Just read Erik Asimov's post highlighting some great Italian white wines and immediately thought of this Vermentino I drank recently. Can't remember what I ate with it, but it was probably just a little cheese and some chunks of smoked trout... that seems to be all I can manage to get together for dinner these days. Who needs dinner anyway when you've got a wine as nourishing and memorable as this? I found it intriguing, all these elements present at once, a little bitterness like toasted nuts, honey, fresh herbs. I started keeping this little wine journal (left) and pasting in the labels with the idea that I would blog about each of them. Well, if I can't manage to get together a real dinner, you can imagine why this is the first of these posts to make it on this blog. In any case, Erik, you don't need to convince me that there are delicious white wines coming out of Italy these days. This Vermentino was one I purchased at K&L Wines here in Hollywood, where I've found several equally quaffable Italian white wines with the assistance of their Italian buyer, Greg St. Clair.
A commenter on The Pour also mentioned Insolia (which I've also seen as Inzolia), a beautiful golden/green wine from Sicily that I've only begun to explore. I had one that was pretty blah, but others have been on par with the Vermentino mentioned above - and shared some of the almondy, citrusy qualities as well. I've tried the Cusumano Inzolia recommended by Michael (midtownstomp.blogspot.com) and wholeheartedly agree with his recommendation.
