2560 Sat Kitchen recommends italian wine

I saw this Elaine, I have to say I love this programme try to watch it every week, Fantastic about the wine but I wasn't impressed about the voting recipes this week hopefully next week we will have some yummy ones to vote on. Thought the Keith Floyd lemon and chicken dish seemed fab.

Hello Elaincraig and Baggio,

Unfortunately I did not see this programme. Is it on BBC1 at 10.00a.m.?

This comment is not to do with the programme, but I have just been looking through my Feb. issue of Italy Mag. and came across the article by Marc Millon entitled "Preaching To The Converted?" It is quite an interesting article about different Italian wines and he also recommends some from different regions.
I am at present trying different Italian wines, red is my favourite, but hey ho, I like white as well! So I have made a list of the wines mentioned, and will see if I can find any of them in my local supermarket!! ( Some research is needed in this area, so am quite happy to do this:D )

Can I ask if you or anyone else who is a lover of fine wine, can recommend any Italian wines? Red or white, I like them both!

Thanks.
Francesca

Hello Elainecraig,
I apologise for spelling your name wrong.
Regards
Francesca

Hello Baggio,
I notice that you come from the region of Abruzzo. Regarding wine, I have tried the Montelpulciano D'Abruzzo (don't know if I have spelt this right!) and must say that I enjoyed this immensely. Can you recommend any others for me?
It is so nice to have people who have tried and tested various wines and can pass on their comments.

Many thanks
Francesca

Hi Francesca,
You spelt it perfectly by the way. I love this wine also. Can't as yet recommend any others local to Abruzzo but am on the case ;) so to speak.
As soon as further research has taken place I will let you know. It is widely available in the UK at supermarkets but it is a lot dearer here. Costs about 1 euro in the Italian supermarkets!!

Also Saturday Kitchen is on on BBC 1 on Sat am at 10am Anthony Worral Thompson hosts but has guest chefs every week.

Hello Baggio,

thanks for replying. I have been out this morning and bought another bottle of this splendid wine from my local supermarket. Here, it costs £3.99 sterling a bottle, which works out at about 2 and a half euro's here!! This does annoy me that they mark-up the wines so much over here. I know the supermarket has to make a profit, but when I think of what you pay in Italy for it. Anyway, I shall keep my eyes peeled, and if they put it on special offer, then I shall stock up!! I do love a bargain:D

I think I caught the last few minutes of the programme on Saturday. I must leave myself a note to remember to watch it. I seem to make lots of notes to remember things these days, must be my age:o I was in the supermarket with my long list of the wines today, and could only find one of them. Still, there is no harm in trying the other wines, I shall have to work my way along the shelf, ( this is all for personal research of course );)

Thanks again, and keep up the good work with your own research;)

Francesca

We love this program also and it is re-run everyday on UKTV Food, here's when its on again:

UKTV Food Monday 6 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm
UKTV Food Monday 6 February 2006 11.00 pm - 11.30 pm
UKTV Food Tuesday 7 February 2006 11.30 am - 12.00 pm
UKTV Food+1 Tuesday 7 February 2006 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm
UKTV Food Tuesday 7 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm
UKTV Food Tuesday 7 February 2006 11.00 pm - 11.30 pm
UKTV Food Wednesday 8 February 2006 11.30 am - 12.00 pm
UKTV Food+1 Wednesday 8 February 2006 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm
UKTV Food Wednesday 8 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm
UKTV Food Wednesday 8 February 2006 11.00 pm - 11.30 pm
UKTV Food Thursday 9 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm
UKTV Food Thursday 9 February 2006 11.00 pm - 11.30 pm
UKTV Food Friday 10 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm
UKTV Food Friday 10 February 2006 11.00 pm - 11.30 pm
UKTV Food Monday 13 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm
UKTV Food Monday 13 February 2006 11.00 pm - 11.30 pm
UKTV Food Tuesday 14 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm
UKTV Food Tuesday 14 February 2006 11.00 pm - 11.30 pm
UKTV Food Wednesday 15 February 2006 8.00 pm - 8.30 pm

[url]http://www.uktvfood.co.uk/?uktv=tv.series&seriesID=2765[/url]

:D

Hello Paula,

thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to type out all the days and times of the above-mentioned programme. Now I have no excuse to miss it ( have copied out all the dates etc. another list for myself! :D )

Francesca

I have a great little wine guide called "supermarket wine" I'll get the author when I go home tonight, it has world wine recommendations and descriptions for all main supermarkets and off-licenses. Its a real gem, and makes choosing a wine as good as selecting recipes to eat during the week.

Heres a few good un from the top of my head (spelling might be out):

Reds:
Linea del Sole, Somerfield is really nice fruity but peppery wine, and is about a fiver
Brindisi, Sainburys has softer overtones, and a berry aftertaste
Vallpollicello, all varieties, great velvety wine but lighter than the Primativos
Any Chianti, DOC approved (check it has a pink label about the bottle neck) these are the stallion of italian wines, reliable, warm, a good friend throughout the year

White:
Oriveto, fresh gooseberries and a zing of lime, perfect for a hot summers day barbie
Pino Gringio, kwik fruit and a little lime, fresh and dry with a dash of chilli

Pink:
Any French Provence wine, a summer drink that makes me car sick the following day maybe because it taste like pop and I cant stop. Should taste like lavender and pear drops, and shouldnt be over sweet. Rioja does a solid pink.

