Italy

• Abruzzo
• Alto Adige
• Apulia
• Basilicata
• Calabria
• Campagna
• Emilia-Romagna
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia
• Liguria
• Lombardia
  • Franciacorta
• Marche
• Molise
• Piedmont (Piemonte)
• Sicily
  • Mt. Etna
• Trentino-Alto Adige
• Tuscany
  • Brunello di Montalcino
  • Chianti
• Umbria
• Valle d'Aosta
• Veneto
  • Prosecco
  • Soave
• Sardinia

Amazing wine.  It is 100% Sangiovese.  Inky purple in color with some ruby around the rim.  The nose is great with black cherries, sandalwood, slight green olive note (in a good way), and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is still youthful but to the point where it is worth opening if you have more than one bottle in the cellar.  Loads of black cherry and cherry fruit, some anise, slight underlying forest floor.  good acidity.  Long finish.  No hurry, this has another ten to fifteen more years.

This was purchased at the winery and brought back by a friend.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose is classic with cherries, tar and slight baking spice.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this is surprisingly open.  Cherries with underlying asphalt.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  This is obviously young but drinking well already.  It should drink well for the next twenty years.  Nice on its own, this would be better with food.  Pasta in a cream and mushroom sauce would be great.  

This is not your regular Chianti.  Deep garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is great with cherries, slight anise, slight tea leaves and spice.  Full bodied.  Great backbone of acidity.  On the palate, lots of bright cherries with some anise.  Long finish.  Deep and complex.  Light tannins.  Drinking great now and will continue for another ten to fifteen years.  This works great with food, pasta with a tomato sauces is a classic choice.  

Purchased at the winery.  Garnet in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, tea leaves, and coffee.  Full bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, bright cherry fruit.  Plenty of depth.  Layered.  Underlying tobacco/forest floor notes.  Long finish.  This is nice on its own but better with food.  A big plate of pasta is the obvious choice.  Drink over the next five to eight years.  

Fortunately for all of us Grillo is becoming a more popular wine. Best known in Italy, (there is some belief it originated here, but that is not conclusive) imports to the US are up and that makes for a great new wine to discover if you’re not familiar with wines from the Sicily region of Italy. This wine offers soft lemon-lime resin, lychee, light papaya, with back and supporting notes of stone fruit, melon and mineralogy.

Located in Southern Tuscany, Val Delle Rose is one of the largest wineries in the region. Their 2018 Aurelio, something of a flagship wine, offers superb quality fruit - muted pomegranate, rhubarb, black cherry, blackberry, along with a judicious use of oak that brings out cedar notes. There are vague back notes of dusty cocoa. This is a nicely balanced wine that combines all the necessary elements of oak, fruit, tannin and acidity, making for a wine that would be very complementary for any number of foods.

In Italy, the history of Carmignano winegrowing dates back to 1716 when Cosimo III de' Medici granted the area special legal protections. In the 1500’s the queen of France sent cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux to Carmignano. This wine is made from a blend of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon from certified organic vineyards, and fifth-generation winemaker Benedetta Contini Bonacossi crafts a wine that offers subdued fruit of stewed prunes, black cherry, boysenberry, and resin. There is solid acidity and tannic structure to make this workable with a variety of foods.

A native grape to the island of Sicily, this Grillo is light and delicate, with notes of butterscotch, honeysuckle, guava, white peach, lemon-lime, and a hint of grapefruit and summer wildflowers. Like all good Italian wines there is a proper acidity to work with food, which is always the goal. This is a soft wine with a smooth viscosity and its success is that it doesn’t steal the show but enables food to complement the wine, a balancing act that makes for a terrific dining experience. ORIGIN: Sicily, Italy. ALCOHOL: 12%

This red is from the island of Sicily,  Ruby/purple in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, black cherries and slight black olive notes.  Medium bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, more black cherry than cherry.  A bit of underlying char.  Moderate finish.  Fully mature at this point.  This will work better with food.  Pork chops or burgers off the grill would do well.  drink over the next few years.  

This is a blend of Glera and Pinot Noir grapes.  Salmon pink in color.  Frothy with a variety of sized bubbles.  The nose has strawberries and slight apple notes.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, there is nice acidity.  Slightly sweet.  Cherries and strawberries.  A lingering finish.  An enjoyable Prosecco with some depth as well.  Very nice on its own, this should work well with food.  It would go nicely with roasted turkey or duck.  Drink over the next couple of years.