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

Brilliant showing for this wine.  What a great value.  Everyone in the room commented on how good this was.  Perhaps a bit modern and fruit forward for a "traditional" Chianti, but it is delicious and affordable.  Purple in color with ruby swirls.  The nose has black cherries, slight chocolate, dust and slight loose tea.  On the palate, the chocolate and black cherries dominate at this point.  Medium tannins.  Enough acidity to counter the fruit.  Deep.  It unwinds in the glass.  Good finish.  This is delicious on its own and will work well with burgers or pizza.  It should develop for the

Franciacorta's are serious sparkling wines from Italy.  They are not to be confused with Prosecco's or some of the other lighter sparkling wines that are very popular these days.  The best Franciacorta's hold their own against sparkling wines made anywhere in the world.  Light golden in color.  There are a log of tiny bubbles.  The nose has toast, lemon and slight lanolin.  On the palate, this is slightly crisp.  Full bodied.  Nice, persistent lemon/lime notes.  Good finish.  This drinks well on its own and will work with all but the meatiest of dishes.  It should probably be consumed in th

Sadly, this was corked.  

This was my second time trying this wine.  The first time was on it's own, but this time was in a blind tasting of Sparkling wines (mostly Champagnes) and it did not fare as well.  It showed fine, but was the groups and mine's last place wine.  That could be because it was so different as this is made from Greco di Tufo while most were made from Chardonnay or that it had less acidity than the others.  Blind tasting offers some levels of objectivity and then introduces other prejudices.  Context when drinking wine is very important.  In any event, this is light yellow gold in color.  The nos

This was smoking good.  My first time trying this although I have had this winery's lower end offerings before.  My understanding is that this wine is made in the same method as Amarone.  The grapes are dried out on straw mats prior to being crushed, but the wine is fermented (mostly) dry.  This is a robust and delicious wine.  Purple in color.  The nose has black cherries, cherries, tobacco, slight  roasted herbs, anise and smoke.  Full bodied.  Dry.  On the palate flavors of black raspberries, black cherries over burnt forest floor.  Great texture.  Complex and layered depth.  Good acidit

From the arch in the Italian boot.  This wine is consistently a great value.  It does takes some time to mature, so finding the 2010 was a treat.  Made from the Aglianico grape.  This is deep ruby in color.  The nose has black cherries, smoke, slight anise and a nice minerality.  Full bodied.  This is ripe with nice black cherry fruit.  Underneath is a nice smoky minerality.  Very nice texture.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  This is a tasty wine that will work well on its own (not common for Italian wines) or with food (the way Italians drink wine!).  It might improve a bit more but should b

This is a very nice wine made from the Aglianico grape in southern Italy (think the arch of the foot).  Aglianico can be one of the more tannic grapes.  It often needs a lot of cellaring to come around but also can be quite long lived.  Purple in color, slight ruby rim.  The nose is nice with black cherries, black pepper, roasted herbs, and slight anise.  On the palate, this has strong tannins.  Bright black cherry fruit with good acidity.  This will need at least five years to show much and better to give it ten.  It should be good for another ten to fifteen, at least, after that.  It is v

This is such an underrated bottle of wine.  It gets so easy to dismiss Chianti and especially those that are not the top bottlings of good producers.  This is a really good bottle of wine and its available for under $20.  Ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, tea leaves, char and slight anise.  On the palate, this is medium bodied with light tannins.  A nice backbone of acidity.  Flavors of cherries with some underlying forest floor.  Good finish.  This should be good for the next ten years.  It went great with pasta and will work with most foods.  A great pizza wine.  

This is in a great place right now.  Ruby in color with slight browning.  The nose has cherries, slight raspberries, slight tar and slight forest floor.  Medium bodied.  Tannins are mostly resolved.  On the palate, nice cherry notes with some forest floor underneath.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  This is at peak.  it should be consumed over the next five to seven years.  It goes great with pasta and cream sauce and will work well with meat based dishes too.  

This is one of my favorite Chianti's.  Normally, I let the Rancia's rest a bit while I drink the "lesser" Felsina wines.  But, I had been hearing such great things about this wine, that I wanted to try one young.  Good move.  While this should improve, this was wonderful.  One of the top Chianti's I have ever had.  And, while this is not inexpensive for Chianti, it is for a wine of this quality.  Deep ruby in color, a bit lighter at the rim.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, some anise, and some tea leaves.  On the palate, this has juicy acidity.  Big cherry fruit over a forest floor