God this is making me thirsty
;) :p

Hello Elainecraig,
thank you for listing those wines, I now have another list:D
I shall certainly be looking out for them when I next go shopping.

Regarding the white wines, I have tried both Orvieto (Classico) and Pino Grigio, and agree that the tastes are exquisitely tangy with the limes and quite dry and light on the tongue.
This is making my mouth water just writing this. If only we could conjure up a wine -tasting thread!!!:p

Regarding the red wines, there is one that I particularly favour and that is called
Canti Merlot Sangiovese (Sicily)and you can buy that in Morrison's. It is a very full bodied wine with intense ripe black cherry fruit. I think ideal to have with red meat dishes, and is quite smooth on the tongue.
They also do this wine in a white version and that too is quite smooth on the tongue and not too dry, also quite fruity (gooseberry).

Enjoy!
Francesca

Hello Elainecraig and Francesca,

Unfortunately we don't get Saturday Kitchen here, so thanks for posting about some of the selections you've tried and enjoyed (good descriptions).

I was wondering about Italian sparking wines, any good suggestions?

Prosecco from Sainsburys is quite fun, BUT try this: liquidize a punnitt of strawberries in a blender be sure to remove the stalk and bitter white bit directly underneath the stalk, add ice and about a glass (Duralit sized) of vodka, blitz again. Pop in a jug and slowly stir in the Prosecco, it fizzes a lot. Its called a Rossini and is related to the Bellini from Harrys bar in Venice. It tastes like summer, and has some vague vitamins in it, a great start to a dinner party.

[QUOTE=Francesca]Hello Elainecraig,
.....

Regarding the red wines, there is one that I particularly favour and that is called Canti Merlot Sangiovese (Sicily)and you can buy that in Morrison's. It is a very full bodied wine with intense ripe black cherry fruit. I think ideal to have with red meat dishes, and is quite smooth on the tongue.
They also do this wine in a white version and that too is quite smooth on the tongue and not too dry, also quite fruity (gooseberry).

Enjoy!
Francesca[/QUOTE]

Hello Francesca,

I completely agree with you on Morrisons' Canti Merlot... it tastes absolutely lovely and even my partner who prefers white wine likes it alot!

Stephanie

[QUOTE=elainecraig]Yes at last I am not going mad, Saturday Kitchen has said the hottest thing in the wine industry at the moment is the rise of the south italian red from Puglia..hurrah I am vindicated. Mind you all italian red is great. Actually most red isnt bad. I guess its just those rich favours bursting with blackcurrant, strawberries, cinnamon, dark chocolate and a dash of pepper..yummm :p[/QUOTE]

saturday kitchen, should stick to making egg&chips!

puglia has a perfect climate and because its so flat, it can be used to
grow grapes on an intensive and co operate standard. in other words,damm
right... puglia is making leaps and bounds into superstores shelfs with
wines,including rosey and whites....try bocca di lupo 2000, castel del monte,tormaresca. around £14,from veritas wines camb.

but then italian wines have come forward in real leaps over the last 1 and a
half decades.....the only problem i have is it would take for too long and far
too much money for me to try the vast range of quality wines available today
from italy........

Worth a try though isnt it ;)

I'll give those Silician wines a go, next time I'm in Sainsburys, theres some similar ones on the bottom shelf worth bending down for :D

[QUOTE=elainecraig]Prosecco from Sainsburys is quite fun, BUT try this: liquidize a punnitt of strawberries in a blender be sure to remove the stalk and bitter white bit directly underneath the stalk, add ice and about a glass (Duralit sized) of vodka, blitz again. Pop in a jug and slowly stir in the Prosecco, it fizzes a lot. Its called a Rossini and is related to the Bellini from Harrys bar in Venice. It tastes like summer, and has some vague vitamins in it, a great start to a dinner party.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the summer lovin' Prosecco recipe elainecraig :)
(love that you let us know about the vitamins in it , LOL ;) )

We're familiar with Proseccos and Asti's, just wondering if there are some particular wineries that are favorites (and why?).

I picture you enjoying the good things in life in Italy, always a pleasure to read your posts.

Dee

ahhh shucks you'll make me cry :o

Yeah I guess I do try and enjoy life, I have quite a stressful job so we tend to let rip when I'm let off the leash, I think me and Kate (my flatmate and fellow italiaphile) are a bit like a Puglian Patsy and Edina, we have no shame, another stolly bolly darling?

