01 Jun Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Franco Roero 2020 Grignolino D’Asti, Piemonte, Italy

Italy is home to more than 500 indigenous grape varieties. Some of these are extremely rare, consisting of only a few acres, and others, thought to have been extinct, have only recently been found in a small field somewhere off the beaten path. One of these rarer indigenous grapes that gives me so much happiness is Grignolino. Whenever I drink a Grignolino, a big smile crosses my face as it did when I drank the Franco Roero 2020 Grignolino D’Asti, Piemonte, Italy, the Please The Palate wine of the week.  Grignolino is an indigenous grape from the Piedmont region in Northern Italy.  Grignolino was historically an important grape. But, as people wanted bigger wines, this light-colored wine from a thin-skinned, low-yielding grape was forgotten. But it was not forgotten by everyone. Despite it being a grape that requires a lot of work because it is challenging to grow, there are producers who make Grignolino…and that makes me very happy.  Franco Roero is located in Zucchetto in the area of Montegrosso d’Asti, which is in Monferrato. While Barbera is their primary production, they also make Grignolino, as well as Cortese, Moscato, and Chardonnay. The Franco Roero 2020 Grignolino D’Asti, Piemonte, Italy is a beautiful translucent pale red color. The nose of the wine shows dark red fruits, roses, fresh earth, white pepper, cloves, and minerality. On the palate, the wine is fresh with juicy acidity that washes of the tannins. What is all the more incredible about this beautiful wine is that it is only $15!