2008 Anselmi San Vincenzo Bianco

Gargawhatnow?

The whole concept of the Wine Century Club is one that fits right into my Type A personality. It’s a list to complete, a set of ever-increasingly difficult checkboxes to check off. It’s like Xbox360 Achievements for winos.

And certainly, you’re going to need help to do it. I’d wager that most people who drink wine and don’t think much of it have probably had wine from no more than 20-30 varieties of vitis vinifera. I know when I first discovered the Club, I started checking varieties I know I’d had off their application, I landed at 28. There is a long way to go from 28 to 100.

And since I’d already experienced numerous cabernet sauvignons, merlots, and chardonnays, something like (and this is just a guess) 50% of the wine sold in this country wasn’t going to be any help to me in this endeavor.

Entrare Italia.

This wine is a perfect example. I had never even heard of its primary grape variety before drinking the wine itself. The 2008 Anselmi San Vincenzo white wine is 80% garganega, 15% chardonnay, and 5% trebbiano.

Garganega?

I don’t know much about the grape. Couldn’t comment on its typicity here or any of that. All I can do is tell you what I found out. The wine is bright in the glass, like light golden straw. On the nose is a bouquet of aromas centered mostly around the tropical family: pineapple and mango and banana mingle with a light, bright, ripe strawberry note.

The wine is medium-bodied, and might be too sweet for some who are looking for a white table wine. Honeysuckle, banana, and pineapple dominate a slight minerality.

It’s almost like garganega is the Italian viognier, with even more tropicality (that really doesn’t sound like an actual word). I can check another grape off my Wine Century Club application (I’m up to 55 now), thanks to the garganega-based 2008 Anselmi San Vincenzo.

Verdict: B+

2008 Anselmi San Vincenzo