Since my dinner group has reservations at Valentino this weekend, I thought that I might finally post an article started a few months ago about a wine that Valentino's proprietor, Piero Selvaggio, touted me on. It's one that is easily found; at least the varietal, if not the labels he recommends.
The wine is Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. I've purchased more than a fair amount of it over the years, none of it memorable, other than being very inexpensively priced. But, it's gotten better in recent years, especially at the higher price points, as with most Italian wines (see Eric Asimov's, "For Wine Lovers on a Budget, Try Montepulciano d'Abruzzo"). You've seen it at the supermarket or liquor store, though you might not have tried to read it aloud (it's really not that difficult, "mohn-tay-pool-chee-AHN-oh duh-BROOTZ-oh"). While it carries DOC and DOCG designations, the highest Italian grades and which denote some minimal quality, I was very surprised when Selvaggio told me it, along with Barolo, were his two favorite wines...in the world.
Selvaggio is not only one of the most respected and influential Italian restaurateurs in this country and abroad, but he also has one of the very best wine collections in the country. The Wine Spectator once declared the wine list in the Santa Monica original, "the greatest wine cellar of them all." It currently holds over 80,000 bottles and nearly 3,000 labels. It's much more than Italian wines, as its French and California selections are among the best found domestically. Selvaggio has also won a James Beard Award for wine. His opinion, especially since his palate is geared to complementing high quality Italian fare, carries some weight with me.
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo translates to the native red Montepulciano grape from the largely mountainous Italian region of Abruzzo that is east of Rome and abuts the Adriatic in the center of the country. It's not related to the similarly named Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. From Burton Anderson's The Wines of Italy, "full-bodied, even robust, with a capacity to age but with a supple smoothness that can make it eminently drinkable even when young."
I had a couple of immensely enjoyable examples at Valentino. I just wish I would have written down the names. As I know for certain none was Citra.
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