In this clue review we tackle some of the difficulties of blind tasting Italian whites. There are so many Italian white grapes that share a lot of similarities, you could spend a lifetime tasting and trying to tease out the difference between them.
Thankfully it’s a little easier with the reds to identify the distinctions but one common thread among both Italian reds and whites, which is well worth practicing picking up on, is the phenolic grip of the wines.
In whites, it is obviously more subtle but think about the texture and skin of the fruits you are putting down in your notes. Pay a little extra attention the next time you’re enjoying things like apples, pears or peaches with peeling off a bit of the skin and thinking about how that phenolic grip comes across to you.
Do this side by side with Italian white wines and you’ll start to pick up more of that gentle bitterness that often accompanies these wines.
This can help get you to at least Italy in your conclusion—which is a huge part of the battle. (Though beware that these won’t be the ONLY whites that can have bitterness—Assyrtiko, Gruner and even Albariño can have some. But it’s a good starting point in your conclusion funnel.)
I also go over some of the differences between Cortese and Arneis with acidity being the big one.