It's not terribly shocking that the land that brings you the Ferrari, Giorgio Armani, and Fellini, also crafts some of the most succulent sparkling and hedonistic dessert wines you'll ever put in your mouth. This is not speculation, it is most certainly a fact that is worthy of celebration around my house especially during the holidays. Yes, the holiday season can be excessive; office parties, last minute shopping, and of course slurping down glass after glass of hopped-up egg nog. But for those slower-paced, more intimate moments with friends and family I would suggest picking up a holiday survival 3-pack consisting of a dry sparkling wine or spumanti, a sparkling dessert wine such as moscato d'asti, and a more tradtionally sweet dessert wine.
A well balanced, dry sparkling wine is appropriate for any occasion. I was excited but not surprised to find the overall quality of the sparkling wines I tasted to be quite high. Forget cava and "fizz" from California (let alone France), you would be hard pressed to find better sparkling wines for the money anywhere in the world. The Marcato Durello Brut stands out as an exceptional sparkling wine value. Whether it's basic, inexpensive prosecco for improving the taste of that cold plasticky shrimp at the office party or a fine franciacorta, like Ca del Bosco's Brut 2002, to marry with your truffled pasta, Italian fizz works.
A good way to help wash that last turkey leg down your gullet is with a glass of ice cold moscato d'asti or brachetto d'acqui. They're light, sparkling, refreshing, and just sweet enough to make you feel like you've had dessert (at least until after you wake up from your afternoon snooze to hit the pumpkin pie). Moscato d'asti actually goes well with pumpkin pie too (or sweet potato pie depending on where you're from) and try brachetto with a piece of chocolate cake. Vietti's Moscato and Banfi's Rosa Regale stand out as they offer more striking acid than the others which helps up the wine's refreshing factor.
Last but certainly not least we have dessert wines; rare, wildly exotic, and best reserved to drink with those close to you (or to whom you hope to get close!) They invite fun, laughter, conversation, & late nights. They are fine served alone as a vino di meditazione or as accompaniments to dessert or a fine aged cheese like soft gorgonzola (or even better, from the navel where the aromas and flavors tend to be amplified). Marco de Bartoli's Bukkuram and Cecilia's Aleatico are stunning, sticky elixirs.
