Alcohol content

[Gala Placidia]

These are the Spanish wines I had in mind which could taste in a similar way. They are different from ordinary sherry, which is a blend. Both "Fino" and "Manzanilla" are both Spanish favourites but I do not think that they are popular in Britain. Anyway, here is an explanation much better than the one I could try to give you:

Basic Juice - the wine blog for my generation: Odd Grape Week: Manzanilla Sherry

Anyway, they are pale in colour, not the deep golden colour described by Nielo.
I think that we should make an effort to try this very special Italian wine, which sounds great. ... In small quantities, though, as I think that the effect of the higher alcohol content will be powerful.

[Nielo]

Altare 2005
Marramiero
DOC Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - 75 cl

11.51€ excl. VAT


Luminous golden yellow color with an abundance and intensity of flavors ranging from a core of citrus fruits, topical essences and notes of spices from he aging in barrels. Well integrated flavors reach a fine equilibrium, a full body with finishes which stretches and lingers to fully enjoy the unique characteristics of Trebbiano D'Abruzzo.

Trebbiano 100%


This is the description from a website which sells the wine on line. We bought ours straight from the vineyard at €11 a bottle.

We were introduced to this wine by another Cantina which was selling boxes of nine assorted Abruzzo wines, they were all excellent and it was a good way to try what is available from the region. The Trebbiano stood out not because of it's high alcohol content but because of it's wonderful full bodied flavour.

[Gala Placidia]

An excellent white is "Vernaccia" from San Gimignano. Three different varieties, so it caters for many different tastes and dishes. More information here:
Vernaccia di San Gimignano

[Gala Placidia]

And another source of interesting whites is the Cinque Terre region in Liguria. More information on:

Le Cinque Terre

[Sally Donaldson]

I don't normally like white wine much but I buy occasionally a wine from the Veneto region which is lovely. I'll check the name later. It's not Soave.

[Angie and Robert]

We buy a Marche Trebbiano from the local Coal at about 5e for 5 litres, its about 12%, bottle it up and then its 1e back when we return the flagon, as you can see mine is not a sophisticated palate, but actually it makes a very good, and cheap everyday drink. And its very popular with eveyone I know. So worth a try, I honesty could not taste the difference from an 18e bottle we drank in some overpriced place in Fermo.
A

[Gala Placidia]

Some of those local wines which are not heavily commercialised are excellent value for money. You find that sometimes you are paying a lot for labels, etc. For everyday they can be great. You buy special bottles for special occasions.

[pigro]

rose tinted glasses off for a moment ... my local sigma supermarket changed a wee while back to a new brand (can't remember its name yet, I'm very resistant to change). Average price of a bottle of wine has dropped from about €5 to €1.5. At first I thought this was great, they have a huge variety (local & national) and I would finally discover these fab €1/litre easy drinking wines that everyone raves about.

Well, I just tried the first of two reds I bought to test out the theory - a barbera @ €2.25. I managed the first glass down by straining it in small doses through some nice sundried tomatoes, but after that I gave up and tipped it ... vile, undrinkable cr@p unfortunately. Lets see how the primitivo salento that's lurking in the shopping bag goes down - if I can summon up the willpower to tackle it in the interests of science Better sort out some more pomodori secchi to aid the experiment!

[Gala Placidia]

Usually, the cheaper bottles from the supermarkets are undrinkable, under any circumstances... even eating some cheese and pepper straws with them to hide the "flavour". Best bargains are obtained from local producers and they are usually sold in 5 litre containers or similar.... sometimes you have to bring your own containers. It is a question of finding a good local producer... and they do exist.

[NickZ]

Originally Posted by pigro

. Average price of a bottle of wine has dropped from about €5 to €1.5. !

That's expensive The local Lidl had cartons of wine for 50 cents. No I don't have the guts to try it