Matchmaking Wine & Food during the Holidays
With Hanukkah and Christmas nearly upon us, there are promises for a season of eating and drinking festivities for families all over the US. While it’s true that every family puts their own spin on their holiday gathering, there are some traditions that cross over and blend between families, and even festivities. While the festivity focus is often on the food, what is in your wine glass is also an integral part of the celebration.
Even though the two holidays have very different traditions and dishes, through wine and food pairing we can find common ground. Let’s take a look at traditional Hanukkah and Christmas dishes and seek out similarities when finding wines which will pair with both feasts.
Matchmaking with food and wine
Let’s talk a moment about the technique of pairing wine and food. As we covered in our article about Thanksgiving food and wine pairings, there are interesting and complex reactions that our mouths have with food that can impact the way wine tastes and feels, and vice versa.
Food and wine pairing are like matchmaking, carefully evaluating the characteristics of each to determine if they will jive together.
It’s like putting two people together as a couple. There are often two contrasting viewpoints: either opposites attract or birds of a feather. The same goes with pairing wine with food:
either think of contrasting characteristics, like oil-rich foods of Hanukkah that pair with high acid wines which will temper the grease of the fat,
or think of similarities in both foods that will meld together, like desserts that will pair with sweet wines.
Getting ready to pair a holiday meal with food friendly, artisanal white wine, Famoso.
Also, when matching wine and food, you either start with the food and think wine or start with the wine and think food. For example, one might be cooking a delicious roast turkey and consider what wines would work with that dish, or one might have an amazing full-bodied red wine like a Brunello or Barolo and want to dream up a dish that will complement the special wine.
That being said, during the holidays we often have set menus, built upon traditions, so we might want to select the former pairing option, whereby we analyze the flavor and texture components of a dish to select a wine that will not overwhelm, yet still enhance the dishes.
Here, we run into another complexity in the wine and food pairing world: what to do when you have multiple dishes? Well, you can select based on a priority: is there a particular dish (such as the roast beast of the Whos in Whoville) that is the centerpiece? If so, then you may want to angle your selection towards that dish. Or, you can look for similarities across holiday dishes to find a wine that will cover multiple dishes.
Considering the overall flavor profiles of all the traditional dishes we mention in this article, there are a few general things to keep in mind, in line with our previous article on pairing foods with wine, like a healthy dose of acidity is a great common denominator to look for in a wine. As well, it is important to consider the presence of tannins: if you are working with lighter meats and side dishes, stick with a wine low in tannins. But if you are going to heavier red and dark meats and richer side dishes, consider working in a full bodied red wine with more tannins.
Let’s take a look at the traditional dishes of Christmas and Hanukkah and apply these match making theories to pairing foods with wine.
Sparkling Wines: a Natural Choice for Hanukkah and all Holiday Celebrations
Celebrated for eight days, Hanukkah remembers when the Jewish people were forced to barricade themselves in hiding from the Romans. Locking themselves in the temple, they were left with just a smidge of oil for the lamps, not even enough for one day. But by a miracle, that oil lasted them for eight days and nights, giving them light and warmth. Because of this miracle, traditional dishes during the Hanukkah holiday are based on fried foods, or foods made with a lot of oil.
While we have discussed Hanukkah dishes and wine pairings in a previous article, when considering Hanukkah traditions and traditional dishes, one can focus on wines that pair well with fried foods. Savory foods like latkes can have a greasy texture, and a wine can help cut through that, in a degreasing sort of fashion. This is applying the opposites attract theory to wine and food matchmaking.
A sparkling wine like this Alta Langa will pair well with fried foods.
To achieve this effect, sparkling wines are optimal, as the naturally high acidity and effervescent bubbles work to cleanse the palate. Wines like a champagne method sparkling wine from Italy such as these traditional method Alta Langa and Durello, or classic Prosecco Brut and Extra Dry Prosecco can work wonderfully, too.
