Somm Gift Kit 2021: Incredible Italian

YAY! You have the 2021 Twin Cities Wine Education Incredible Italians Somm Kit!

Three fantastic wines, from three different corners of Italy! Let’s dive into these wines and learn more about them!

But first, in case you have no idea who we are, here’s an introduction from us, explaining who we are and what we do:

Let’s learn about your wines!

More links for learning

ANDREA FELLICI, VERDICCHIO DI CASTELLI DI JESI, ABRUZZO

Verdicchio is one of my favorite grapes, especially with seafood. One pairing we’ve found works particularly well with Verdicchio is smoked fish from the North Shore of Lake Superior. The region of Lugana, just west of Verona, grows this grape as well. In fact, we’ve made a video of us tasting on the North Shore and stepping through some Verdicchio wines from Lugana (which I mis-identified at first, but you’ll read the corrections in the video … it’s pretty funny).

ERSE ‘ETNA ROSSO,’ MT. ETNA, SICILY

Wine geeks the world over are flocking to the wines of Mt. Etna, for the pure expression of volcanic soils (and the resulting flavors and structure) are second to none. Here’s a good video that stuff through this:

And we mentioned Raclette. Mmmmmmmm …….

CA DEL BAIO, LANGHE NEBBIOLO, PIEDMONT

Piedmont is a favorite region of ours, not only for the wines but also the people and cuisine. Very much separated from the rest of Italy, you can sense quite a bit of the old French influence in the area, harkening back to hundreds of years ago when this was a French territory.

And Nebbiolo is the great grape of the region. Here’s the legendary Gaia Gaja talking about the grape. Fantastic descriptions here (plus such an awesome accent).

And finally…

Keep in mind that all Italian wines are really built to be enjoyed with food. At the very least, have a wedge of cheese within reach, for it helps to balance out the wines beautifully.

Thank you! Enjoy your wines!

Jason and Angela Kallsen