Ep. 1654 Cannonau by Cynthia Chaplin | Italian Grape Geek

The Italian wine podcast is the community driven platform for Italian winegeeks around the world. Support the show by donating at italian wine podcast dot com. Donate five or more Euros, and we'll send you a copy of our latest book, my Italian Great Geek journal. Absolutely free. To get your free copy of my Italian GreatGeek journal, click support us at italian wine podcast dot com, or wherever you get your pods. Welcome to the Italian Great Geek podcast. Join us as we explore personal stories of travel and tasting with Italy's must know grape for idols. Chart your own course with my Italian Great Geek journal, your personal tasting companion to accompany the series. Available now on Amazon with thanks to Clangelo and partners for their generous support with this project. My name is Cynthia Chaplin, and I work with Vine Italy International Academy here in Verona. Italian Wine Unplug two point o is very near and dear to my heart as it was an eighteen month long labor of love here in our office. I'm a sommelier with a fondazione Italian sommelier, a professor of Italian wine and culture, a WSE educator at the Italian wine academy, and the host of voices on Italian wine podcast. Italian wine is truly my passion. This is the first of five grapes that I'll be talking about. Today, the grape is Canal, the red wine star of Sardania. It also grows in umbria and Veneto, but the truest expression of Canal is found on Sardinia. The key information about the grape, including characteristics and origin and significance, have to do with the fact that not everyone knows that Canal is the same grape as garnacha in Spain and Granache in France, There's a lot of debate about whether this grape originated in Spain and was brought to Sardinia and Corsica by Queen Isabella in the late fifteenth century, or perhaps the grape originated in Italy and moved to Spain and France through trade much much earlier than the days of Queen Isabella. Either way, Canalau has found its spiritual home on the island of Sardinia where it flourishes on the basalt soils of the Doorgali region, the Granite soils of Naguaro and Liena, and the metamorphic soils of Olyastra. It loves hot weather and sunny days. It's a late ripener, and it needs the cool sandy soils on top of rocky bases and lots of exposed area with wind. Perfect grape for a sardinian wine growing experience smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean. So I've been asked to share my personal connections to this grape, and I can say I love Canada for its sort of misty and obscured past. But also for the fact that it's become such a symbol of red wine in Sardinia. Despite the current debate about pros and cons of wine drinking around the world, Canal has definitely contributed to the local diet for hundreds of years on the island it's thought to be a true elixir of long life, and it contains three times the amount of antioxidants compared to other red wines. So whether you agree or disagree with the benefits of wine drinking, scientifically, we know that Canalau is a big antioxidant. I've been asked if I've tried wines made with this grape, where and when and what did I think? I've tried so many Canonaus during the fifteen years. I've lived in Italy very early on in my Italian sommelier training, I tasted Canal in Rome, and it surprised me with the strength of its impact on the nose and the palate. It's a very full bodied wine with an alcohol level that begins around twelve point five percent and goes all the way up to anywhere around fifteen percent. It has a wonderful way of showing its Mediterranean character, lovely notes of seaside, scrub brush, and woodsy herbs like Rosemary and thyme, It has a salty briny characteristic and a lovely top note of sweet baking spices and even licorice in some cases. Lots of warm red and black fruits like black currants and black cranberries and nice rich red plums melded together with these seductive notes of graphite and a solid acidic spine. The wines that are made from Canalau are lovely and balanced with very fine velvety tannins, especially when they've been aged in wood. I was also asked what most interested me when I was learning about the grape, and I have to say canna now make some very interesting Rosay wines that express the same characteristics as the red, but they're vinified in steel, and they hold their fresh fruity notes that rich red, white plum, and those lovely blackcurrant and blackberry notes, they create a unique refreshing drinkable rose that has the herbal characteristics we expect from a Mediterranean island, and give me sort of an extra and valuable tool in my teaching kit when I'm talking about wines that are made from Canal and wines that are available on Sardinia. We always have the problem of grapes from Italy not being that available in external market. I'm very lucky to live in Italy, and I'm fortunate to have access to a lot of great Canada wines, both young and aged, as well as the Rosay styles. Even though they can be a bit harder to find outside of Italy, it's worth hunting down wines made from this grape to get a good idea of how the heat and the soil and the sea affect the outcome of wines made from native grapes growing on Sardinia. Some benchmark producers that are worth trying include Argiolis, Giuseppe Cielesu, giovanni Cercchi, and Antiqui pottery Yerso. All of these can be found outside of Italy, especially on e commerce sites focused on Italian wines. So last thing to tell you all today about Canada has to do with food pairing. Things that will complement wines made from Canal. It's great for pairing with meaty dishes, especially game like pheasant and rabbit, as well as aged cheeses like Peccarino sheep cheese found in the mountains on Sardinia and other places, the robust fruity sort of saline and herbal notes can also provide a great foil for richer vegetarian dishes like eggplant parmesan, or even food from other cultures such as Moroccan lamb tagine. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, EmailIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time, Chichi. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud Apple Podcasts modify email IFM and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time.