Oh, Is That Wine You're Talking About?: The Sopranos Edition

I’m very late to the Sopranos party. Twenty years after it first aired, I’ve finally finished the show. Between the laughs and excuse to binge on and pizza and pasta, the other thing I’ve enjoyed about this show is the Italian wine references. It’s a quick primer on the beautiful wines of Italy. If I’d watched the Sopranos when it first aired, I wouldn’t have picked up on these. Back then, I was only familiar with the more universal grapes like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Grigio, etc.

Here are the ones that I noticed (If I’d thought about it early enough, I would have noted the episodes where they were mentioned.

Barolo: If you love big bold red wines, Barolo is a treat. It’s made from the Nebbiolo grape and produced in Piedmont. It’s often regarded as one of Italy’s best wines so I wasn’t surprised that it was the first wine I heard mentioned in the series.

Chianti: In order to be classified as a Chianti, the wine has to be made in Tuscany and use 80% Sangiovese grapes. It’s typically an herby and spicy wine that’s reminiscent of…well…Italian food.

Pinot Grigio: At the wedding of John Sacrimoni’s daughter. Carmela is brought a glass of Pinot Grigio while everyone else drinks rum and cokes. Pinot Grigio-light, crisp and easy to drink- is the number one imported wine varietal in the United States.

Sangiovese: While the most common place to find Sangiovese grapes is in Tuscany, you can find the grape planted in other parts of Italy. In fact, it’s the most widely planted grape. For those wines that aren’t Chianti or Brunello, the wines are labeled as Sangiovese in the same way other wines are listed by grape - Malbec, Merlot, etc. It’s why in one episode while they’re eating at Vesuvio’s, they take turns talking about how good this Sangiovese is. The wine typically has notes of tart cherry, plum, tobacco and leather.

The wine Furio brought back: There weren’t too many compliments given to the wine that Furio brought back after his trip to Italy. Everyone seemed to make a joke about it. However, I think it’s important to mention for a few reasons. 1- It’s a reminder that there are so many native grapes to Italy that we’ve never heard of that are used just to make table wine. 2 - Wine is such a big part of Italian culture because it used to be consumed as calories/food during times when people couldn’t afford much else.

I have one episode of the series left and I wish I had a glass of Barolo to end it with. Instead, I’m settling for peppermint tea and condensed milk.