Tonnino Grillo

Tonnino Grillo is a sparkling wine from Esplanda, labeled for Massachusetts. The name points to Grillo, the white grape best known from Sicily, where it is valued for keeping its acidity in warm conditions. The details on file don't give the grape percentage, production method, dosage or ABV, so what follows describes what sparkling wines built on Grillo usually do, not a measured profile of this bottle. Expect a dry, white-fleshed style: citrus peel, lemon and grapefruit, green apple or pear, and sometimes a salty, herbal edge of the kind Grillo is known for. Sparkling wines in this mold are generally light to medium in body and have no tannin to speak of. Acidity is the backbone, and the finish tends to be clean and short to moderate. Oak is unlikely to play a part. If the label says Brut, Extra Dry or anything else about sweetness, go by that, since the sugar level changes how the wine pairs. The bright acidity and bubbles suit salty, fried and briny food. Oysters, fried calamari, tempura vegetables, salt-and-vinegar chips and fish and chips all work. Soft cheeses such as fresh mozzarella, ricotta or goat cheese, and lemony pasta with shrimp or clams, are also good matches. Because the wine is probably dry and fairly neutral in weight, it suits starters and seafood better than rich red-meat dishes. Serve it well chilled, around 41 to 46°F (5 to 8°C), which about three hours in the refrigerator or thirty minutes in an ice bucket will reach. Don't decant it, because that would flatten the bubbles. A tulip-shaped flute or an all-purpose white wine glass works best. The wider bowl lets the citrus and orchard-fruit aromas open up, and a coupe tends to lose the fizz quickly. Treat it as a drink-soon bottle. Sparkling wines of this kind are made for freshness, not cellaring, and the fruit and bubbles fade with time. Keep it cool and out of direct light until you open it, and finish the bottle within a day or so of opening if you reseal it with a proper sparkling stopper.