Being that December is sparkling wine season, you’ll make good use of your sparkling wines on hand, from Hannukah, through the myriad of toasting that will also be done during Christmas and New Years. With this in mind, this Holiday Bubbles gift set was created, for you and for friends and family to gift. Check out our article on fun sparkling alternative wines for even more ways to add a twist to your usual Prosecco and Champagne go-tos during holiday celebrations.
The Center of the Table: Entrées at Christmas and More
In past articles we have talked about different Christmas traditions in Italy (including Vero’s Italian suggested pairings), and now it is time to turn our plates and glasses to American Christmas traditions. We will start off with one that while many believe to be Italian, it actually isn’t. The Feast of Seven Fishes is an Italian-American tradition for the holidays. While the basis for the tradition may have roots in Italy, this grand style meal is unknown in Italy and was popularized in America. While the types and preparations of the fish varies widely from family to family, as a general rule, most sommeliers recommend pairing fish-based dishes with white wines. We heartily second that general opinion, with the addition of making it a white wine with oomph, or a nice body. Age worthy whites work well with less delicate fishes, and can move over to other Christmas dishes like certain cuts of ham or turkey.
We won’t go into Thanksgiving turkey, as we have covered that pairing in an aforementioned article, but a white wine blend like the Marchese Japo is a great example of this: while not an oaked wine, it did spend nine months aging on the lees, so it has a full-bodied complexity that allows it to not only be served at a slightly higher temperature as younger white wines, but helps with pairing with a dish like turkey, but also a variety of rich side dishes. Other age worthy whites like the complex, noble, turbiana grape Lugana Gardè, or the Trebbiano Abruzzese Parella are also great choices for a full-bodied white wine that can go with multiple dishes. Ham is a little similar to turkey in this regard, depending on your cut, and how you cook it (smoked, honey baked, etc.), you can use your white wine, or a red wine with some tannic structure.
Also a tradition at Christmas and the holidays, is a roast, whether roast beef, rib roast, pot roast, etc., here we need some tannins. In general, for these types of meats, the tannins in red wine help balance the juiciness of the meat and sauces. Natural wines like the eponymous monovarietal Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or the Tuscan blend Saturnalia Rosso have great tannins that pair well with these red meats. As well, one can’t go wrong with the naturally tannic nebbiolo grape, such as in a Barolo wine, especially those from the crus of Serralunga d’Alba and Ginestra. You can try a Langhe Nebbiolo too, to see what a baby barolo is like. Of course, we always love Barbera wines to pair with food, like this elegant Nizza DOCG.
Don’t forget orange wine, also known as skin contact wines to have at your Hanukkah, Christmas and other holiday feasts.Take for example Saturnalia Bianco (fittingly called so after the Ancient Roman holiday that was also celebrated in December) from La Maliosa in Tuscany is a natural wine that was determined by the Culinary Institute of America to be a “wine for difficult food pairings” meaning that it will pair with (almost) anything! It is a white wine, with nice acidity, that also has tannins. And it is vegan and with no added sulphites. Another natural wine with a lot of “punch” isthe Pecorino Rolland, which while technically it is a white wine, but it is so intense and complex it acts like a delicious orange wine!
A red wine with tannins, like this Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (also a natural wine) goes great with prime rib roasts or other juicy red meats.
Desserts, from Donuts to Christmas Cookies
Sweetness is one of those characteristics of food that you want to match with the wine - think birds of a feather matchmaking.
When it comes to sweet, fried Hanukkah desserts, like the jelly filled sufganiyot or other donuts, you want to meet the sweetness, but keep a healthy dose of acidity in the wine in order to balance the overall effect. Sweet Albana white wine from Romagna, Italy, has a naturally high level of acidity as well as sweetness, making it a great pairing with donuts. Also try sweet sparkling wines like Moscato d’Asti or the sweet red sparkling Brachetto d’Acqui which would go great with a jelly donut.
