Veneto

• Prosecco
• Soave

This is a wine made from the Trebbiano grape on the shores of Lake Garda from the Lugano DOC.  Light golden in color.  Lovely nose of tropical fruit, slight grassiness and underlying minerality.  Very Sauvginon-like.  On the palate, this is round and slightly oily.  Velvety.  Very nice texture.   NIce acidity.  Just a bit of lemony fruit with good minerality.  Nice finish.  Very food friendly and a crowd favorite.  

Light golden in color.  A nice frothy head of medium sized bubbles.  The nose is nice with pears and slight minerality.  On the palate, this is dry.  Minerals.  Easy to drink.  At $15, this is also easy on the budget.  A nice choice for holiday festivities.  100% Glera grapes.

Purple in color.  The nose is dusty with black cherries.  On the palate, this has nice black cherries.  Tight and firm tannins.  Not a lot of depth but drinking nicely.  Give it air or cellar time.  Nice acidity.  Works better with food.  Needs five years and should be good for at least ten after that.  

Purple in color, slightly flat.  The nose has black cherries, cinnamon, and spice.  On the palate, sweet black cherries and sweet black raspberries.  Tasty but slightly jammy.  Some depth.  Not a lot of acidity.  Drinking quite well.  When the vintage was revealed, it made sense that it was the hot 2003 vintage.  No hurry on this though.  

Purple in color with ruby swirls.  The nose is dusty with black cherries and an almost liqueur quality to it.  On the palate this is slightly bitter.  Slightly noticeable alcohol.  There is a lot of depth though tight.  Medium tannins.  Plenty of cherry fruit and some black cherry.  This needs time but has a lot of potential.  If drinking now, give it plenty of air.  Good acidity and it needs some food.  Some upside potential for sure.  

A great value in Amarone.  It actually tastes like an Amarone for $26.  Deep ruby/purple in color.  The nose is dusty with cherries and slight dried leaves.  On the palate, a nice combination of sweet black cherries and sour cherries.  Also some underlying crushed leaves.  Good acidity.  Light tannins.  This might not make old bones, but for this price, it would be fun to lay a bottle down and try.  In any event, this should be good for 5 to 7 more years.  

Ruby in color.  At first there seemed to be some TCA on the nose, but that blew off after about an hour.  TCA, however, does not blow off, it gets worse, that must have just been some bottle stink of some kind.  Eventually, it showed nice cherries with some nutmeg.  On the palate, this has plums and slightly sour cherries.  It is a bit candied as well.  Clean after about an hour.  Good acidity.  Not sure if this was a proper bottle but it was nice.  Retails for around $50. 

Purple in color but the sheen is flat.  On the nose there is some VA here.  Black cherries, some damp tea leaves, a hint of cigar box and slight funk.  Old but nice.  On the palate, this is much more alive.  Complex and deep.  Black cherries, cherries, slight prunes with slight tannins.  Also some underlying decaying forest floor.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  Worked better with some cheeses.  Probably varies from bottle to bottle but I would think this has five years easily and maybe more before slowly sliding downhill.  

This showed quite well and was quite well received.  Purple in color, with some ruby swirls.  The nose is dusty with cherries, black cherries and baking spices.  On the palate, this has fresh cherries and black cherries.  It is slightly sweet/ripe.  It did take a few minutes to open and then kept opening.  There is an underlying forest floor note.  Good finish.  Very food friendly but drinks well on its own.  Has a decade left in it.  

30% Corvina, 30% Corvinone, 30% Rondinella, 10% Molinara, Rossignola, Oseleta, Negrara, Dindarella, Sangiovese.  Purple in color with some ruby swirls.  The nose has a lot of volatile acidity.  Whether this is good or bad, can be a unique thing between tasters.  It does also lift the aromatics; cherries, black cherries and botanicals.   On the palate this has strong acidity.  It begs for food which is typical.  Lots of cherries as well.  Classic, old school Valpolicella.  Probably should be consumed in the next five years.  At $20, a decent value.