4 Sommeliers Talk to Us About Italian Wine Trends

No longer confined to Italy’s most vaunted regions for quality wines, sommeliers are stretching the boundaries of traditional offerings, turning to indigenous grapes and previously unknown regions to refresh their lists. And, happily for lovers of Italian cuisine, such native wines are finding their way into the upper tiers of dining in the United States.

“Nine years ago, we focused on Atlanta trends,” says Clarke Anderson, a sommelier at St. Cecilia, in the city’s stylish Buckhead neighborhood, noting those preferences favored the classics from Piedmont and Tuscany, along with “the elegant and refined nature of Nebbiolo and wines that are high-toned red fruit without heavy oak influence.” Increasingly, though, his list also reflects the current interest in traditional winemaking and sustainable farming. Particularly hot right now: white wines from the mountain regions like Alto Adige and Trentino. “People are interested in Kerner, Riesling and Gewurztraminer,” Anderson says.

At San Francisco’s A16, a lauded pioneer of southern Italian food, owner / Wine Director Shelley Lindgren has long been known for championing that region’s indigenous grapes. “A Renaissance of southern Italian wine has allowed us to have depth,” she says, noting she started with three selections from Sicily, and features more than 60 from the island. “With a little bit of knowledge, you can get incredible quality for a fraction of the price.” In a smart move, Lindgren offers guests the opportunity to order wines by the half glass so they can start with white and switch to red, or compare wines across regions or varieties.

Jennifer Wagoner, wine director at Chicago’s Michelin-starred Sepia and its sister restaurant, Proxi, agrees about Italy’s price-quality proposition. Her lists fuse recognizable varieties and regions with “discovery wines that can generally be a great value. Quality levels in Italian wine are consistently improving, and along with that is the emergence of traditionally underrepresented indigenous varietals,” she notes. “We now see varieties like Biancolella, Sagrantino and Lagrein alongside Sangiovese, Nebbiolo and Pinot Grigio.” Wagoner also reveals that grapes from Abruzzo, like the lighter red Cerasuolo and white Trebbiano, are among the newer offerings that do “incredibly well.”

Also getting to the root of the native grape movement is the list at the Manhattan outpost of Trapizzino, known for its Roman street food. Sommelier Doreen Winkler focuses on natural wines that reflect tradition, terroir and history, such as the “Silene” made by the Rome region-based Damiano Ciolli from Cesanese grapes. “Cesanese is an interesting grape that dates back to ancient Rome, and that has reemerged in recent years with a new generation of winemakers,” she says. While respecting the restaurant’s Roman focus, Winkler also looks to regional wines for her list, focusing on Lazio and Umbria. “There are a lot of synergies with our wine and food, which are rooted in the slow food movement.”