1. Are the new California wines made from the Italian grape, the sangiovese, going to surpass or even match the longstanding wines of Chianti? 2. Few if any winemakers considered barbera or any of the other Italian grapes worthy of stand-alone bottlings. 3. He found a small vineyard just south of St. Helena planted entirely with grignolino, an obscure Italian grape. 4. Many contain cabernet sauvignon along with traditional Italian grapes. 5. Others say the Italian grape came from California, presumably with disillusioned immigrants returning to their ancestral vineyards. 6. Possibly the most popular Italian white grape in the United States is Pinot Grigio, a green grape with a gray cast on the skins. 7. Some say it is related to a southern Italian grape called primativo. 8. Still, the performance of Rhone whites in California puts Italian white grapes, even Trebbiano, to shame. 9. The Don is a wine maker whose name derives from sangiovese, an Italian grape. 10. When California winemakers want to turn to exotica, they experiment with Italian grapes, like sangiovese or barbera. |