Sardinian Vermentino is perfect for shrimp boil and clambake season | Phil Your Glass

The food and wine scene on the Italian island of Sardinia is bursting with enthusiasm. Located 190 miles west of Sicily, the island is no longer one of the best-kept secrets. It’s been named one of the five “Blue Zones,” which are home to some of the longest-living men and women in the world.

There’s much truth in what French author Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote: “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”

At the moment, the closest I will get to this gorgeous Blue Zone is to drink some of the amazing wine that’s made on the island.

I sampled Alinos Vermentino di Sardegna for the first time and immediately ordered a case. Not because I thought I would live to be 100, but because it was too good to refuse.

Vermentino is an Italian white grape that grows mainly in the coastal regions of Liguria, Tuscany and Sardinia. Each region’s wine has its own unique characteristics. I sampled four others from the mainland and ultimately fell in love with this one.

I brought a bottle of this island beauty to my first ever shrimp boil at a friend’s house in Tallmadge. This $16.99 wine loves seafood as much as I do. It was fantastic with the peel-and-eat shrimp as well as the spicy sausage, potatoes and sweet corn. Can’t wait for the next one. ’Tis the season for clambakes, and this bottle will bring out the best in whatever you dish up.

Chef Beau Schmidt, my good friend, called to say he was making his grilled octopus salad for the Veranda at the Hilton. I couldn’t get to Fairlawn fast enough with a bottle of this Vermentino.

The wonderful aromas and flavors of peach and citrus blossom were an outstanding match with his seafood treat that was made with red and yellow peppers, onion, cilantro and a mango margarita dressing. Definitely one of my top food and wine pairings of the summer. My advice is to bust out your big-bowled glasses so that you can ensconce your senses with the unbelievable aromatics of this wine.

Salute e cent’anni. May you live to be 100 years.

Buy this wine at Krieger’s Market in Cuyahoga Falls, Beau’s Market in Copley, Fisher’s on Fulton, DioGuardi's Italian Market in Canton, Vaccaro’s Trattoria in Bath, and Lago in Cleveland

Cask, Corks & Forks

Grand River Valley wineries will hold Cask, Corks & Forks, a Cask Red Wine & Food Pairing event, from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9. Join Debonné Vineyards, Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, Grand River Cellars Winery & Restaurant, Laurello Vineyards and Cask 307 Winery for this drive-it-yourself tour.

Each winery will provide a glass of its Cask 1023 red wine and a glass of another regional wine that will be paired with a specially paired appetizer. Cost is $12 per person at each winery. Visit all five and receive a commemorative 18-ounce wine glass.

Reach Phil Masturzo at philyourglass@gmail.com and follow him on Instagram @pmasturzo_philyourglass

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sardinian Vermentino perfect for shrimp boil and clambake season