If a shopper asks me for help selecting an Italian red wine, the famous regions of Chianti, Brunello, Barolo and Barbaresco offer endless choices. Looking for an Italian white? While perhaps not as well-known as their red cousins, our stores are full of delicious, affordable white wines such as Pinot Grigio, Soave, Orvieto and even Chardonnay.

Chardonnay? The ubiquitous Chardonnay is most often thought of in conjunction with French or California wine production, but you should not dismiss the Italian version if you are a fan of this grape varietal. The Veneto, Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia are generally considered the best areas for Italian Chardonnay, but Umbria is also an area that is capable of producing world class examples.

The estate that makes my new favorite Italian Chardonnay is the Castello Della Sala. This beautiful medieval fortress was built in 1350 and is located northwest of the historic town of Orvieto. It was purchased by the Antinori family in 1940 and has since been beautifully restored. The restoration included a state of the art wine making facility dedicated to the production of white wines of exceptional quality.

The lands belonging to the Castle extend over the gentle hills typical of the beautiful local landscape for 500 hectares, 160 of which are planted to vineyards. With the exception of one tiny plot of Pinot Noir, all of the wines of Castello Della Sala are white.

The Castello Della Sala Bramito Chardonnay has a nose of white flowers, pears and citrus with refreshing acidity and just a hint of oak. Look for it in the Italian section of your ABC store.

The Castle is also home to one of the neatest winery dogs.

Paul Quaglini

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