We picked up a couple of bottles of this Grignolino di Piemonte DOC in Bardoneccia in Piemonte. It’s a light red wine from an estate to the south of Turin at Cisterna d’Asti. Uncorked, the aroma is light and fruity. Pouring in to the glass, the wine is strikingly light in colour, almost orange or even the colour of pomegranate juice.
First impression on tasting at sea level altitude is a very very light taste. For me, the taste triggered an immediate flashback to meals in a family hotel in Valsavarenche. We had tasted our other bottle at greater altitude where it had seemed stronger and with greater depth in the thin air of the mountains, as would be the case with a wine from the Swiss Valais. Compared to a Beaujolais of similar quality, this Grignolino is even lighter. Complex enough in taste as a young wine but no particular depth. A good choice for our picnic of Saint Nectaire cheese and a saucisson with hazelnuts.
But though a delicate wine for the mountains, it’s not without a kick: the label indicated 13% and that seems to match our experience.