Don Chigazola of Chigazola Merchants and Melissa Hotchkiss, sommelier at Sea Thai Bistro are today's guests who join Steve Jaxon, co-host Dan Berger and Barry Herbst of Bottle Barn.

When commenting on a Riesling, Dan Berger often says that when the flavor and acidity are just right, it would go very well with some spicy Thai food. Today we have Melissa Hotchkiss, sommelier at Sea Thai Bistro in Santa Rosa, who brought some delicious Thai food to taste with some Rieslings and other wines.

Don Chigazola is an importer of wines from Italy. He and his family travel to Italy to find great wines, which are otherwise off the radar of the average American retail buyer. He brought some wines from the Campania region near the Amalfi coast, which is near where Steve's grandparents came from. The first tasting is a Falanghina from Montemiletto, Campania south and inland from Naples. They have volcanic soil thanks to the eruption of nearby Mt. Vesuvius, which is great for growing grapes. Falanghina is one of the oldest varietals in Italy.

The Falanghina is light and delicate but also has some mid-palette flavors. It's not aged in barrels like Chardonnay, but it has a citrus flavor that goes well with the food. Melissa describes an appetizer from Sea Thai Bistro. They have more than 40 wines by the glass there. They have been open for many years and in their present location for about two years. Dan says that their food is distinctive, compared to other Thai restaurants.

Don Chigazola says that there are wildflowers in the nose of this glass of Falanghina. Dan says it’s delicate and has good flavor in the mid-palette. So it’s good with food. This Falanghina comes from a family winery in Campania called Macchi Santa Maria. They have three generations making wine and this was produced by the grandson, Oreste De Santis. They have very small production, of very high quality.

Melissa says that they started Sea Thai Bistro in Petaluma and became popular so they moved to Santa Rosa. They have grown and have a full bar, a big cocktail menu, a great wine list and beer selection.

Next they taste a Greco di Tufo which is one of the best known Italian whites. When it's produced around Tufo in the region, it gets the official DOCG designation of Greco di Tufo. (DOCG means Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita.) Dan describes it as having a full body but not diminished by putting it in barrels, which would have meant losing all the dry flower aromatics. . Dan says, "this is a serious wine. (...) The richness doesn't show up as a light or heavy aftertaste, it's so delicate on the tongue. It's got some mid-palette weight." It’s like Chardonnay without the weight, but has good minerality. They taste toasted almonds and dry aromatics.

Don explains that the whites from this district are gown at an elevation of about 2000 feet, or 600 meters above sea level. So it sees some pretty wide temperature fluctuations.

Friend of the show Chris DiMatteo is listening in Los Angeles and writes in to Steve Jaxon to say that he knows there are many great varieties of Italian wine that are not well known here in the US, so today's show is "grandissimo!"

Steve asks Don Chigazola to describe his company. He and his son go to Italy to look for wine. He looks for small producers who have a deep history of winemaking. When he finds one that is exceptional he develops a relationship with them. Some of these wines have never been in the US before. Some of it is at Bottle Barn, some are distributed to restaurants and some is sold on their website to the public.

Dan describes that Dan goes to Italy and goes to the park to meet the locals and asks them what the best local wine is. On his last trip he went out this way and mentioned he would visit Macchi Santa Maria,