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Contadino Pinot Grigio Vivace

Wine: Contadino Pinot Grigio Vivace.

Grape: Pinot Grigio (100 percent)

Region: Delle Venezie, Northeast Italy

Vintage: 2011

Price: $5.99 per bottle.

In the Glass: This Contadino Pinot Grigio is a very faint citrine color with a bright clean and clear core going out into a water-like transparent meniscus and fairly high viscosity.

On the Nose: It is full of zesty citrus fruit on the nose with Pomelo, grapefruit, lemon rind and then yellow plums, crushed almonds and a great deal of mineral chalkiness delivered to the olfactory receptors via the fizz.

On the Palate: It is immediately nicely spritzy without being overly bubbly, certainly not on the same level as Champagne. Within that fizziness there's a lovely core of citrus rind that can almost appear like bitter almonds, but is part of the wine playing a trick on the tongue. It has great minerality and sweet Mirabelle plum fruit going through the mid-palate, but don't be fooled as the wine is bone dry and a perfect representation of good dry Italian Pinot Grigio. The finish is excellent and lingering with more lime juice effect.

Odds and Ends: This would be the first time I have come across this type of Pinot Grigio, which was made sparkling by the addition of CO2. Contadino is a fairly large producer of primarily these kinds of delicious and crisp white wines from the area of Northeastern Italy known as Delle Venezie, meaning it is the immediate area just outside and north of Venice. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and the vineyards are tremendous, situated among hilly and forested areas and with great old castles positioned strategically atop most of the hills. In addition to that good provenance for this wine, the price is simply great value for what it is, coming in at under $6 per bottle. I doubt you could even find this any cheaper in Venice. The interesting part of this wine is that fizziness, which simply adds another dimension to it and makes it eminently drinkable during this scorching hot time of the year, either just by the glass while watching the Olympics on TV or with a plate full of shrimps and crab claws. Remember it needs to be chilled to about 45 degrees before serving, but then you're in for a treat.

Gil Lempert Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749 or email him at gil@winevegas.com.

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