Inzolia, Len de L'el and Loureiro

More white wines with grapes that are challenging to pronounce but fun to sip. Inzolia is a white grape native to Sicily and blended with Chardonnay makes a wonderful, delicious white wine! I explored this grape in another wine from Jimmy's market, Cusumano Angimbe 2007. This full bodied wine with its beautiful honey color and aromas of peaches and nectarines has now been added to my "favorite summer sipping wines" list.
Another fun summer wine was the Loin de L'Oeil 2008 Gaillac that featured the Len de L'el grape. This wine was recommended to me by Francois at La Cave here in Dallas. This light, slightly effervescent, white wine with a hit of lemon was a hit when I served it with a lemon basil pasta. Unbelievable!! Thank you Francois for introducing me to another lesser known grape but fabulous wine!
Loureiro (loh-RAY-roo) is a popular white grape variety in northern Portugal. The estate Quinta da Aveleda in Portugal produces a very nice Vinho Verde wine with the Loureiro grape. This light bodied wine had touches of citrus especially lime, very nice texture with just a hint of fizz. Another great outdoor wine.

Kerner

Kerner ( KEHR-nuhr) is a white grape that is often grown in Germany and Northern Italy and was developed in the 1960's as a cross between the red grape, Trollinger and the white grape, Riesling. I explored this grape in a bottle of Kerner Stiftskellerei Neustift 2005 from the Abbazia Di Novacella winery of the Alto Adige region of Italy. What's really fun about this winery is that it was founded in 1142 by the Augustinian order of monks, who are still running it today. This pale, gold wine with an aroma of mangos and great structure moved up to #1 on my list of favorites. Served with a shrimp couscous salad, it was another home run!