Wines I'm Drinking: 2010 Montebaldo Garganega/Pinot Grigio

Tonight I tasted the 2010 Montebaldo Garganega/Pinot Grigio, an inexpensive wine I picked up at my local Grocery Outlet. It turned out to be light but tasty--just the sort of thing to go with pasta and pesto sauce. This wine, from the area around Venice,  is 70% Garganega, 30% Pinot Grigio, the latter emphasized on the label, probably on the assumption that fewer people are familiar with Garganega than Pinot Grigio, but Garganega is the grape that makes really good Soave good, and this wine had many of the characteristics of a well made Soave. Brief tasting notes follow.

Medium straw color. Simple grapey scents, but also with a suggestion of something nutty. Perhaps scents of candied citrus rind as well. Overall, a bit distant. Light on the palate as well, but not at all without interest. Nice balance between a ripe but delicate fruitiness and a lingering crisp acidity. Moderate to good length with the finish marked by nutty flavors and a very slight bitterness. In no way profound, but tasty wine nevertheless. Very attractively priced at $4.99 a bottle at Santa Rosa Grocery Outlet. Recommended for everyday drinking. I went back to buy a case of this. Perfect with pesto (as noted above). I bet it'd be good with other pasta dishes not using a tomato sauce (white clam sauce, perhaps?), with herbed fish, or with a simply flavored pork dish.

(I have no financial connection with any producer or retailer of wine.)