VIVI Falanghina 2009

I am finding it hard to accept that I am becoming a fan of white wines over what I always thought would be my only choice, that is, red wines. Over the past three years I have found that what I had been avoiding for 30+ years may have been what I most desired all that time.  For holidays like Thanksgiving and Xmas I have been choosing white wines over reds and for the first time opened only whites wines for Super Bowl Sunday. One of these was a wine that I have never tasted before, a wine from southern Italy.

In the past two years I have come to enjoy Voignier, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Frascati, Tocai Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc and Albarino along with several white blends. For the big game, I opened a new(at least to me) white wine, a Falanghina (Fah-lahn-GEE-nah) from VIVI wine.
Falanghina grape varieties are amongst the oldest cultivated in Italy for winemaking. In fact, it is believed that Falanghina vines were first brought to Italy by Greek settlers of the Campi Flegrei region north of Naples as early as the 7th century B.C. The etymology of the name suggests that this is the case. VIVI's Falanghina grapes are sourced from lush, mineral rich, sun kissed vineyards along the beautiful Amalfi Coast, in the shadow of Mount Vesvius.
The aroma was all apple.  Lots of green apple and apple blossom with just a hint of pineapple. In the mouth was more of the same with some citrus. The long, long finish was filled with green apple and citrus.
Shirley made a fantastic chili for the game. For the first time, she used dry beans (cause of my low salt diet), with ground turkey and finely diced jalapeño and Peperoncini. The Falaghina was the perfect match.
This was a first, so naturally a search must now begin to find more.   In my old age I am now having too much fun searching new wine varietals.  Even more surprising, there whites. Would have never thunk it.
*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks representing the brand.