Other wines to try at that Italian restaurant

“A bottle of red, a bottle of white; It all depends on your appetite; I’ll meet you anytime you want; In our Italian restaurant.” — Billy Joel, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”

Beginning as a melancholy tune, this song quickly accelerates into an exchange between friends or classmates on the short relationship of Brenda and Eddie. It then decelerates to a quiet end, with one of the two remarking, “I’ll meet you anytime you want / In our Italian restaurant.” It is a long song reflecting a comfortable conversation between those friends.

Italian culture is not only rich in history, food and wine; it is a culture of familiarity. We all look fondly back to our individual introductions to Italian culture with robust, red-sauced pasta. Italian food has become an American comfort food, enjoyed with friends and families over long conversations, perhaps about Brenda and Eddie. Therefore, isn’t it odd that when we think of Italian cuisine, only a few wines immediately come to mind: Chianti, pinot grigio, prosecco? There is a lot more to savor! In this column we will explore wines of two regions: Abruzzo and Molise. Lying east of Rome, beyond the Apennines, and along the coast of the Adriatic Sea, these two regions offer up wines of a special nature.

Our first wine, Umani Ronchi Vellodoro Terre di Chieti Pecorino IGT (available at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets at $11.99), is a white wine from Abruzzo. This wine is made from 100 percent pecorino grapes, also known as “grape of the sheep,” deriving from its strong connection to sheep farming of the area. In the past, because of its high aroma concentration, good alcoholic content and acidic quality, it was used in blending to improve the quality of wines made from other varieties. This wine is a product of a project originating in 2005 and represents the winery’s work to discover and exploit Adriatic native varieties. The grapes are hand-picked and, after a light pressing, cooled in stainless steel tanks for two weeks. The wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation but rests in the stainless steel tanks for about four months in contact with its own yeasts before bottling.

The wine has a bright straw color with a floral nose of fresh lime blossoms, along with a bit of minerality. The nose persists to the tongue with an intense and pleasant freshness. This is a wine to be enjoyed with fish dishes, fresh cheeses, pasta, and legume soups of lentils, peas, bacon and onion. Served chilled it is a great counterpoint to the broad spectrum of these dishes, both delicate and robust.

Our second wine, Di Majo Norante Sangiovese San Giorgio (originally pricedat $14.99, reduced to $12.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is, as its name implies, a 100 percent sangiovese from Molise. Until 1963 this region was joined to Abruzzo under the name of Abruzzi e Molise. Like Abruzzo, most of the country is mountainous, with its province of Campobasso running along its southern tier traversing from mountains to hills and on to the Adriatic Sea. The winery, Di Majo Norante, located in the coastal commune of Campomarino, has been making wine from grapes since 1800. The vineyard, of over 200 acres, produces wine from several varietals, including aglianico montepulciano, sangiovese, tintilia, falanghina, greco and moscato.

This sangiovese is harvested in October, aged in stainless steel and large oak barrels for six months, then spends three months in bottles to achieve a smoothness and softness while preserving the fruit-forward characteristic of sangiovese. The wine has a bright red color and a nose of cherry, Mediterranean herbs and leather. To the palate it is dry and mellow with smooth tannins. This is a wine to pair with antipasti, Bolognese sauces, game and ripe cheeses.

These wines are to be enjoyed with family and friends, over long conversations of reminiscences of shared experiences.

In my experience, it is unwise to make broad generalizations about any group of women, but that said, it’s probably a good bet that this year, perhaps more than any other year, the moms of America could use a drink.

Let’s look at two hypothetical mothers, Jasmine and Kimberly:

Jasmine is a divorced mom of two young children, ages 5 and 3. She works full-time but has been “lucky” enough to be able to work from home for the past year or so. She gets up at 5 each morning to try to get some work done before Bruno, the 5-year-old, wakes up and wants breakfast prepared to very exact specifications. Failure to meet these specifications will result in angry denunciations, which will wake Pearl, the 3-year-old.

Jasmine needs a drink.

She needs something refreshing that will give her a brief moment of calm and grace.

A brief moment of calm

Ingredients:

1½ ounces very cold vodka

1 ounce rhubarb syrup (see below)

1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

5 drops rose water

4 ounces aggressively bubbly seltzer, like Topo Chico Mineral Water

Shake all ingredients except the seltzer over ice until very cold.

Strain into a delicate 8-ounce glass.

Top with seltzer.

Admire, maybe take a picture, stir, then drink.

This is a light, not-too-boozy cocktail that tastes pretty much how it looks — pink. The rhubarb syrup gives the drink a decisively pink color that blends with the seltzer to give it an ombre coloring. The rhubarb is delicately sour. The lime juice is citrusy but not too sweet. The rose water remains in the background, hinting at exotic secrets.

Rhubarb syrup

Ingredients:

Equal amounts (by weight) of frozen, chopped rhubarb and sugar

Pinch of salt

(Note on the rhubarb: When you make syrup from any fruit — or rhubarb, in this case — frozen fruit works better than fresh. The freezing process creates ice crystals, which pierce the cell walls, making the fruit more apt to weep. That would be a drawback in an application where you wanted pristine, lovely fruit, but it is an asset in situations like this one.)

Combine rhubarb, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, until the rhubarb starts to give up its juice.

Mash the mixture with a potato masher.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Let it boil for 10 to 15 seconds, to ensure that the sugar has dissolved completely.

Remove from heat, cool, strain, bottle and label. Store in your refrigerator indefinitely.

Now, let’s consider Kimberly:

Kimberly is married and the mother of a sulky teenager. All things considered, she and her husband Albert get along pretty well, but after a year of being locked in a house with him seven days a week, she is getting ready to smother him in his sleep. Elizabeth, 14, insists on being called Wynter Storm. She has recently graduated from telling Kimberly how stupid she is in general to making very specific observations of her shortcomings. She is also, apparently, a recent convert to veganism, although she still eats bacon and ice cream.

Kimberly needs a drink.

A classic boilermaker

Ingredients:

1 bottle of beer

1½ to 2 ounces bourbon

Fill a glass — pretty much any glass — 3/4 of the way with beer. You might want to tilt the glass to minimize the head of foam on top, but maybe making a long, sudsy pour will feel a little like poking your finger in the eye of — well, somebody. You do you.

Fill a shot glass with bourbon.

Give the two glasses a steely-eyed stare.

Drop the shot glass full of bourbon into the beer

At this point I’d normally describe the subtle flavor notes of this cocktail to you, but if you’re drinking a boilermaker you probably know what you’re letting yourself in for. If you don’t, consider this a well-deserved adventure.

Featured photo: A brief moment of calm. Photo by John Fladd.