Italy

This is a blend of Inzolia, Catarratto and Grecanico grapes along with some Chardonnay.  Silvery, green gold in color.  The nose is a bit mild with minerals and light pine notes.  Better on the palate.  Slight soapy (but not in a bad way) more like lanolin.  Then tart green apples come thru picking up intensity especially on the finish.  This is clean with very nice acidity.  A medium length finish.  Screw capped, this took a few minutes to open.  It was served at about 50F but really showed better once it warmed a bit.  Very refreshing wine and the tart apple acidity worked quite well with

This is made from Primitivo.  Purple/ruby in color.  The nose has cherries and is a bit peppery.  On the palate, nice acidity.  Cherries.  Light tannins.  Medium bodied.  Better with food.  A nice food wine and should be under $15.  

A blend of Cabernet and Sangiovese.  Bought on release and cellared by me.  Ruby red in color with purple swirls.  This is drinking quite well right now and at peak or just past.  The nose is great with dusty cherries, some cassis, a bit of dried fruit, and crushed dry tea leaves.  On the palate, this is layered and nice complex.  Not a huge wine but still plenty of cherry fruit layered with earth and forest floor.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  

This is an inexpensive Amarone that is at least true to its name.  So many of these are just glorified Valpolicella's it seems.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has dried cherries and black cherries with an herbal note and slight raisin.  On the palate this drinks well.  Dried cherries with an herbal note.  Dry.  Good acidity.  Nice with food.  Nothing amazing here but enjoyable and drinking very well for the price.  

Light ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, slight roses.  On the palate, there is plenty of cherry fruit here.  This was an incredibly warm vintage, but the wine is not roasted.  It, perhaps lacks the depth of some vintages, but it is drinking well and very tasty.  Slight tannins left.  Some acidity.  At 15 years from vintage, it won't get better, but has a decade left of life.  Food friendly.  

Ruby in color.  The nose is very nice with cherries, slight floral notes and tar.  On the palate, this has a nice complexity.  Layers of cherries, dried cherries and forest floor.  Good not great acidity.  Long finish.  This seemed to coming right along, so we left about 1/3 of the bottle, recorked and on the counter to follow.  On night 2, the nose of this was model airplane glue.  Very hard to get past.  It was fine on the palate, but the nose was terrible.  Not sure what that means about ageing but I wouldn't let this get a ton of air once its opened.  That said, on Night 1, it was outst

Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is dusty with cherries and sour cherries.  Good acidity.  Very food friendly.  Went great with an "Impossible" Burger.  Tart cherries, layered with forest floor.  Good finish.  This is still young and has some upside in terms of development.  Plenty of fruit with light tannins right now.  

Ruby, clear and bright.  The nose has nice cherries to it.  Slight licorice and char.  On the palate, this shows a nice complexity.  Certainly outperforming vintage expectations.  Tart cherries and cherry juice.  Good acidity.  nice finish.  Food friendly.  

Chianti doesn't get the recognition it deserves.  Some of the best Chianti's (and this is one of them) are as good as most Brunello's or most other wines.  Factor in price, and these are some of the great red wine values of the world.  This was opened and allowed to breathe for an hour.  Ruby/purple in color.  The nose is very nice with dark cherries, some forest floor/tea leaves and a bit of tarragon.  On the palate, juicy acidity.  This went great with Grilled Polenta with a three pepper sauce.  Flavors of sour cherries, some black cherries with a bit of tea.  Nice finish.  This is just s

A very unusual wine.  It's hard for me to put into context.  Sort of like a sweet Barolo mixed with good Vermouth.  Ruby/purple in color.  The nose has botanicals, herbs and slight raisin notes.  On the palate, this is sweet with herbal qualities.  It is very enjoyable but a little goes a long way.