When it comes to Christmas cookies we suggest the following rule of thumb: match intensity. Is the cookie simple, with just butter, sugar, and vanilla, like a shortbread? Or is it heavily spiced like a gingerbread? However your family tweaks the recipe, tweak your wine selection. Consider your cookies on a sliding scale from “Light” (like a sugar cookie) to “Rich” like a gingerbread cookie, and match it with a similarly light or rich sweet or dessert wine. Some of the wines we suggested to pair with donuts, like Moscato d’Asti or Sweet Albana, are great for lighter cookies. Then as the cookie becomes more rich and flavorful, move on to passito style wines like Desiderio or a Caluso Riserva Passito that will have more intense flavors and structure.
For other desserts adorning the Christmas table, like plum cake or a fruit cake, go back to the dessert passito wines, like the Caluso Riserva. Vigna Petrussa’s Desiderio dessert wine is great with pies, especially apple. When considering chocolate based desserts, such as fudge (or chocolate based cookies), consider a dessert wine made from red grapes, like Domus Hortae’s FA#, made from the red pugliese grape Nero di Troia.
To dig into more about sweet and dessert wines, check out this article.
Fill Your Holiday Glasses with These Small Production Wines
We are all doing some celebration this holiday season, from Hanukkah, Christmas, to Kwanzaa and New Years. Make your celebration more special with an artisanal, natural wine, that is truly unique.
Whether you are looking for a memorable Hannukah or Christmas wine, Christmas wine gifts, and bubbles to ring in the new year, the VeroShop has something for you, and be sure to check out our Vero Gift Guide for ideas on great wine gifts (and bonus non-wine but food gifts too!) for that special someone in your life. Order wine online and get that great bottle or wine gift for Christmas delivered right to your door. Try any of the alternative wines mentioned above in this article, or try the sommelier compiled Holiday Bubbles set to add some sparkle to your holidays.
Of course, we sell our curated small production, farm to glass wines to both businesses and consumers across the US:
If you are a distributor reach out to us introduce our highly curated portfolio of one of a kind small production wines to your state.
We sell to wine stores and restaurants in certain states - contact us to learn more.
If our farm crafted natural wines and olive oils are not in your local shop or restaurant, buy wine online here, and we’ll ship it to you, including wine gifts.
We also have an award winning wine club for true wine explorers that are seeking to continually discover unique, sustainable and authentic small production wines they never had. These are wines selected by our sommeliers and curated for each box.
We do corporate gifts and sommelier guided wine tastings. Email us and we’ll tailor unique and sustainable corporate gift ideas.
Have a Vero Happy Holiday Season!
Celebrate this years’ holidays with artisanal, delicious sparkling wines in our 2025 Holiday Bubbles Tasting Trio Gift Set.
This box includes a three pack of delicious farm-to-glass Italian sparkling wines including a champagne style Alta Langa sparkling wine from Piedmont, a small production Prosecco Superiore Millesimato Brut from Valdobbiadene where they make the best Prosecco, and a sweet slightly sparkling Moscato d’Asti great to enjoy with a slice of panettone!
Shipping is free and we are throwing in a free Professional Sparkling Wine Stopper (a $14.99 value!).
Included in this set:
With a persistent perlage, a bright gold color lights up the glass as complex exotic fruits and citrus aromas burst forth. Tasting, it is a dry wine with a delicate balance of acidity and sapidity keep you sipping and enjoying until the last drop.
The volcanic soil of the Sandro de Bruno vineyards lend well to this ancient, yet up and coming grape known as Durella. With a thick skin rich in polyphenols, they expertly craft this grape in a sparkling wine using a classic Champagne method. A zero dosage, for 36 months the wine rests on the lees before dégorgement and it then rests again.
It is markedly less intense than its 60 month aged and 100 month aged counterparts, creating a great entry point to the durello grape. You can try all three of these wines for yourself in the Durello Flight Set!
Tastes Like: Limes and Green Apples
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Sustainable Winery | Volcanic Soil | Bottle Fermented | Champagne Style
Fun Facts: - “Linear and polished” is how Kerin O’Keefe in this Wine Enthusiast review describes this 95 point wine.
This Extra Brut Champagne style sparkling wine captivates the senses with complex flavors of lemons, delicate caramel, and underlying notes of apple, stone, and citrus pith.
