A while back I wrote about my dad’s wine club. I discussed whereas I loved the 2003 Cantina Zaccagnini, I really felt that the 2004 had missed the mark. A few days ago I bought the 2005 – Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva, ($15). Even after the poor 2004 showing I wanted to give it another shot.
People don’t drink a whole lot of Sicilian wine, except maybe the Sicilians. That’s a shame because they have some outstanding wine coming from the rock where my people are from.
I’ll keep this short and sweet. The wine is the 2006 – Valle dell’Acate, Il Frappato ($19). The varietal is Frappato. In the glass it is light ruby and not dense at all. On the tongue it is medium-bodied and rings of dark fruit, currant and berries. The overwhelming flavor here is black cherry. I mean it really tasted like cherries. This is a very well balanced delicious wine worth it’s tag. I’d say it’s drinkable with any Italian dish. I want to try it with a little chill on it.
Tomorrow I hope to have a video up. Yay!
I never watched so much of the Olympics ever before in my entire life. In fact I sometimes in the past have paid no attention to the games at all. This Olympiad, I watched it from the opening ceremony, to the close. I recorded two channels at once around the clock. When I’d come home from work I’d skim through to things that I found interesting. I would have watched it all if I could. I found myself cheering on Michael Phelps, a person I never heard of, to win gold in several categories of swimming, a sport I never watched. It’s always nice to beat the French.
I found a new tribal streak deep within myself, rooting on the USA in any sport, no matter how mundane, including badminton. Isn’t badminton is a game that you play for twenty minutes when you go to your cousins house, giving up to go inside and watch TV? It’s hardly an Olympic sport. Next thing you know they’ll let Ping Pong into the Olympics. Oh, wait…
Super Tuscans are overly popular these days. They must have had a combination of good vintages and good PR. