Today’s indigenous variety is Malbo Gentile, a red grape that is grown in Emilia Romagna. I couldn’t find a lot about the variety except that it grows well in poor soils and can be used both as a monovarietal and in blends.  It is also used in many Lambrusco wines. This grape is also used to make vini novelli, vini frizzanti and passito wines such as this one, Colli di Scandiano e Canossa DOP.

Malbec, also grows in Italy, largely in the Central-Northern regions but I am not going to really write about it.

I just finished teaching a course of 16 hours for the Italian Trade Commission. It was a virtual class for the trade. We covered all Italian DOC and DOCG wines, some more in depth than others, all Italian grape varieties of note, and 2000 years of history. Not to mention, aging requirements, etc. Did I say we covered all 20 regions.

I feel as if I just ran a marathon. There’s nothing I enjoy more though than going through Italy and all it has to offer, even when it’s just over zoom. Can-CIn!