It is a full-bodied sparkling wine, with a deep golden color and a marked minerality of flint and sapidity. The thick-skinned Durella grape thrives with long aging, and this wine’s 60-month on the lees aging delivers a fine, persistent perlage and a beautifully creamy texture on the palate.
It is markedly more intense than its 36 month aged counterpart, but less so than the 100 month aged counterpart, cutting a nice middle road between the two. You can try all three of these wines for yourself in the Durello Flight Set!
Tastes Like: Lemon cake and lemon pith
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Sustainable Winery | Volcanic Soil | Bottle Fermented | Champagne Style
Fun Facts: - As noted by Kerin O'Keefe of Wine Enthusiast for a past vintage, this wine presents a "smooth dry and delicious" profile with a bright acidity, resulting in a persistent and evolving experience with every sip.
- Crafted by the winemaker of Sandro de Bruno on high-altitude volcanic soils, near the romantic city of Verona.
This rare and evolved Extra Brut Metodo Classico (Italian for the traditional method or Champagne method) is a special sparkling wine, offering a complex and rich flavor profile that tastes of caramel, crème brûlée, and warm croissant, followed by savory yeast and a hint of burnt caramel.
This wine is crafted mainly from the indigenous Durella grape on volcanic soil, which contributes exceptional saline and flinty mineral notes. An amazing 100 months of aging (8 years) on the lees gives it an incredibly fine, persistent perlage and a pleasantly dry, fresh finish.
It is markedly the most intense of its 36 month aged and 60 month aged counterparts, creating an amazing tip-top expression of the durello grape. You can try all three of these wines for yourself in the Durello Flight Set!
Tastes Like: Creme Brulee
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Sustainable Winery | Volcanic Soil | Bottle Fermented | Champagne Style
Fun Facts: Born from volcanic soils at a dramatic 600 meters above sea level near the picturesque city of Verona.
This Alta Langa Spumante, or an Italian sparkling wine, is an Extra Brut, with flavors of bread crust, caramel and candied fruit, with great acidity and salinity, a hint of sage and a long mineral finish.
Made following the traditional Champagne method, it ages on the lees for 30 months in the bottle. Alta Langa is a newer DOCG that is steeped in history and is an up-an-comer amongst Italian traditional method sparkling wines.
This vintage wine is from vineyards at 200 meters that are harvested slightly late to give the wine more structure. A Blanc de Blancs made from 100% chardonnay grapes, fine and persistent bubbles are present with an inviting straw yellow perlage.
Tastes Like: Bread crust, caramel, and candied fruit.
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Regenerative Agriculture | Sustainable Winery | Biodynamic | Bottle fermented | Champagne Style
Fun Facts: - This wine is named for the current winemaker, Andrea Ivaldi, the 4th generation of his family to make wine, and the first to make a sparkling wine.
- A certified sustainable winery, Ivaldi practices regenerative farming.
Made from Glera grapes in one of the best areas for Prosecco, Valdobbiadene, this is a crisp, clean delicious dry Prosecco DOCG with a light yellow color and lovely effervescence. It has notes of pear with a minerally flavor and a citrusy, slight bitter finish reminding you of the rich terroir where this wine comes from. This Col del Balt Brut Prosecco made by the Sanzovo brothers has approximately 5g of residual sugar. As well, it is a special Millesimato Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, meaning not only does it come from the select Valdobbiadene “heart” of Prosecco, but it is also from a singular vintage, not a blend of multiple vintages like many Proseccos.
“This is a wonderful DOCG Prosecco. It has very balanced fruit that intertwines with jasmine, green apple, and subtle herbal notes. The palate is elegant with soft, lazy bubbles winding to the top of the glass. It is a joy on the palate, and the balance is undeniable. Such a good wine.” This is how VinePair describes this small production Prosecco in their curated list of the 20 Best Proseccos where this wine beat out all 20 with the highest rating of 93!
In fact, when we had first imported this wine, it was the first time it was in the US market. It took us a while to find a 'good' Prosecco, meaning one that had enough acidity to balance out the fruit along with one that had some personality, and all of Col del Balt Proseccos have great balance.
Made from glera grapes in one of the best areas for Prosecco, Valdobbiadene, this high quality Prosecco has fruity aromas that remind you of fruit cocktail. Its taste is fresh, balanced, nice fruit and minerality with a round mouthfeel and pleasant finish. This extra dry white sparkling wine has approximately 14 grams of natural residual sugar which you don’t taste at all since the acidity balances out the natural sugars.
As well, the new arrival is to be a special Millesimato Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, meaning not only does it come from the select Valdobbiadene “heart” of Prosecco, but it is also from a singular vintage, not a blend of multiple vintages like many Proseccos.
A 100% glera grape white sparkling wine made with native yeast fermentation, this natural wine vintage “prosecco” is from vineyards in the old part of Valdobbiadene, made also in the historic tradition of the ancestral style, or Pet Nat, as it is bottle fermented on the lees. A light color, giving an early hint to its bright acidity, the bouquet of citrus and lemon flowers bursts forth in the glass once it opens. When tasting this ancestral method natural wine, apricots and persistent bubbles create a sparkling wine that is enjoyable with brunch, aperitivos , get-togethers, you name it.
The circle and dot logo represents both the human existence and evolution, as well as winemaker Eros Zanon’s personal view of his vineyards, a dot of small-production boutique quality in the larger circle of large-production Proseccos.
This natural wine is delicious fruit-forward organic vegan white wine, a blend of hard-to-find native varieties from the province of Macerata in Le Marche, Italy, a hilly area just to the east of Tuscany not far from the Adriatic Sea, has it all, great nose, taste, texture and structure. While it is unoaked, it was on the lees for 6 months with weekly battonage, contributing to its complexity of aromas, ranging from melon to saffron, and intensity of flavors. Made with indigenous varieties from Le Marche, Maceratino (also called Ribona) and Incrocio Bruni 54, it is a testament to Le Marche white wines.
Quercia Scarlatta follows a minimal intervention approach to vegan winemaking, using native yeast fermentation in their wines like this Marchese Japo.
An organic & vegan natural wine made from 100% trebbiano abruzzese, a white wine grape which the New York Times cites a grape “worth knowing better”. It has an inviting straw yellow color and an exotic nose (look for the saffron!) and an intriguing fruity and herbal taste.
This white wine is age-worthy too! Fermented and refined in grandfather Febo’s concrete vessels.
Region: Italy > Abruzzo > Chieti
Tastes Like: Peaches and Saffron
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Regenerative Agriculture | Sustainable Winery | Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Vegan | Single vineyard | Old Vine | Organic | Natural Wine
Fun Facts: This wine is named from the single vineyard from which it comes, Parella in Chieti.
Expand your horizons with this Italian wine made for Chardonnay lovers looking for an alternative. From Lake Garda, one of the Northern Italian lakes, this sustainably farmed white wine is a balancing act of acidity and fruit that pleasantly plays into a long finish. Plus it is super tasty. If you close your eyes and taste this wine, it is likened to having an apple crumb cake as a white wine. You initially get golden apple and then vanilla and spice.
Acidity and fruit harmonically combine with a salty minerality producing a sweet and salty taste sensation. Fruit bursts forth and taste envelopes the mouth, with some tropical fruit on the long finish.
This Lugana is an ageworthy oaked white wine, equivalent to a Lugana Riserva, made from the noble and native Italian grape, Turbiana, a grape which is likened to Verdicchio.
Overall pleasant and sippable yet complex, this is a great wine for California Chardonnay lovers looking for a change to surprise and delight them with a new white wine italian style.
Woman made Saturnalia Bianco, on VinePair’s list of Top 15 Best Orange Wines, is an award winning, unfiltered and delicious skin contact orange wine made from old vine procanico & trebbiano grapes cultivated in volcanic soil.
This natural wine is made from the patented Metodo Corino, based on regenerative farming principles. Nothing is added but grapes! Made with unpressed, free run juice with native yeast fermentation. A two week maceration imparts a dark amber color. Aged only in stainless steel tanks, it has aromas of candied fruit, dried apricot and ginger.
It has pleasant acidity and tannins, and is balanced with a long finish. A pretty deep orange color, it is a great wine for difficult food pairings, it pairs with almost any dish.
Tastes Like: Candied Orange Peels
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Regenerative Agriculture | Sustainable Winery | Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Vegan | No additives (ie non sulphites added) | Unfiltered | Organic | Metodo Corino | Natural Wine
Fun Facts: - The natural farming method that produced this wine, the metodo corino, is actually patented by La Maliosa woman winemaker Antonella Manuli after she helped to develop it with natural wine legend Lorenzo Corino of Case Corini.
- Named in honor of the Roman festival in December which took place near the winery, La Maliosa, this wine was once called Saturnia Bianco.
Rolland’s deep straw yellow or rusty color likens it to an orange wine, but this color comes from the vineyard, sun, and weather. A fresh and textured mouthfeel leaves you pondering and wanting to have another sip. We recommend to let it breathe before enjoying to the fullest.
The 2023 vintage offers a drier, more savory, and complex profile. With golden raisin and saffron flavors, it evolves into deeper sensations of caramel, sage, and a pronounced orange rind on the finish. It wraps up with a long, distinctive mineral finish. The 2023 really summarizes well the age-worthiness of this wine.
Region: Italy > Abruzzo > Spoltore & Chieti
Tastes Like: Golden Raisins & Saffron
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Regenerative Agriculture | Sustainable Winery | Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Vegan | Single vineyard | Organic | Natural Wine
Fun Facts: This wine is named for Grandfather Febo, Rolando, who bought the concrete vessels the family ages their wines in.
Made with 100% Montepulciano grapes spanning family vineyards in Spoltore and Chieti in Abruzzo, it has aromas of amarena cherries and licorice and a slight funkiness thanks to its 100% natural production. It tastes of dark fruit, with a rich texture and slightly bitter finish, with the funky vibe continuing while tasting. Fermented and refined in the winegrower's grandparents' concrete vessels.
Region: Italy > Abruzzo > Spoltore & Chieti
Tastes Like: Dark fruits
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Regenerative Agriculture | Sustainable Winery | Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Vegan | Organic | Natural Wine
Fun Facts: Pairs nicely with chicken parmesan. | While there is a famous wine “Vino Nobile di Montepulciano” from Tuscany, this grape has no connection to it; the “montepulciano name” there comes from the town noame, where as here in Abruzzo “montepulciano” actually refers to the grape used to make the wine.
Saturnalia Rosso, once called Saturnia Rosso, is an approachable, balanced red wine with great texture and expressive finish made from a blend of native varieties from central Italy. A four week maceration on the skins is followed by aging in large wooden casks for 20 months. A pretty ruby color is accompanied by cherry and vanilla spice aromas. Pairs great with pork kebabs and cheese burgers. A woman-made organic, biodynamic and vegan natural wine using the patented Metodo Corino which is based on regenerative agriculture farming methods.
Tastes Like: Cherry and Strawberry Fruit Leathers
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Regenerative Agriculture | Sustainable Winery | Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Vegan | No additives (ie non sulphites added) | Unfiltered | Organic | Metodo Corino | Natural Wine
Fun Facts: The natural farming method that produced this wine, the metodo corino, is actually patented by La Maliosa woman winemaker Antonella Manuli after she helped to develop it with natural wine legend Lorenzo Corino of Case Corini.
It is a wine with great structure and personality, an excellent expression of the nebbiolo vine. With a delicate floral bouquet of rose and violets, there is also a finish of licorice. Tasting it really brings out its elegance with pleasant yet decisive tannins that signal great potential for good aging.
As well, the native yeast fermentation used to make this nebbiolo natural wine lets you taste the natural terroir of the Langhe.
Tastes Like: Crunchy pink cherries
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation
Fun Facts: This Langhe Nebbiolo is known as a ‘Baby Barolo’, since it comes from Barolo vines, and is a great introduction to the Langhe wines, where some of the best reds in the world come from.
