Cantina Vignaioli Barbaresco Marcarini Vintage: 2000 Purchased: Jun 2nd 2008 Price: $29.96 Purchase Location: Garagiste - (http://www.garagistewine.com/) Categories: Italy - Red

Tasting Notes:

This is easily one of the best wines I've had in a long time. It is nice garnet color with hints of brown around the edges, and a nose that just punches you in the face (but in a good way). I could detect tar, rose petals, and very bright cherry juice on the nose. And I would have been content to just smell it. In the mouth, it is very full bodied with the cherry juice component coming out first. That leads into a smokey component before a long finish of fennel and licorice. The tannins are still quite strong but very well integrated and not out of balance. I'd say that this wine has plenty of good years left in it, and might be even better as it softens more.


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Cascina del Santuario Moscato d'Asti Vintage: 2007 Purchased: Jul 19th 2008 Price: $11.99 Purchase Location: Esquin - (http://www.esquin.com/) Categories: Italy - Sparkling - White

Tasting Notes:

This was wine number three for the night, served with a lemon and olive oil cake. This is just a fun wine. It's frizzante, so it sparkles but not a lot. It has a wonderful golden color, darker than you would expect. The aroma is a great mixture of vanilla, honey, and tropical fruits. In the mouth, the dominant flavor is one of pineapple. There is just a hint of vanilla creaminess and honey there as well. The finish is long. Not the most complex wine in the world, and perhaps a touch sweet. But it is a fun wine.


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Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Feb 17th 2008 Price: $19.99 Purchase Location: Esquin - (http://www.esquin.com/) Categories: Italy - Red

Tasting Notes:

This isn't a real Barbaresco, but I thought it'd give me a good idea of what to expect from one. The problem with Barbaresco is that there simply isn't any cheap bottles of it. Burgundy is the most usual comparison, but there are budget bottles of Burgundy to at least let you know if you like the stuff; not to mention other bottles of Pinot Noir from around the world.

This wine was a very light red with almost a toasty brown tinge to it. It was darker than a rose, but I've had rose that was almost as dark. The nose was super apparent. The earth and tobacco tones dominated. In the mouth it was much heavier than the color would have indicated. There was a sour cherry fruit component, but the earthiness and mushroom flavors on the finish were what I remember most. It did have mild tannins that seemed rustic, but still very well integrated. I really loved this wine.


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Tramin Kellerei-Cantina Alto Adige Pinot Grigio Vintage: 2006 Purchased: Feb 17th 2008 Price: $12.99 Purchase Location: Esquin - (http://www.esquin.com/) Categories: Italy - Pinot Gris/Grigio - White

Tasting Notes:

This is further education in Italian wine for me. I opened this to go with spaghetti carbonara. In the glass it was a straw color. Nothing stood out about the color. The nose was actually fairly intense for this varietal. There was a strong fruit component, but also a very floral note. Not quite the rose petals of gewurz, but closer to violets. On the first taste, I was surprised by its body. It was not quite the thick pinot gris from Alsace, but it was not the thing quaffer that I've come to expect from most pinot grigio. It also avoided all the tropical fruit notes that thin pinot grigio tends to have. It was mainly green apple and pear, with just a hint of citrus zest. The floral note was still there and I got a sense of clove on the finish. The finish was surprisingly long. All in all a very good wine.


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Michele Chiarlo Barbera D'Asti Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Feb 16th 2008 Price: $10.99 Purchase Location: Trader Joes Categories: Italy - Red

Tasting Notes:

This is bottle number one in my drive to understand Italian wine a little better. I've had both domestic and Italian Barbera in restaurants, but never at home. I broke this out to pair with spaghetti carbonara.

The wine is a translucent dark ruby. Very light bodied in appearance. The aromas are of fresh cranberries and sour red cherries. There is just a hint of smokey oakness as well. In the mouth the acid is the first thing you encounter. It's mouth watering and very pleasant with cranberry and other red fruit flavors. The finish is quite long with an interesting strawberry and citrus note.

This is a very good food wine. It would work with most pasta dishes and pizza. And at this price, it could be drunk every day.


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Cortona Syrah d'Alessandro Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Aug 5th 2007 Price: $15.83 Purchase Location: Garagiste - (http://www.garagistewine.com/) Categories: Italy - Red - Syrah/Shiraz

Tasting Notes:

Very rarely do you open a wine at this price range and after the first sip say to yourself, "I think this was perhaps a little young." This wine is from a fairly famous syrah producer in Tuscany. His Il Bosco syrah sells for $40-$50 a bottle. He uses the same parcels of land to make his lower wine, but does not age it in oak quite as long.

