2021 Sant Angelus Canonica

Allow me to introduce you to an Italian bianco wine. Today I am going to talk about the 2021 Sant Angelus Canonica wine. It is one of the wines I featured in the recent Amori di Vino class. It is also a wine that I came by via a friend (which is always a good way to find new and interesting bottles).

You may have heard of a "Super Tuscan" wine before. Those are the famous Tuscan red wine blends that bring the Sangiovese varietal together with usually French varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Often in Italian wines when you see the word "super" in front of a region name you are looking at a native Italian grape that has been blended with a non-native grape (usually French). They are often labeled with the region IGP designation since most of the more restrictive DOC and DOCG labels do not allow non-native grape varietals in the wine. That designation, however, does not mean the quality on the wine is lower than a DOC or DOCG wine. Some of the super blend wines are on par with some of the Italian great wines. In the Canonica case, this is a "Super Umbrian" wine.

Umbria is a land locked region in central Italy. Its next door neighbor is Tuscany and you will find many of the same varietals grown here. The geography is hillier and more mountainous than its famous neighbor. The elevation of the area will help with diurnal temperature swings which helps moderate the Mediterranean climate.

Canonica is a blend of the native Grechetto varietal with the French Chardonnay varietal. If your brain just jumped back to the Chardonnays of France or California, the grape in Umbria is different. The warmer Italian temperatures bring full ripeness and fruit flavors to the grape over what you see in France. Italian wine style, and this is no exception, tend to use neutral oak (and large vessels at that) versus the California Chardonnays in their new American oak barrels. The treatment here will not scream butter and toast. What Canonica brings is a very drinkable, medium body wine suitable to pair with food or enjoy by itself. This wine does a good job at showing you what a blend of native and non-native grapes can do. This wine should be served chilled, but not too cold. If you pour the glass and do not smell the aromas lofting out of the glass prior to your nose being in the glass - it is too cold! Hold the glass in your hands so you can get the beautiful bouquet. Ripe citrus and pears are what I get to start on this wine. Those aromas pull through into the flavors and stack up with strawberries and white citrus flowers. This wine has a nice mouth feel and plenty going on in the primary fruit flavors. The flavors will stick with you on the finish. Based on the objective WSET criteria, this wine is very good quality and should be drunk now.

This wine hits the spot for me to pair it with fresh spring fruit or a charcuterie board. The acid in the wine will hold up well to high fat cheeses and cream sauces too.

If you haven't had a chance to explore Italian bianco wines, this is a good spot to start. Blends and varietal versions of Italian white grapes are often medium bodied and bring riper fruit flavors forward. They can also be great values if your local store carries Italian wines. The Italian native grape varietals have not seen many plantings outside of Italy so if you want to try them, look for them from their native land. Canonica is available in Italy, Washington State, and via their website.

The Notes

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DiscoveredWine (@discovered.wine)