Italian wines for the pure-hearted and true

For the March yogi wine tasting (yeah, yeah, I'm late blogging it, but that's what happens when you drink!), we took a tour of Italy, from the Alpine north to the Mediterranean south. We start with two cool blondes from up by Venice, then jump down to sunny Sicily and Calabria (the toe of the boot) for a couple of hot-blooded reds.

Riondo Prosecco - Veneto (~$14)
Prosecco is the Italian answer to champagne or cava, a brilliant bubbly to light up any occasion. The Riondo, from the region of Venice, is an ideal aperitif with fruit and light cheese or a complement to fruity, creamy desserts. Light-bodied and "frizzante" (discreetly fizzy, as opposed to "spumante" - foaming), it entices the nose with a honeysuckle bouquet, followed by apple-pear notes, hints of vanilla and lemon zest, and a clean, dry finish both toasty and minerally. Oh, to have a gondola full!

Anselmi San Vincenzo - Veneto (~$14)
Dry and fresh like a fine Chablis, this bottle blends local varietals garganega and trebbiano with a little chardonnay. Its medium body makes it a great food wine, equally brilliant with seafood or a salad of field greens, shaved asiago, and hazelnuts. It caresses the nose like a light breeze through lemon groves, then opens out to bright citrus - grapefruit, a little pear even - finishing with a clean acidity and a touch of minerality. Ahhhh.

Talia Rosso - Sicily (~$7)
Talia means "I wish" in the local dialect, and this blend of nero d'avola, syrah, and merlot winks like a silver coin catching the sun in the bed of a fountain. Vivid summer fruits on the nose - strawberry, cherry, red raspberry - give way to limpid shadows of plum and currant, silhouetted by a giggle of tartness and buoyant tannins. If you can pull yourself away from it long enough to eat something, pair it with any kind of aged cheese, a cold spicy lentil salad, or the mock duck muffuletta from Pizza Luce.

Savuto Odoardi - Calabria (~$16)
A true classic, wine from the Savuto valley in Calabria was a favorite of Roman historian Pliny, the guy who first said "in vino veritas"... over 2000 years ago. He had good taste. A magnificent blend of five local grape varietals which have been grown in the valley since well before Pliny's day, this bottle draws you in with the seductive promise of chocolate-covered cherries, the pinnacle of civilization. But teasing notes of cassis, licorice, and tobacco roil hazily over gravelly limestone, plucking at primal connections to the collective unconscious. Think you can handle it? Tame it by pairing it with a big slab of meat grilled over open flame. Then go pound your chest and howl at the moon.