Grignolino

Grignolino is a light-bodied, pale Piedmontese red — one of Italy's most distinctive and stubbornly individual grapes. Grown mainly around Asti and Casale Monferrato in north-west Italy, it makes a wine so translucent it can look more like a dark rosé than a red, yet it hides real bite: high, mouth- watering acidity and a surprisingly grippy, almost astringent tannin drawn from its unusually abundant seeds. Aromatically it is all red fruit and a signature twist of white pepper, with dried rose and sour-cherry lift. Never a wine of power or deep colour, Grignolino trades on tension, freshness and savoury spice — the quirky, refreshing insider's red of Monferrato, best enjoyed young and lightly chilled with the region's antipasti and salumi.