Italian Wine Tasting: Nero d'Avola and Soave

On my first day at my new job, I got to taste and serve five Italian wines.

Coolidge Corner Wine & Spirits (located next to Finale on Beacon Street, across the T tracks from Trader Joe's) holds free tastings every Thursday and Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. On Saturdays, they pair drinks with food from local restaurants for a free tasting from 4 to 7 p.m.


For my first tasting, we served two whites: Kyos Grill from Sicily and Villa Rasina Soave Classico from the Veneto Region. We also served three reds: Kyos Nero d'Avola from Sicily, Illuminati Riparosso Montepulciano from the Abruzzo region, and Vignamaggio Chianti Classico from Tuscany.

• I really liked the Kyos Nero d'Avola (pronounced Neh-roe Dah-voe-lah), and I'd like to try more wines of the same varietal. The grape is dark ('nero' means 'black' in Italian) and thrives in Sicily's Mediterranean climate to produce a rich, velvety red wine with dark fruit flavors.
• I also liked the Villa Rasina Soave Classico. 'Soave' (pronounced Swah-vay) is the name of a town near Verona in the Veneto region of Italy. It can also refer to the zone surrounding the town and to the wine produced there. 'Classico' is a label given to Soave wines grown within the original Soave zone. These dry white wines are typically made from Garganega grapes.