A wine to try

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A WINE TO TRY

2011 La Ginestraia Pigato Riviera Ligure di Ponente

Liguria, Italy

$17 to $20

Dry and minerally

Goes with: Shrimp and other shellfish, grilled whole fish, sushi

Pigato is one of the little-known Italian wines sommeliers love to surprise guests with. This one is terrific — lithe and minerally, with an earthiness that plays well against an ever-so-slight sweetness. In short, this lovely white wine from Liguria has a presence. La Ginestraia is a new venture for Marco Brangero of Brangero in Diano d’Alba in Piedmont, already well known for his Dolcetto d’Alba. The grapes for La Ginestraia come from a vineyard in Ortovero, seven miles inland from the Mediterranean, that dates from the 1700s. Pigato wants food. I had it with clams in parsley sauce, but it would be wonderful with gambas al ajillo (shrimp in garlic sauce), fish chowder, steamed mussels or a whole grilled fish. And, of course, sushi.

— S. Irene Virbila, Los Angeles Times