I was sent three sample bottles from Italian winery Scaia. The first thing I want to say about them, to put on my old retailer hat, is how much I appreciate they are “line-priced.” As in the bottles all cost the same, each with a $13 suggested retail price. That’s good, because these are the kind of wines you want to stack up next to each other. Or just put on your bedroom floor in front of your bike and admire them.
I also really like the closure Scaia uses. It’s not a cork nor screw cap. It’s a glass closure. Here’s what it looks like. (Note: greens/herbs sold separately. Though a dish with those things featured would be nice with the white or rosé.)
Anyway, let’s get to the wines.
Scaia Garganega/Chardonnay Trevenezie IGT 2017
Garga…what? Garganega is the main feature of Soave (one of my favorite Italian white wines) from the Veneto in northern Italy. Chardonnay, well you know what that is. It’s 45% of this blend. This unoaked wine would be a good bet for the Chard-phobic and the Garganega makes it interesting for those who think most unoaked Chardonnay is shrill and boring. (That would be me, BTW.) What can I say, I love my oak barrels. But this is a perfect summer white wine. Speaking of perfect summer wines….
Scaia Rosato Veneto IGT 2017
I’m a sucker for weird grapes. I mean, unusual ones. Bring on the esoteric and unfamiliar. The Scaia rosato is made from Rondinella. Putting on my Troy McClure voice, you may know Rondinella from such red wines as Valpolicella and Amarone.
Of course, someone put together all of these moments in chronological order. God bless the internet.
This is a pale rosé with some intrigue. You can quaff it and think about it at the same time, which you can’t say for most rosés out there that slake thirst yet provoke no invigorating brain waves. On the winery website, one of the suggested parings is toasted polenta with herrings. Nice to see someone giving some love to fish like herring. Did you know they are related to sardines? I did not know that. I also learned Neolithic-era Scandinavian burial grounds contain herring bones. So if a rosé can take you there, it’s definitely got something going on.
Scaia Corvina Veneto IGT 2016
Speaking of grapes that make up Valpolicella and Amarone, how about Corvina? It’s a bigger player in those two reds than Rondinella. Despite seeing no oak, its got some guts. I’d call it medium-bodied. Reading the tech sheet for the wine even made me look up “organoleptic” because Scaia explains each wine organoleptically. The word is defined as “being, affecting, or relating to qualities (such as taste, color, odor, and feel) of a substance that stimulate the sense organs.” Once again, Scaia is stimulating.
So you’ve got three wines, all under $15 bucks, with cool glass closures and made with interesting grapes. What’s not to love?
