Grignolino, Chestnuts, and Me

The varietal wine Grignolino does not garner a lot of press attention. But last night, as I enjoyed it with a plate of roasted chestnuts, it earned a special place in my heart.

Light-bodied Grignolino is an easy-drinking red wine made in two production zones in the Piedmont region of Italy—Grignolino D’Asti DOC and Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese DOC. Both zones produce wines intended for early and mostly local consumption while the more majestic wines of the region  -- Barolo and Barbaresco -- take their time to mature.

The grape itself takes its name from “grignole,” the local word for pips (grape seeds). The abundance of pips in the grapes gives the wine a surprising amount of tannic structure that belies the otherwise light color and body.

The Francesco Rinaldi and Figli Grignolino d'Asti 2007 that I opened last night was fresh and lively with a delicate herbal quality woven around a core of slightly bitter cherry fruit. It was the perfect match for the smooth texture and subtly sweet flavor of the chestnuts.

You might ask why this little-known wine managed to work its way so easily into my heart. The answer is simple: My father, who is no longer with us, would have whole-heartedly approved of this pairing. A great lover of foods that required careful extraction from their hard exteriors (shucking, peeling, delicate scoring, cracking), my father brought a sense of occasion bordering on the ritualistic to their preparation. I can never eat these foods without thinking of him.

And while I generally don’t have the energy to dig out the minuscule portion contained within a crab leg, nor will I jeopardize my right thumb to shuck a clam, I can always cozy up on a wintry evening with a plate of warm chestnuts. In the future, this particular ritual will always include Grignolino.

Tags: Francesco Rinaldi and Figli Grignolino d'Asti 2007 | Wine | red wine | grape seeds | varietal wine | grignolino