White wine makers finally realized that they were being scoffed at and decided to ramp up the quality to retake their market share. And red wine drinkers who, for years, tut-tutted the shallow whites as useless suddenly discovered the joys of a lightly chilled and briskly acidic wine as a come-hither invitation to the delights of the table.

Chardonnay was good, but had already given birth to an anti- market. Dubbed ABC wine, it referred to wine drinkers looking for “anything but Chardonnay.” There was a dalliance with Viognier and Riesling, and perennial flirtations with exotic Old World wines like Torrontes, Marsanne, Aligoté, and Albariño, but as aperitif wines go, we were looking for brisk, lively wines that tantalized the palate and prepared us for the meal.

Enter Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris. Not the PGs of years past, wines that lacked finish and were hard to distinguish from the water glass standing next to it. PGs of today boast a panoply of flavors, citrus overtones, balance, and – more so in the case of Pinot Gris – supple textures.

  I would still choose a Pinot Grigio for a pre-prandial drink. Its racy flavors and gulpability are perfect for the first drink of the evening. And I would pick Pinot Gris, with its fuller mouthfeel and longer impression as the wine to serve with food. But both have their place.

Banfi 2010 Le Rime Pinot Grigio (Tuscany, $9). Refreshing and bright, with lemony acidity.

Castello di Gabbiano 2010 Pinot Grigio (Tuscany, $8).  Scents of lemon zest and lime come first, followed by a zesty, bright fruity wine with highlights of citrus.

Erath 2009 Pinot Gris (Oregon, $14). Silky smooth, luscious white peach and pear flavors yet with a tingling threat of acidity to hold it all together.

Kumeu River 2009 Pinot Gris (Auckland, New Zealand, $21). Peach and vanilla on the nose, followed by the rich flavors of ripe peach and tropical fruit. The slightly oily hint to the texture bodes well and shows a full-bodied wine to pair well with cream-based dishes.

Ponzi 2010 Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley, $15). Zesty and refreshing, hint of lime and floral accents on nose, main theme of lime on palate, with citrus acidity bracing the entire impression.

Santa Cristina 2010 Pinot Grigio (Sicily, $16). Crisp bright fruit aromas with a floral hint, slight apple and citrus flavors with touch of orange on finish.

WillaKenzie 2010 Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley, $21).  Crisp, fresh, lively acidity, bright pear and crisp apple flavors, touch of pineapple on finish.

Italian wines have been great for centuries, and Americans have been buying and bringing home wine from the peninsula since Thomas Jefferson swooned over Brunello di Montalcino in the 1780s.

There are dozens of small importers, but few major players who bring us the best of what Italy has to offer. Neil and Maria Empson have been doing that for over 40 years.

It was during a trip to Milan in 1970 that the vacationing couple fell in love with Italian wines, while bemoaning the fact that most of Italy’s best never crossed its borders. An idea born of their own passion led the Empsons to found Neil Empson Selections and begin a decades-long tradition of introducing Americans to the great wines of the Old World.

  Empson USA now imports wine from Italy, New Zealand, and Chile. From Italy alone their portfolio boasts over 40 superb estates, including perennial favorites such as Einaudi, Bortoluzzi, Il Molino di Grace, Jermann, Cignale, Pieropan, Speri . . . in fact, it’s tough to pinpoint my favorites from such a large portfolio.

So I decided to use the “close your eyes and throw a dart” approach, knowing that essentially any Empson-chosen wine would be a rewarding experience. And I was right. Here are some examples.

Jermann 2010 Pinot Grigio (Venezia Giulia, $30). Scents of honeysuckle and tart green apple, followed by same impression on the palate, refreshing acidity, ripe and full, a great food wine. Score: 87

Pieropan 2010 Soave (Veneto, $17). Lightly sweet aromas, flavors of fresh fruit, with dominant pear notes, simple yet forward, best with cream of crab soup. Score: 85

Bucci 2007 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Riserva (Marches, $57). Subtle, approachable, requires lots of attention from the aroma to the finish, soft textures, voluptuous body. Score: 90

Bellavista 2005 Grand Cuvee Brut (Franciacorta, $69). Beautifully sparkling and clear, soft diffuse bubbles, slight fruitiness balances firm acidic backbone. Score: 89

Stay tuned. There are so many Empson wines they will have to be reviewed in future columns

Among the wines was a fantastic Sangiovese from Maremma Toscana named Le Focaie, made by Rocca di Montemassi.  On the nose were hints of cloves, nutmeg, and figs.  The palate offered mandarin orange up front, a glazed doughnut mouth feel, and chocolate-covered strawberries.  This paired exceptionally well with seared pork loin with mushrooms and a Marsala-rosemary demi-glace.

