For me the much of the excitement of wine is experimentation and finding something new and surprising.
To that end I am always on the look out for regions about which I know nothing, or little and grape varieties that I have never tried before.
Well, the other day I tried a dry white wine that ticked both those boxes and was really good. I enjoyed it very much and it was very, very drinkable. Certainly the bottle just seemed to empty itself with incredible speed – which is often a good measure of how much I like a wine, especially when the bottle is emptying fast, but I don’t want it to actually end – like a good book.
Anyway, the wine I drank came from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, from DO Romagna and was made from the Pagadebit grape, of which I had never heard and rather surprisingly it was so good that I made it my Wine of the Week.
Wine map of Northern Italy. Emilia-Romagna is in the South East. Click for a larger view.
The amazing winery at Poderi dal Nespoli.
2016 Poderi dal Nespoli Pagadebit
Poderi dal Nespoli
DO Romagna
Emilia-Romagna
Italy
There is nothing fancy about the winemaking here, just a blend of 85% Pagadebit with 15% Sauvignon Blanc.
Pagadebit is the name in Emilia-Romagna for the Bombino Bianco grape. This undistinguished grape variety grows all over southern Italy and has long been confused with Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. In fact they are so intertwined that DO Trebbiano d’Abruzzo wine can be made from either Trebbiano or Bombino. The name Pagadebit is interesting and refers to the fact that the grape gives a large crop, so ensures a good financial return so the name means something like ‘pays your debts’.
The estate at Poderi dal Nespoli which is a family run winery that was founded in 1929.
The aromas are floral, light honey, apple and herbs. The palate is a lovely combination of ripe, but crisp fruit and savoury herbal flavours. Tangy, crisp apple, light peach and a burst of fresh lemony citrus and tangerine vie with the savoury, almond and herbal notes and the merest hint of something saline. This is not a hugely complex wine, but it is really very drinkable, utterly delicious and incredibly versatile. Perhaps the addition of Sauvignon adds little finesse here. Enjoy it without food or with any lighter dishes, especially seafood and chicken. What’s more Emilia-Romagna is the home of Parma ham and I am sure that would be a great match too – 88/100 points.
Parma ham a local speciality.
I particularly like recommending this wine because it is mainly made from a grape that almost no one has a good word for. Pagadebit / Bombino Bianco is reckoned to be a grape that makes very ordinary wines and I love it when such generally held wisdom is shown to be inaccurate or out of date, just as it is with Verdicchio, which funnily enough was also long confused with Trebbiano.
Available in the UK for around £10 per bottle from:
Laithwaites – online and from their shops.
Quentin Sadler's Wine Page 