Akron Life December 2022

GOOD EATS

U N C O R K E D

by Eric Van Sant

Ferrari-Carano Winery Healdsburg, California

CHARDONNAY Blended from over 60 different lots throughout Sonoma County, this chardonnay ($18.99) is first settled in stainless steel tanks before being transferred into oak barrels. It’s then aged in French oak and bottled. There are notes of lemon and vanilla on the nose, peach and citrus on the palate and toasted oak and creamy butterscotch on the finish. Enjoy with poultry and creamy cheeses.

SIENA A proprietary blend of primarily sangiovese, with malbec, petit sirah and cabernet sauvignon, Siena ($22.99) is fermented and blended up to 27 months of cave aging in oak bar rels. The sangiovese adds deep strawberry and cur rant notes. There are also lovely notes of allspice and coffee with a full lin gering finish. For pairings, think rich Italian dishes or a fatty prosciutto plate with fresh mozzarella.

Sauvignon blanc has become Americans’ go-to wine during the pan demic, so it’s a must to try one from an iconic sauvignon blanc winery in California: Ferrari Carano Winery in Sonoma County. Don and Rhonda Carano, Nevada casino owners and sec ond-generation Italian Americans, founded it in !"#! after discover ing great Sonoma County wines while searching for wines to add to their casi no’s wine list. Eventually, they purchased a prop erty for a vineyard there. Today, the winery is owned by the Foley fam ily, who bought it in $%!" . The current winery, in Dry Creek Valley, was constructed starting in Carano name were sauvi gnon blanc and chardon nay, which were released in !"#' and are still cor nerstones of the winery. Learn more about those white varietals in addition to a red option. !"#& . The first wines bearing the Ferrari

FUME BLANC Another term for sauvignon blanc, this fume blanc ($13.99) comes from Sonoma proper ties in Dry Creek, Alexander, Russian River, and Knights val leys. It is 92 percent sauvignon blanc grapes with an added blend of chardonnay, pinot gris and others to round it out. Seventy percent of the wine is aged in stainless steel and 30 percent is aged in oak barrels for two months then blended and bottled. With bright tropical flowers on the nose, the wine is crisp and smooth on the palate, with balanced acidity on the finish, while not being overly herbaceous or grassy. It complements seafood, pasta in white sauces and Asian cuisine.

[ Eric Van Sant is a sales manager at Heidelberg Distributing Co. ] Comments? Email them to Kelly Petryszyn [kpetryszyn@bakermediagroup.com]. Find these wines at select Giant Eagle, Acme Fresh Market and Buehler’s Fresh Food locations.

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