Going global: Italian red wine

2008 Alpha Zeta Corvina. Photo / Natalie Slade

A well-made, inexpensive Italian red wine is a great joy.

Not only because it's likely to be made from a grape variety we're not overly familiar with, but invariably it will be extremely food-friendly. I'm not sure what it is about Italian wines but they seem to embrace a broad range of cuisine with consummate ease.

Perhaps it's that romantic notion of a country bursting with history, architecture, culture, superb vistas and a passion and enormous respect for meal times.

The wines can often reflect the approach taken in the kitchen. Some of my most memorable meals have been in tiny back streets at family trattorias away from the tourist traps such as Florence and Rome.

A cheap local chianti can taste almost as good as an expensive barolo - it's less about what's in the bottle and more about the time, the place and going with the moment.

Finding good Italian wines in New Zealand has just got a lot easier thanks to leading local winemaker and global consultant, Matt Thomson. Thomson works with Italian label Alpha Zeta, managing to fit the work around his involvement with New Zealand producers, including Saint Clair, Delta and Lake Chalice.

With Alpha Zeta he has set out to produce a range of modern, fruit-driven wines from the hills outside Verona. "Our aim was to work with growers rather than buy bulk wine and to get ripe grapes by reducing yields and picking later," says Thomson. "We're looking to preserve strong flavours in the finished wine."

One that demonstrates this perfectly is corvina - a native grape of Italy - which is not often presented on its own but usually finishes up as a blended part of valpolicella.

Thomson obviously enjoys the challenge of taking Old World character and winemaking tradition and putting a New World spin on it. His reach also extends to that bastion of tradition, France, where he consults and has significant input into a series of affordable wines.

L'Eglise is his own label and, like his Italian portfolio, the wines are well made, very reasonable and worth looking out for.

Recommended

2008 Alpha Zeta Corvina
Smells of sweet brambles and dark berries with a whisper of black pepper. On the palate there's a soft prune-like finish and a sense of rustic charm. As the Italians would say, funky but not dirty.
Price: $21

2008 L'Eglise Grenache Blanc and Chardonnay
Not a style or blend you're likely to find made locally. It works. Huge aromas of sherbert and boiled sweets awash with dried apricot. Lovely, gentle with sweetish texture. Very quaffable.
Price: $21