Cortese, grillo and fiano: Our pick of the best white wines
OUR expert scours Italy for whites brimming with fabulously fruity flavours.
Italy is a great source of characterful white wines, made largely from native grape varieties. There’s far more to Italian whites than uninteresting, neutral pinot grigio, so leave this well-worn path and head off after the likes of cortese, grillo and fiano. There’s a lot of fun to be had and many of these wines are affordable, too.
From left:
La Monacesca Verdicchio di Matelica 2014, Marche £10.99, Waitrose, 13% alcohol
Verdicchio is an interesting Italian white grape that makes wines with bags of flavour, and this one is bursting with pears, almonds and citrus fruit with savoury notes. It’s a superb food-friendly wine.
Morrisons Signature Fiano 2014, Sicily £6, Morrisons, 13% alcohol
Fiano is a tasty grape variety and even affordable versions such as this can be good. It smells a little of gin, with attractive flavours of fennel, nuts and sweet pears.
The Wine Atlas Grillo 2014, Sicily £4.97, Asda, 13% alcohol
This inexpensive Sicilian white is made with the local grillo variety. It’s fruity, rounded and appealing with notes of grapes, peaches and a bit of spice.
The Co-operative Truly Irresistible Grecula Greco 2014, Campania £6.99, Co-op, 12.5% alcohol
This fun label hides an extremely pleasant wine. It’s brimming with fruity flavours of pears and melons with a subtle nuttiness. It’s a generous and distinctive wine.
Ascheri Gavi di Gavi 2014, Piedmont £14, Sainsbury’s, 12.5% alcohol
Gavi is a crisp, reliable and often delicious white made from the cortese grape. This is lively, fruity and fresh, with refined flavours of pears and spices notes as well as hints of herbs.
Tesco Finest Fiano 2014, Sicily £5.50, Tesco, 13.5% alcohol
The Settesoli co-op pioneered the fiano grape in Sicily and it produces very consistent, affordable, tasty whites like this. Here, bright pears and white-peaches are prominent along with some nice spicy interest.
Fattori Soave 2014, Veneto £8.99, Majestic, 12.5% alcohol
Soave is a famous Italian white, and it can be a tad neutral and boring. But here’s an excellent one, full of lively flavours of apples, lemons and peaches. It’s a tasty wine with a touch of character.