempo solubile. Gli aromi sono pieni e dalla forte impronta fruttata. Il ribes nero, la ciliegia matura, la mora di rovo si confondono piacevolmente lasciando alla fine libero il campo ad un ammandorlato delicato.
l'Assajé è un vino di antica e rustica eleganza, dove il Carignano in purezza mette a nudo le sue migliori espressioni: i profumi e gli aromi tipici della macchia mediterranea emergono prorompenti, mentre il dolce velluto della stoffa del vino ricopre un corpo forte e caratteristico.

I just discovered Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and it is now my new favorite Italian wine. We had a bottle the other night -- and it's inexpensive, less than $30 a bottle in a restaurant, so far less than that if you buy it yourself -- and what I loved about it was how the taste of it changed as the night went by.

It's a lighter wine than say a Chianti, and the flavor is oddly complex, and it mellows as it warms and airs... truly wonderful.

Teresa

__________________
###
InkWell International
www.inkwell-inc.biz
Cultural Writing Retreats Worldwide
Professional Writing and Editing

See my new book about Italy!
http://www.inkwell-inc.biz/dream.html

in the first, i m apologize for my english, I m not native e. and sometimes i have problems with this lang.
well, to wines
did you try wines from North Italy? I recommendate grape Teroldego rotaliano - wonderful full wines of mountains life - hard and elegant, full body, fruits and chocolate, coffe, fantastic
from white wines try gewurztraminer - best of them!
Lucie

Ciao!

Ieri sera... oh hell, I can't do it in Italian.

Last night I drank a glass of really wonderful Italian red wine:
Monte Aribaldo, Dolcetto d'Alba, 2004.

Check it out - you won't be disappointed!

Teresa

__________________
###
InkWell International
www.inkwell-inc.biz
Cultural Writing Retreats Worldwide
Professional Writing and Editing

See my new book about Italy!
http://www.inkwell-inc.biz/dream.html

In general I do not like white wines, I prefer reds: I like their texture and aftertaste.

But my Italian neighbor persuaded me otherwise yesterday: I tasted the Pieropan Soave Classico Superiore, “la Rocca” 1998, made from the grape varietal Garganega at the Pieropan vineyard.

Despite being from Soave which is known for white wines of neutral quality at best, this golden straw wine was something else altogether: dry, but not acidic, elegant yet strong. It justifies its origin in the village of Soave (near Verona), being “full-bodied and suave”, with tropical fruity flavors, which went particularly well with the chicken parmigiana and the risotto with wild mushrooms which the hostess served.

It is quite nice on its own with aperitifs, and the 12.5% alcohol makes it quite heady for a light white wine. Try it, and you would not regret the extra bucks you pay, because at about 44 USD( I bought myself a bottle today), it is still worth every single cent, because it is a special wine, to be served to connoisseurs.

I love the "allegria" of the Lambrusco, a bubbly happy red wine from Emilia Romagna and the sweetness of a Moscato. I have not had either one for so long its not even funny !!

__________________
Angelica

http://www.italianartstudio.com

http://www.zazzle.com/italianart

http://www.italiamia.net

"Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and, suddenly, you are doing the impossible"