From: Venezie DOC, Veneto, Italy
Varietal: Pinot Grigio
Tasting Notes: Easy, breezy, Pinot gris (OK, Pinot Grigio (tomato, tomato)— you get the point). Silky textures, orange citrus blossom, winter melon, white pear, and a hint of mango take it home with crisp fruits like yellow apple and Asian pear, meet a hint of baking spice and a sea-like minerality that keeps everything feeling fresh, mineral, and fun. Dry, tasty, and with a pretty package to match, this will become your new summer fave before you know it.
Pairing: Traditionally enjoyed as an aperitif, this wine would be served with prosciutto crudo, prosciutto and melon, grilled shrimp salad with melon and feta, and even this melon salad with pistachio dukkah and basil recipe (shared below). Other fun ideas include serving this with savory favorites like scallion and cornmeal waffles, fried rice, honey walnut prawns, grilled corn, creamed kale pizza, pizza with spring onions and fennel, or pizza with caramelized onions, ricotta, and chard. Honestly, though, don’t overthink this pairing. This wine will be excellent with almost anything, including a ham sandwich and potato salad picnic for one.
Melon Salad With Pistachio Dukkah and Basil by Ham El-Waylly
About. “We first met in 2004 with a shared passion for wine and the extraordinary beauty of this ancient land, Abruzzo. Both strongly tied to Italy, Antonella and I envisioned a piece of land here in Loreto Aprutino, where we could further plant our cultural roots with a vineyard, an olive tree orchard, and a home. In 2007 we harvested our first vintage. Today, we source grapes and olives from leased properties in three distinct villages: Loreto Aprutino, Collecorvino and Città Sant’Angelo to offer to enthusiastic patrons.
We named our estate, Ilauri, for the inhabitants of our village. Coming from a hilltop covered in bay trees, Loreto Aprutino, was originally called Lauretum, coming from the Latin term for laurel grove or bay tree.” —Rodrigo Redmont, founder of Azienda Vinicola iLauri
Loreto Aprutino is located on the beautiful hills of the province of Pescara in Central Italy, only 20 km from the Adriatic coast. The village’s ancient beauty is filled with medieval architecture and the magnificence of its natural habitat. The history of the village, has built the city’s identity and its traditions. The 7000 inhabitants breathe an agricultural tradition that is an integral part of economic and social life. Over the years, iLauri has sought out different goldilocks zones in the Tavo river valley to plant both native varieties and non-indigenous noble varietals.
The celebrated Pinot Grigio varietal is a white grape derived from a bud mutation of Pinot Noir that likely happened in Burgundy in the Middle Ages. This wine comes from a Pinot Grigio parcel in the Veneto region that iLauri Azienda Vinicola supervises. The vineyard sits at 120 meters above sea level with a south-east exposure. Soils are a highly calcareous mix of 41% sand, 28% silt, and 37% clay. The name of the wine, Tavo, stems from one of their area’s most important rivers, born at almost 2,000 meters at the foot of the Gran Sasso massif (in the Apennine Mountains). Following fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel, the wine rests for two months before bottling.
