Featured in Shelley Lindgren's "Italian Wine"
"Brilliant." "Indespensable." "A must-read."
Reviewers are raving about Italian Wine, the new book from Shelley Lindgren and co-author, Kate Leahy.
I couldn't agree more. Shelley has a remarkable talent for spotting Italian wine stars on the rise, and showcasing them at her James Beard, Michelin-decorated restaurants in the Bay Area. Her influence is vast--she's a featured speaker at high profile tasting events across the country; she just received wine consultant appointments at the Ritz Carlton in Portland and a 5-star restaurant in Anguilla; and in 2019 she was knighted by the Consulate General of Italy. Suffice it to say, Shelley is indeed a tastemaker and foodies are sure to consult her pages to see what she recommends.
For those eager to try the wines profiled in Italian Wine, I'd like to draw your attention to Foresti Rossese Dolceacqua, a wine that Shelley and Kate feature prominently in their chapter on Liguria.
Dolceacqua is so "under the radar" that Shelley and Kate weren't planning to stop. But when they met our producer Marco Foresti, stop they did.
Dolceacqua is a small village that lies on the Mediterranean coast near the border of France. It's tiny—just 20 square km, with a population of 2,078.
The setting is famously picturesque. French Impressionist painter Claude Monet was smitten with Dolceacqua, and idled for weeks to paint vistas like the "Ponte Vecchio."
Romantic as it is, Dolceacqua is not an easy place to make wine. The vineyards are scattered on small, rocky terraces, requiring extra work to farm to produce small yields. Foresti is one of few in Dolceacqua who make wine.
Shelley and Kate literally stopped in their tracks when they tasted Foresti's Rossese. The wine is absolutely charming—it's juicy and quaffable with bright red fruit notes, and a structure akin to Beaujolais.
The wine opens with dark cherries, sweet basil, and a pop of raspberry; the tannins are round and juicy; a little white pepper and sea salt linger on the finish.
For the price of a McDonald’s combo meal, 2020 Foresti Rossese Dolceacqua, Riviera Ponente di Liguria is adventure in the glass.
It's an intriguing, delicious wine you'll find yourself lingering over, just as Shelley and Kate did.