We like Antinori and Frascabaldi winerys, Antinori is massive winery and has lots of meaty chianti's, one of my favorite wines is Passada de bada from there we discovered other great wines from the Antinori family. For new year we went to the Frascabaldi wine bar just off the old square in Florence, and had a 10 course wine tasting evening, its a great way to discover new wines, so if you are ever in Florence go there and enjoy all those different wines all at once, although strangely enough I dont remember the end of the night!

If you really want to know more we got an italian 'yellow pages' of wine, I've forgotten what its called (I can find out) but it has all the previous years wine, we got it just to cross-ref our supermarket wines and some come from highly recommended wineries, good on yer Sainsburys and can I have a job?

[LEFT]
This morning's programme had a [mostly] Italian theme. Obviously because of the Olympics. Anyone see it?
I particularly liked the look of the 'posh baked beans' and pork! :)
[/LEFT]

[QUOTE=derekL][LEFT]
This morning's programme had a [mostly] Italian theme. Obviously because of the Olympics. Anyone see it?
I particularly liked the look of the 'posh baked beans' and pork! :)
[/LEFT][/QUOTE]

didn't see it, but isn't that a so called florentine peasant dish.....

[LEFT][quote=giovanni]didn't see it, but isn't that a so called florentine peasant dish.....[/quote]

You're right, it is. But I can't remember the name. :o
[/LEFT]

Hi wine lovers, for some who are still in the UK and fed up with supermarket wines have a look at this site I'm sure you will be impressed [url]www.centopercentowines.com[/url]

saluti !

Gary

Hello Gary,

thank you so much for that link, I think it may well come in very handy in the not too distant future!

Saluti!
Francesca

[QUOTE=gazzager]Hi wine lovers, for some who are still in the UK and fed up with supermarket wines have a look at this site I'm sure you will be impressed [url]www.centopercentowines.com[/url]

saluti !

Gary[/QUOTE]
not so impressed they don't have any wines from Abruzzo!
I may be picky but hey I am championing my region!

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]The best wine Iv'e bought in Abruzzo is from a company named [B]Masciarelli[/B].It's about 5 euros a bottle and is really good!

It is of course a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

Five euros a bottle!!!!!!!!!
Becky I have spent 1 to 3 euros a bottle for Montepulciano at various Italian supermarkets and have found them all to be fantastic, don't pay so much, or maybe I have a cheap palate!!!!!!! My husband has just advised me that he is grateful if I have!;)
Cheers
Michelle

[QUOTE]Five euros a bottle!!!!!!!!!
Becky I have spent 1 to 3 euros a bottle for Montepulciano at various Italian supermarkets and have found them all to be fantastic[/QUOTE]

God!

I pay £9.99 in Sainsbury's for this!!! In a local Italian in Leeds, I paid £20 a bottle! When I am Gallicano I pay €3 for 1.5Ltr....

I might be taking a van over to Italy next month, so I will fill it on the return journey and class it as an "Investment"...!

Salute! :D

Yeah some of the wines mentioned here are so cheap in Italy, most of the Solento's and Primativos are about €5 max in italian supermarkets and taste fantastic, you can also get massive DemiJohns for €5 and I've even heard of petrol-like wine stations at the back of shop where you bring your own jug/bottle/barrel/throat and fill up to your hearts content. I've recognised the exact same bottles in England from £10+ in supermarkets and incredible eye-popping prices in London resturants.

I was thinking of the time, I strangely enough, fancied a chilled white. I was sitting in a beautiful Norman square in Cefalu, Sicily, it was the end of a boiling hot day and I really fancied something cool to drink. So I asked for a nice orvieto wine, one of italys most famous and delicious whites, perfect for a hot summers day. Well the surly waitor, quiped an abrupt "non" and turned on his heel and headed back to the main bar, obviously I had offended his sensitive italian nature by daring to suggest a non-Siclian wine. After an absolute age of him of ignoring my eye, I eventually managed to get his attension and ordered the obigatory sicilian white, which arrived immediatedly. Do you know its wasnt bad!

On the last night of the holiday at a different bar, when my taste buds had adapted to Sicilian red wine, my best friend came back with two huge glasses, of which, when I tasted them seemed incredibly fruity and packed full of taste. "Good grief, what Sicilian beauty is this, if only we had known the name of this earlier on" - I might had know it was the only bar in town that sold Chianti.

:D :p :D

For anyone in or near this area .... get down to 'Canova '. This real cottage idustry wine makers and whole salers is on the Isolalunga rd about 5 km form Imperia. The owners are called Enrico and livio and they took over the failing business in 1996 ,now they have reached their target of 7000 bottles a year., and the business 'la canova' is thriving.
With excellant wines at 3 euro at bottle,and they stick the label on while you wait,its a charming place.!!!
They also have the a more expensive range 7 euro for the barbera and also the grappa 7 euro!

They will also fill a demi john for you !:D

We have some great reds in Marche, but our favourite comes from the Umani Ronchi vineyard on Monti Conero. There is also a great opportunity to have some vines of your own and your own label by our local cantina - here's the link if anyone is interested

[url]http://www.terredisanginesio.it/coltiva.htm[/url]