Cairanne Cortese Trebbiano Mencia White Rhone Blend Wine
The Cortese white wine grape varietal has been grown in and around south Piedmont, Italy, for at least five hundred years. Its delicate nature and moderate acidity have made it a favorite with people around the world, and it is most commonly served alongside the excellent seafood and shellfish dishes of the part of Italy it is traditionally grown in. Cortese grapes are easily identifiable by their lime and greengage flavors, and their generally delicate and medium bodied character. Cortese wines are also notable for their freshness and crispness, again, making them an ideal match for seafood. Whilst colder years often produce harsher, more acidic Cortese wines, practices such as allowing malolactic fermentation can solve any such problems and still produce delicious white wines made from this varietal.
The Trebbiano varietal grape is a white wine grape originally from Italy, but which has been successfully planted and cultivated in several European countries, as well as in many parts of the New World. Although it is widely grown around the world, it remains relatively unknown to wine drinkers, perhaps because it has mostly been used traditionally as a blending varietal, and for the production of fortified wines. However, it is used very well in parts of Tuscany and elsewhere in Italy for single variety wines, where it is prized for its elegant character and beautiful citrus flavors, alongside floral aromas and a great expression of terroir. As such, Trebbiano wines often hold interesting mineral notes, making them fascinating and complex white wines perfect for matching with a wide range of foods.
The Rhone region of France has been producing superb quality white blended wines for centuries, and is a region highly respected and esteemed around the world, with plenty of New World countries keen to emulate the styles and techniques displayed by the historic wineries and skilled vintners of the area. The secret to the Rhone's success when it comes to blended white wines is the careful and expert selection of certain grape varietals, which each lend special features to the blended wine and bring balance and harmony to the bottle. Most commonly, blended white Rhone wines feature no more than two grapes of either the Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne or Grenache Blanc varietals, and are renowned for their exceptional flavors and highly aromatic, floral character.