You’re invited to explore Italian grapes outside of Italy (#ItalianFWT)

In the heart of Pennsylvania mushroom-growing country, there’s a tiny vineyard where French and northern Italian grapes yield wines that are simply “wow.”

Va La Vineyards is a 6.7-acre plot of land along the main road between Amish Lancaster County and Wilmington, Delaware. In this unlikely spot, owner Anthony Vietri crafts wines of uncommon quality.

Vietri’s Nebbiolo-based “Cedar” is the most memorable of the field blends that I tasted years ago. Like their fog-shrouded cousins growing in Piedmont (Italy), Vietri’s grapes are blanketed in fog nightly. The source? A neighboring compost farm. After the hand-harvested grapes are vinified, the wine spends 27 months aging in barrels and another seven months in bottle before being released.

The result is an old-world style of red wine – savory, earthy, velvety, tangy, and delicious. Pennsylvania Nebbiolo left a lasting impression on me. You might say it was my first crush. Unfortunately, Va La wines are only sold at the farm. Wish I had been able to return there before moving across the country.

Since visiting Va La, I’ve learned that wherever Italian farmers settle down, they tend to plant grapes from their homeland. Of course, plenty of non-Italians cultivate Italian varieties, too. Lately, I’ve been finding wines made from Italian grapes in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and in Walla Walla, Washington – Pacific Northwest wine regions now relatively close to home.

If, like me, you delight in discovering Italian grapes down your rabbit holes, the next Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) is for you. We’re exploring Italian grapes anywhere outside of Italy – not only in North America – and you’re invited to join us. Here’s what to do:  

Blog post: Send your title, blog url, and Twitter handle by Tuesday, March 3, to be included in the preview post. Email Linda at lbwhipple@gmail.com, or drop your title and info in the designated post thread via the Facebook event in the #ItalianFWT Group. We’ll be posting updates to this event, including chat questions and links to other blogs.

Need to join the group? Everyone is welcome! Let me know you’re interested, and I’ll connect you with the site administrator.

We ask that blog posts for this event be published either on Friday, March 5, or on Saturday, March 6, prior to the chat (see below). Please use the #ItalianFWT tag in your title.

Twitter chat: Our live Twitter chat about Italian grapes outside of Italy is set for Saturday, March 6, at 8 am PT/11 am ET. No need to have published a post to join the conversation — just an interest in learning and sharing. Simply tune into the #ItalianFWT hashtag during the hour we’re chatting. Should be fun to see what the bloggers dig up!

(Top photo: A cluster of Nebbiolo grapes by Hanna – Flickr: Italy, CC by 2.0)