Vernaccia (ver-NAHT-cha)

Lively, light, slightly bitter tasting Italian wine grape grown around the touristic Tuscan hilltop town of San Gimignano. Vernaccia di San Gimignano was the first Italian wine to be awarded, in 1966, Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) status. The grape has a long history in Italy and was praised in the 14th century poem, The Divine Comedy—The Vision of Paradise, Purgatory, and Hell by Dante Alighieri. Italy’s other famous vernaccia—vernaccia di Oristano grown on the island of Sardinia—is a completely different variety and used to make Sherry-like wines.

What is Pastis?

A. The French word for “shatter”—that is, the failure of grapes to develop because the flowers that would have become the grapes remained unfertilized

B. A rough-and-ready workingman’s wine, notably drunk in bars in Burgundy

C. A licorice-flavored French liqueur with a cloudy greenish-yellow color

D. The general Italian term for wines made from grapes that have been intentionally dried by laying out the clusters on straw mats or hanging them up in special drying rooms

God forbid you find yourself in a café in southern France this summer and not in the mood to drink rosé. But just in case, there is another famous, well-loved libation that’s famous in that area—Pastis, a mild licorice-flavored liqueur served as an aperitif with a carafe of ice water. (Pastis gets its licoricey flavor from star anise.) When the water is added to the pastis, the drink immediately turns ominously cloudy. (A related more strongly flavored liqueur—Absinthe—gets its licoricey flavor from a substance once, but no longer, banned–wormwood). As for (A), the failure of grapes to be fertilized, that is known as coulure in French. A rustic wine served in Burgundy’s bars (B) is called passetoutgrains and is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay. And answer D is the definition of the Italian term passito.

Brilliant

When applied to a wine’s color, it means the wine is absolutely clear.

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