On the first pour I was surprised at how thing the wine looked. It was more of a cherry red and semi-translucent that the deep purple I see from New World syrah. The nose didn't give off anything. Just a hint of fruit and a hot alcohol smell. In the mouth the wine was beyond tight. There was a sour cherry note upfront and then the tannins just took over.

Luckily after a few hours it really opened up. The alcohol smell blew off and the cherry scent was much more prevalent. It was also backed up by scents of new leather. In the mouth the sour cherry flavor remained but it was backed up by the tastes of creme de cassis and licorous. The finish brought a spicy black pepper note, and the tannins, while softened, were still very strong.

The wine should have been decanted, and probably should have sat for another year or two. Unfortunately I don't have another bottle to see how it ages.


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Vitiano Falesco Vintage: 2005 Purchased: Aug 16th 2007 Price: $9.00 Purchase Location: Maple Leaf Wine Cellar - (http://www.mapleleafcellar.com/) Categories: Italy - Red

Tasting Notes:

In the glass, this wine is a dark-purplish crimson red with a slightly pink rim.

On the nose, there are massive amounts of black fruit, especially black cherries, blueberries, and raspberry. There is also some licorice and cedar and something I smelled as mint.

In the mouth, there is serious fruit with cherry, sweet cranberry, raspberry jam and a multitude of flavors held together by great acidity.

I found this to be an excellent value. Robert Parker agrees:

"As I have written before, it’s almost too good to believe at this price. It should be drunk within 2-3 years of release. Kudos to Riccardo and Renzo Cotarella for continuing to deliver remarkable wines at these prices."


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Salice Salentino Taurino Riserva Vintage: 2001 Purchased: Aug 16th 2007 Price: $12.00 Purchase Location: Maple Leaf Wine Cellar - (http://www.mapleleafcellar.com/) Categories: Italy - Red

Tasting Notes:

I opened this up to have with Italian sausage, peppers, and onion sandwiches. It's a deep ruby red color, with orange around the edge (a sign of the age?). Its smell is reminiscent of a California pinot, or a Beaujolais. There were scents of cherries, figs, and a slight herbal earthiness. On the palate, the tastes are of sour black cherries, mint, and a slight bitterness on the finish. It's very well balanced with a good tannic backbone that never gets in the way. This is a perfect weekday dinner wine.


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Straccali Chianti Vintage: 2004 Purchased: Mar 17th 2007 Price: $8.99 Purchase Location: Esquin - (http://www.esquin.com/) Categories: Chianti - Italy - Red

Tasting Notes:

We were eating a frozen pizza, so why not a Chianti? Of course, a frozen pizza doesn't deserve anything expensive, so I picked this.

It's a very dark purple with an oaky nose. It also has an earthy truffle component and a hint of tobacco. Hardly any fruit on the nose. The wine is medium bodied on the palate with a sour cherry/cranberry taste and tons of acid. The tannins are mild and soft.

It's not terribly complex. But it's not a bad food wine. And at this price I don't feel ripped off.


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Castello Di Meleto Rosso Toscano Vintage: 2004 Purchased: Feb 24th 2007 Price: $9.99 Purchase Location: Whole Foods Categories: Italy - Red

Tasting Notes:

I can't really find out much about this wine. There is a lot of information about their chianti and premium blends, but nothing about this. I picked it up at Whole Foods, and this very likely is a blend they made especially for them.

Since it does come from Chianti, I would assume that it is primarily sangioviese. It is the right ruby red color, and has the acidity that grape is known for. On the nose, there is a faint fruitiness and minerality, but mostly a neutral smell. The first taste is all tart cherries with the acid building, there is very little in the way of tannins, just a hint as you chew it. Then on the finish it becomes slightly herbal with a taste I can only describe as cola. That's a taste I usually associate with Oregon pinot noir. In fact if I had to describe this wine I would say it tastes like a very acidic Oregon pinot.

I liked this wine a lot. It went great with the sausage cannelloni we had for Sunday dinner. If I had to wager a guess I'd say this wine is mostly sangioviese. The fruitiness probably comes from merlot. It probably has more than 20% merlot which would prevent it from being called chianti. I would also guess that it was either aged in neutral oak, or stainless steel tanks.


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