Vico Riviera Numero 99

Wine Name: Vico Riviera Numero 99

Wine: Falanghina
Country: Italy	Region: Avellino Province
Rating:  Good	Price: $15
Every so often, I discover a new wine, or new wine region, or a blend that I have not tried before and this week’s wine is a new discovery for me. The wine is a Falanghina from Italy and it was a great find. We sampled the wine as an appetizer for our Thanksgiving meal, and it went well. It would be a little fruity ordinarily to go with a fully fledged turkey meal. Falanghina is an old Italian grape variety, apparently originating from Greece, and used to make white wines. The wine is mostly grown in the south, thrives in the volcanic soils surrounding Mt Vesuvious and benefits from the climate influenced by the nearby Mediterranean Sea. Falanghinia wines have been gaining in popularity recently and make a great alternative to the more common Italian whites such as Pinot Grigio. The wine is a light straw color, has a hint of green and has a bouquet of tropical fruits. The taste is fruity and clean, slightly dry with overtones of green apples and pear. It would go well with seafood, soft cheeses, pork and even light tomato based pastas. It would also be a good summer wine and would complement certain summer salads well. The winery is owned by Mario Ercolino who is also the chief wine maker. The winery concentrates on wines produced exclusively from grapes native to the region. All grapes used are also grown on land owned by the winery. The literal translation for the term “Nativ”  is “that from which comes from”   As far as our food pairings, I decided that, being a relative newcomer to Thanksgiving, I could not do a Thanksgiving Turkey justice compared to those that have been doing it for generations, so I decided to focus on a wine we had as a starter to the meal. We had some cheeses, olives, raspberries and blackberries. The wine went well with most and was especially good with the cheeses and olives.

Recommendation: Recommended with appetizers or with seafood, cheeses or even light tomato pasta. If you have not tried Falanghina, I also recommend seeking out this wine and trying it.

 Just in case anyone is interested, the following is what our Thanksgiving meal looked like.