Sicilian wines sell very well at L'Artusi.
quality and value at under $80. "What I look for from this region are wines that keep alcohol in balance with fruit, have great amounts of minerality and, generally, a touch of residual sugar." Th e restaurant's tasting menus give Costello plenty of opportunities to cover a range of wine styles from dry to lusciously sweet. He points to the off dry Vin d'Alsace riesling wines from Domaine Rolly-Gassmann for being fragrant and complex with elegant, rich fruit, spice and minerality that list for between $45 and $60.
LA MANCHA:
Bottle Aging is a Value Add for These Classic Wines
Indigenous varieties often seem to have the upper hand in
one of Spain's largest wine-producing region as well. La Mancha produces single-varietal wines made from tempranillo and
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garnacha and other internationally grown varieties including cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah which are frequently included in blends. When crafted in a modern style and given the additional three-year aging requirement for the reserva category, these wines represent some of the best values to be found in the global wine market. Costello points to producer Telmo Rodriguez for wines that are typically listed between $30 and $40 "Rodriguez makes knockout wines from the low end to the high end and never sacrifi ces on quality. We have had his wine on our by-the-glass list from the day we opened the doors at Addison in 2006." Rodriguez produces Mano a Mano, a 100-percent tempranillo from La Mancha, one of many wines that Costello says, "is readily available and never fails us." Wine values like those sought by Costello serve as proof of the
old maxim "you get what you pay for." With quality on the rise in Sicily and La Mancha and consistently good in Alsace and the Douro, it's a buyer's market in these regions for mono-varietal and blended wines that showcase indigenous varieties.
Deborah Parker Wong is an associate at the Institute of Wines
and Spirits and the Northern California editor of Th e Tasting Panel magazine.
OCTOBER 2011 | 35