I also enjoyed Zonin’s Ripasso Superiore.  Ripassos might be my favorite style of wine.  If you are ever stumped by a wine list in an Italian restaurant, look for that word and you will not be disappointed.  This specimen offered ash, currant, allspice, and iron in the mouth and had a long finish.  On the nose:  Fruit Cake, chalk, and licorice.  It is a great home-made pizza wine.

  The winery itself is a work of art, blending seamlessly into the hillside vineyards of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Pinot Nero.  Larger-than-life sculptures adorn the property, making this property a choice venue for wedding ceremonies and receptions.  In the picture to the right, my friend Francesca and I pose for a picture at the edge of the winery’s heli-pad.  Ca’ del Bosco is in the heart of Franciacorta, located in the province of Brescia in the Lombardy region.  It is about at the halfway point between Venice and Milan

Another winery visited was Azienda Agricola Fratelli Berlucchi, only a few minutes north of Ca’ del Bosco.  This house specialized in vintage bubblies, two of which were served the night I arrived at my friends’ house in Bergamo.  The 2007 brut was very pleasant with small and persistent bubbles.  With a bit more sugar, the 2007 brut saten was more refined and graceful, offering a spicy nose and creamy, frothy mouth-feel.  The picture below is a shot of the house’s fermentation tanks, and a bottle of their rosé.  

Below, 2007 Classico Ripasso aging in 54 hecto-liter Slavonian Oak cask.  Bertani is experimenting with aging wines in different types of wood such as cherry and walnut.

This is a view of barrels of Amarone that line one of the corridors in the cellar below Villa Novare.   At any given time over 60,000 gallons of Amarone will be aging in barrels and casks as large as 15o hectoliters.  The cellar still contains 200hl (4400 gallons) casks from the 19th century.  These are so large the coopers needed to build them in place because there are no doors large enough for them to fit through.

  Winemaker Christian Ridolfi (right) oversees the entire winemaking process, including agriculture on both the Villa Novare and Villa Arvedi properties.  Christian graciously spent an entire day with us explaining what makes Bertani and their wines unique and special.  We took this photo on the foyer of the house, below a painting on the ceiling that reminded me of the Sistine Chapel.

Mushroom-stuffed ravioli with a side serving of Chianti seems perfect right about now. I recently had the pleasure of sampling this wonderful dish at Proietti’s Italian Restaurant in upstate New York. You can buy the ravioli at a local Italian deli, or make it yourself using a standard pasta dough recipe. Tony Proietti’s signature dish is finished with a sauce of tomatoes, garlic, shallot, parsley, basil, and chicken stock, with sliced mushrooms added while the sauce is simmering.

The wine I chose for this wholesome dish was the Ruffino Chianti. The estate has spruced up its image with proprietary wines like the Santedame and Aziano, and the famed ‘gold label’ Riserva continues to be a marvelous wine. But even Ruffino’s standard Chianti goes perfectly with this deeply scented dish of mushroom-accented ravioli.

Ruffino 2008 Chianti Classico (Tuscany, $12). Earthy aromas with a hint of brown spice; soft approach, soft red fruit flavors, medium finish.

But what about wine? Pizza is Italian, right, and word has it that Italians make some pretty good wine. So according to the second rule of wine-food pairing, we should “drink the cuisine” and celebrate our next pizza with an Italian red wine, right?

Just imagine a sun-drenched afternoon spent people-watching in an ancient Tuscan town. The piazza is teeming with pedestrian traffic, the air is clear, the sun warm. Soft notes of Non Dimenticar drift past your ears, the soft chatter from the tables around you is a mixture Italian, English and some other dialect that evades identification, and lanterns around the sidewalk dining area are just flickering to life.

The waiter arrives with a piping hot pizza with chunks of ripe tomatoes, molten mozzarella, fresh artichokes, and fresher basil. With an informality that defines Italian dining, he slides the pizza onto the table, reaches behind him to the service rack and extracts a bottle of Chianti. Pulling the cork with same nonchalance, the waiter presents you with the perfect wine to go with the perfect evening repast.

In America, we’ve been slow to appreciate what the Italians have known for many years, that the straightforward, though lush, peasant flavors of a Chianti are best when served with food. Although the best Chiantis can stand on their own, Italians have always made their wines to be served at the table.

