This week has been surprising with Earthquakes shaking our home in New Jersey two days in a row. Luckily I have had lots of nice bottles of white wine on hand to help calm my nerves through it all. This lovely wine from Villa Matilde’s Rocca dei Leoni estate was a Falanghina, a white wine from Campania that is floral and fruity, pairs beautifully with salad and seafood and is a crowd pleaser in our home. The winery is located in the Sannio region where Campania’s best Falanghina come from, in my opinion. The volcanic soils here are rich in volcanic soils rich in phosphorus and potassium and heighten the aromatics of these wines. I have written often about Villa Matilde through the years, a historic and well-known winery in the region.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have also had lovely whites from three other Italian producers thanks to the folks at Kobrand who sent me samples.

The Pinot Grigio from Bollini, a brand created by the Empson family. I have had this wine in the past as well and am always pleased at home well it stands up to various dishes and how many people enjoy it. Pinot Grigio grows best in North Eastern Italy near the Dolomite mountains. Drinking this wine this week brought me immediately back to my vacation there in 2023 and the glory of those mountains. This wine is an IGT called Vigneti delle Dolomiti. The Empsons make their wine using grapes grown in the Provinces of Bolzano and Trento Trentino Alto Adige, and the province of Belluno in Veneto. Fresh and light with a hint of hazelnut and grapefruit pith, I think these Pinot Grigios can change the minds of even the most skeptical of drinkers.

Another bottle which I received was the Chardonnay pictured beneath my favorite flowers, the sunflower. This classic wine from Tenuta di Nozzole from the Folonari Family was more structured than the other two and stood up well with vegetables and steak that I made on the grill to celebrate my birthday. Le Bruniche is a classic chardonnay from Tuscany with great minerality, stone fruit aromas and flavors, and lots of texture although it does not spend time in oak.

Tenuta di Nozzole has been in the Folonari family since the 1970s, but dates all the way back to the 1300s. It is a very large property with 385 hectares. Some 90 hectares are vineyards and 15 more are olive groves. It is located Greve in Chianti, North of Florence.  The soils are rich in clay and marl and the climate can be called continental which enables the grapes to achieve phenolic ripeness without sacrificing acidity and pure fruit aromas. The winery is located at 150 to about 300 metres above sea level.

The fourth wine I was sent is from the Sette Ponti estates in Sicily called Feudo Maccari. I visited Sette Ponti in June and will write a piece about the visit later this week. Olli, the wine that I was sent, is made with the Sicilian varietal called Grillo, a wine I love and order as often as I can. Minerality, acidity, melon fruit, herbal notes, length, and persistence. It feels like sunshine in a glass and drinking it sends me to Sicily in a heartbeat. The vineyards are located on calcareous, lime-rich soils and help to protect these bush trained vines and produce this satisfying wine. Paired with a lobster roll, it was a marriage made in heaven. Happy Summer Sipping.