Grechetto
What is it?
Grechetto is a white grape essentially only grown in Italy [1]. Grechetto is commonly used in white blends, and it is also a good wine to blend in Vin Santo wines since it has a thick skin that makes it strongly resistant to mildew that can attack the grape later in the harvest season [3]. This is a DOC (Denominazione di origine controllata) wine.
Primary flavors of this wine are said to be white peach, honeydew, strawberry, wildflowers, and seashell. We had this wine with two types of cauliflower-crust pizza from Yia Yia's in Lincoln: Francais (walnuts, bleu cheese, goat cheese, olive oil) and Greek (olives, spinach, red onion, banana peppers, feta, Parmesan, oil & herbs, bruschetta topping). We both thought the wine went a little bit better with the Francais pizza.
We found this wine at Costco in Lincoln. We had gotten some recommendations that somewhat interesting wines (e.g., wines from Portugal) could be found at Costco and Trader Joe's, so we took a journey to find out. On our way to Trader Joe's after the Costco stop, we decided to walk through Scheels (which is in the same lot as Trader Joe's) since Ryan had never been in a Scheels before. The Abraham Lincoln statue in front of the Scheels inspired us to take a wine picture right then and there to celebrate our great Nebraskan city.
Molly's Rating and Tasting Notes
5.2. On a first sip, it was shockingly acidic. I wouldn't call this sweet, though the book rates it as on the sweeter side of white wines. The flavor is somewhat similar to lime rind or lime pith, if that's a thing (like a very bitter lime). The finish is very briny-- I can actually see where the seashell flavor might be coming from. I don't know how often I'd drink this wine, but I would try another to see how a less-dry version differs.
Ryan's Rating and Tasting Notes
5.6. On the nose it's pretty delicate with vague hints of indescript citrus and brine. Although the nose was soft, the first sip was like a punch to the face. Very acidic and surprisngly dry. Not much information was gathered from that initial sip, so I buckled up and went back in. The second sip was much milder, but not much better. There's some lime and floral flavors mixed with petroleum. It finishes with a pretty profound olive taste that isn't necessarily unpleasant but is definitely unwelcome. Overall, a pretty weird wine. Not sure if I'll return to this.
References
[1] Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack. Wine Folly: The Master Guide. Avery - A Penguin Imprint, New York, NY, 2018.
[2] "Grechetto." Wine Folly. https://winefolly.com/grapes/grechetto/. Accessed: May 2023.
[3] J. Robinson (2006).