Verdicchio is a safe, basic white from the northern Adriatic coast of Italy, buyable in most British supermarkets for around £6.99 or £7.99, and all the better if the label calls it Classico or Superiore.
It comes usually, but not necessarily, in an inviting amphora-shaped bottle. Its flavour, slightly astringent, is pleasant and thoroughly Italian. It is the sort of wine - the very taste of Italy - you grab, as I do, when I am shopping speedily in Sainsbury, Tesco, or Morrison’s (whosewine shelves are often more interesting than they are reputed to be).
But Waitrose sells, apart from its standard Verdicchio, a posher one called Monacesca, which customarily costs £10.99 but which, for the moment, has dropped to the basic £7.99. It is the sort of Verdiccio I recognise from meals in Pesaro (Rossini’s birthplace) or Urbino, up in the hills above the sea. The flavour is typically mineral, but more subtle and worth, perhaps, the extra expenditure when it is at full price.
There are other, even dearer versions of Verdiccio, well worth exploring when you are on the northern Adriatic, or what is known as the Marche. They are an ideal match for pasta with clams and other seafood dishes, and restaurants can usually serve at least one of these.
So the Waitrose bargain is worth sampling while it lasts. And, if you are in Italy itself, Pesaro is a delightful seaside spot, home of a fine Rossini festival and a lovely university, to which people cycle, as well as a fashionable resort.
15 May 2016
It comes usually, but not necessarily, in an inviting amphora-shaped bottle. Its flavour, slightly astringent, is pleasant and thoroughly Italian. It is the sort of wine - the very taste of Italy - you grab, as I do, when I am shopping speedily in Sainsbury, Tesco, or Morrison’s (whosewine shelves are often more interesting than they are reputed to be).
But Waitrose sells, apart from its standard Verdicchio, a posher one called Monacesca, which customarily costs £10.99 but which, for the moment, has dropped to the basic £7.99. It is the sort of Verdiccio I recognise from meals in Pesaro (Rossini’s birthplace) or Urbino, up in the hills above the sea. The flavour is typically mineral, but more subtle and worth, perhaps, the extra expenditure when it is at full price.
There are other, even dearer versions of Verdiccio, well worth exploring when you are on the northern Adriatic, or what is known as the Marche. They are an ideal match for pasta with clams and other seafood dishes, and restaurants can usually serve at least one of these.
So the Waitrose bargain is worth sampling while it lasts. And, if you are in Italy itself, Pesaro is a delightful seaside spot, home of a fine Rossini festival and a lovely university, to which people cycle, as well as a fashionable resort.
15 May 2016
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