I love to start holiday meals with bubbles and as always Ferrari graced my Mom’s table for the New Year’s meal that we celebrated last night. Ferrari has been a staple in our lives for many years.

I am never disappointed when I drink a bottle of this wine, made from 100% Chardonnay grapes grown in various vineyards in the province of Trento. Ferrari has been making this wine since 1902 and the house style is always clean, fresh and harmonious with apple and yeasty notes thanks to the 24 months the wine spends on its’ lees before being bottled.

We also had a wonderful Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2007 DOCG from Susanna Crociani. Susanna and I are friends and I have written about her wines often in the past.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is made from 75% Prugnolo Gentile (Sangiovese), 15% Canaiolo Nero, and 10% Mammolo. To be a “Riserva,” the wine spends three years in large barrels and six months in the bottle before being released into the market.

Vino Nobile has always been less well known than its’ more famous neighbors from Brunello and Chianti. I think it’s a real shame. I love Vino Nobile and its’ nuanced and layered bouquet of fruits, flowers and spice. The 2007 was actually quite rounded and elegant. Vino Nobile can be very tannic and closed when it is young. This wine paired perfectly with our brisket and potatoes.

It’s hard to write about Italian wines and the Jewish New Year without mentioning one specific winery in Italy, Terra di Seta. The posts I have written about that winery are some of the most widely read on my blog, while not the only winery that makes kosher wines, there are the only completely kosher winery in Italy.