This is one of the best Barolo wines from the Langhe in Piedmont Italy as well as a great value from one of the storied families of Barolo wineries. This Barolo red wine is the maximum expression of the nebbiolo grape from Aldo Clerico. With vineyards right next to those of Domenico Clerico Barolo vineyards, this Barolo is a good substitute for Burgundy wine.
This garnet colored artisan Barolo has red fruit, rose and spicy leather and tea leaf aromas with elegant structure, long finish leaving a silky mouthfeel. On the nose it is very intense while floral notes mix with typical vineyard scents of violets and red berries. On the palate, the violets blend with licorice flavors and noticeable tannins. A creamy texture from the oak barrels creates a pleasant mix of fresh yet complex flavors.
Tastes Like: Cherries and licorice
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Single Vineyard
Fun Facts: This is Aldo's first wine made from 5 different Barolo designated vineyards surrounding his home in Monforte d'Alba, all within the Bricco San Pietro MGA. He vinifies each vineyard and then does an assemblage, creating each vintage a unique expression of his nebbiolo vineyards. It is also made with native yeast fermentation, so can be called a natural wine.
Made with native yeast fermentation, this Barolo Serralunga is a special natural wine. Rich on the nose with dried violets typical of the nebbiolo grape, the bouquet is austere and profound with balsamic notes. Once sipped, the earthy texture is out of this world, which marries pleasantly with the structure, fruit and spice of this elegant red. Well accented tannins are soft and decanting is strongly recommended.
Tastes Like: Earthy Spices
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Single Vineyard
Fun Facts: This is a single vineyard Barolo from the Serralunga d'Alba village, known to produce the most age worthy Barolos.
Made from the sought-after Ginestra Barolo Cru, this single vineyard wine epitomizes the greatness of the nebbiolo grape from the Barolo wine region, in terms of structure, age-worthiness and fruit expression. The native yeast fermentation used in making this natural wine also helps bring out the special and sought after terroir of the Ginestra cru.
An intense garnet color, on the nose this Barolo tends towards red fruits, with a touch of balsamic notes. As it opens on the palate the elegant tannins harmonize with the acidity for an overall richness that creates a pleasant and enjoyable experience while sipping alone or with food.
Tastes Like: Balsamic Tabacco leaves
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Biodynamic | Native Yeast Fermentation | Single Vineyard
Fun Facts: The Ginestra cru is very limited and only a few wineries have access to harvest from there. Aldo can thanks to his wife’s, Valentina’s, Conterno family vineyards.
Fun Facts: The hands on the bottle represent Aldo’s two daughters; for this reason he often says this is the wine closest to his heart.
Nizza is the Barolo of Barbera, made from the birthplace of Barbera, Nizza Monferrato, the home of the 4th generation winemaking family, Ivaldi, and place where this wine is grown and made. This Nizza Barbera is a delicious old world style red wine with a rich cherry taste and an incredible mouthfeel.
This Nizza DOCG is made only in the best years, always made with 100% Barbera grapes, but only the best of the best of the Barbera clusters goes into this wine, before it spends 12 months in Slavonian oak barrels then 2 years resting in the bottle.
Made with native yeast fermentation, on the skins for 15 days. it has a pretty ruby red color with garnet reflections. A fruity bouquet transforms into spicy notes as it opens, and on the palate this wine has nice tannins and acidity balanced by a robust body.
The name of this red wine, 1613, is a homage to the siege of Nizza Monferrato in 1613 by the Mantovan army, showing the strong roots the Ivaldi family has to their home town. The women gathered to pray all night, and after the siege was lifted and won by Nizza Monferrato, an oil lamp in the church spontaneously burst into flames, despite the lack of spark and oil. Known as the ‘Miracle of the Lamp’, this wine pays homage to that evening, bearing not only the year as a name, but the image of the oil lamp on the label.
A certified sustainable winery, Ivaldi Dario practices regenerative farming.
With an inviting golden yellow color, this fresh and softly balanced sweet wine made from the historic Albana grape from the Romagna area of Italy has intriguing saffron and apricot notes. As a sommelier pointed out when tasting the wine for the first time: ‘It’s a dessert wine that is sort of a dry wine.. Wow, this whispers, not shouts!’