So, to continue your fantasy: You cut into the pizza, pour some wine into a plain, straight-sided glass, and settle back to enjoy your feast in the fading light of a Renaissance city.

Not in Tuscany? Not a problem. The same pairing works well in any country, even at home. Try any of the following wines the next time you decide to have pizza for dinner.

Banfi 2008 Chianti Superior ($11)
Castello di Gabbiano 2006 Chianti Classico ($12)
Da Vinci 2008 Chianti ($14)
Peppoli 2007 Chianti Classico (Antinori) ($27)
Ruffino 2005 Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale Oro ($43)

The relative obscurity of this prolific grape from Italy’s Veneto region is not because of the grape’s quality, but instead is because Garganega normally hides behind more common labels, like Soave, providing the raw material for what’s known as “proprietary” wines – wines not named after the variety of grape.

I had the opportunity to taste the Sartori 2009 Ferdi, made from 100% Garganega (Verona, $14) and found it bright, fresh and forward, with citrus accents and medium body. While the wine was very good by itself, it was even better when paired with that night’s main course of Vietnamese-style chicken with herbs. Vietnamese cuisine combines some of the spicy accents of other Pan-Asian dishes, but often includes a long list of herbs that blend together in a symphony of secondary flavors.

The dish, Vietnamese Caramel Chicken with Herbs, was borrowed from Cuisine at Home (December 2004), a user-friendly cooking magazine that breaks complex recipes down into digestible steps. We changed the recipe, adjusted the quantity to serve two people, eliminated some of the herbs, and reduced the garlic to avoid the back-palate burn familiar to garlic lovers, and created the recipe attached here.

The Ferdi was a superb complement to this dish. The fresh flavors brightened the more aggressive flavors of the garlic, jalapeño, and green onion, while the citrus accents blended seamlessly with the fish sauce, chicken, and caramelized sugar. This wine would also pair well with similar recipes in Vietnamese cuisine, and would certainly stand up to even hotter Thai dishes.

Vietnamese Chicken with Herbs

Course: Main
Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 2

¾ c. raw jasmine rice
½ cup sugar
¼ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon shallot, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon jalapeño, seeded and minced
¼ cup green onion, sliced into diagonal rings
2 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Cook the rice in 1 ¼ c. water with pinch of salt.
Warm chicken broth and fish sauce in a small pot.

Caramelize the sugar in a small skillet over medium-high heat. This is the most challenging step if you haven’t caramelized sugar before. It will turn a light, tawny color, somewhat like tea, in about 5 minutes. When this is done, whisk in the broth/sauce mixture and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Pound the chicken, season with salt and pepper, then sear it in oil, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate kept warm in a 200-degree oven.

Wipe out the skillet and heat the other tablespoon of vegetable oil in same pan. In this, sauté the ginger, shallot, garlic, and jalapeño for about 1 minute. Add chicken and caramelized sugar, turning the chicken to coat, and simmer till chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve chicken over the rice, drizzling sauce and sprinkling herbs on top.

“The sweetbreads are richly textured and the mushrooms, while earthy, have a fresh acidity from the sherry in which they are braised. Rich pasta dishes with earthy undertones are beautiful with Nebbiolo. The 2005 Marchese di Gresy Barbaresco, Martinenga, is a monopole and is made from a clone of Nebbiolo called Rosé that is incredibly elegant and floral. This wine is loaded with fresh red fruits and is round on the palate with refreshing acidity.

“The Albacore is meaty enough to pair with a light bodied red, but the richness of the corn fondue calls for White Burgundy; a richer style would be nice. The 2005 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet is more richly textured but still has vibrant acidity that would cut through the richness of the corn fondue. An aged white burgundy would be ideal as well, as Chardonnays from this region are incredibly mineral driven and can take on a ‘mushroomy’ character as they age.  A beautiful compliment would be the 1996 Domaine Amiot Guy Puligny-Montrachet, Les Demoiselles,” noted Haley.

Outstanding advice from Haley is indicative of the level of service at Spruce, which has won Wine Spectator‘s Best of Award of Excellence, and garnered attention from Food & Wine Magazine, Conde Nast and Esquire.  Located in Presidio Heights, the chef emphasizes local and organic produce, naturally raised meat, and line-caught fish.  Spruce has an extensive wine list, but stands out for two initiatives in particular:  They serve 50 fortified wines by the glass; and offer over 160 different German Rieslings that pair beautifully with their house made charcuterie.