Who doesn’t like chamomile and honey? That’s what this wine reminds you of! It’s a Moscato d’Asti that appeals both to sweet wine lovers and dry wine drinkers wanting a moment with a touch of sweetness.
The name of this wine, Ros du Su, means ‘Rays of Sunlight’ in Piemontese dialect where this Moscato d’Asti comes from. Looking at its bright, golden-yellow color, it is easy to understand the inspiration for this name.
In the glass, the aromatic qualities of moscato are the first noticeable aromas, but underneath subtle and persistent notes of honey and acacia and chamomile flowers come forth creating a complex bouquet. Tasting, the sweetness of the residual sugars are well balanced with freshness and sapidity. A pleasant wine that keeps you sipping, it pairs well with desserts, but is every bit as enjoyable alone in contemplation.
A certified sustainable winery, Ivaldipractices regenerative farming.
“Can we make Brachetto popular, please?” is how VinePair headlines why this artisanal, aromatic red sweet sparkling wine, just recently imported by us first time to the USA, made it to VinePair’s list of 13 Best Sweet Wines.
An aromatic grape, brachetto, creates a pleasantly slightly sparkling sweet red wine, with delicate rose flower and strawberry notes and strawberry and hibiscus taste. ‘Susbel’, in the local Piemontese dialect of Ivaldi in the Monferrato, refers to the location of the vineyard of this Brachetto d’Acqui, where the sun is bright and well exposed.
Left four days in contact with the skins and fermented with native yeast, this natural wine has a bright and clear light red color, dotted with fine effervescent bubbles. Sipping, the immediate impact is indeed sweet, yet with enough acidity and a hint of tannins to create a harmonious and balanced wine that keeps you coming back for more.
Wonderful to serve slightly chilled to sip with friends in the backyard on a hot summer day, or to serve with fruity desserts. Try pairing it with cheese, like with Humboldt Fog goat cheese - it goes incredibly well. It can also pair with charcuterie. Made with native yeast fermentation and has a residual sugar of 120 g/l.
A certified sustainable winery, Ivaldi Dario practices regenerative farming.
This Caluso Passito dessert wine made from 100% Erbaluce grapes is produced only during the best vintages, and exclusively in those extraordinary ones, a small part is reserved to Caluso Passito "Riserva". Aged for 10 years in casks and 4-6 years in bottle, only 1000 bottles are made per vintage. It is sweet, fresh and sapid with delicate floral notes.
Light fragrance recalling sweet acacia honey and dried fruits. This nectar is made from hand selected grapes, dried in crates and refined in French oak barrique. This is produced in a limited run of only 1000 bottles per year.
Vigna Petrussa is a certified sustainable and biodiverse women-owned winery.
“Run, don’t walk to find and grab this bottle. It is a prime example of the harmony and complexity this style of wine is capable of expressing” is how VinePair describes this wine in their list of 13 of the Best Sweet Wines.
Fruity, spicy and balanced, this multiple award winning women-made dessert wine, Picolit, is the rarest and most treasured varietal in Friuli, the extreme North East of Italy.
It is made from hand-picked and air-dried picolit grapes that went through noble rot, as with the best dessert wines in the world. Fermented and then aged for 18 months in french oak barrique. Only 1200 bottles were made, and we have the last few available so be quick to grab this meditation wine to sip and savor.
Vigna Petrussa is a certified sustainable and biodiverse women-owned winery.
From the heel of Italy’s boot, Puglia, this sweet passito wine is incredible in its depth and complexity of flavor. Made from air dried grapes, this concentrates the flavor, making plums, figs, and their jam jump out of the glass. On the nose we can even smell aromas like coffee and cacao that help really give a deep impression of this wine.
Tastes Like: Velvety, thick plum jam
Farming & Winemaking Highlights: Regenerative Agriculture | Sustainable Winery
Fun Facts: The name “Fa#” refers to the musical note, fa sharp how it is used often in crescendos, and this sweet wine is just that: a crescendo of flavor.
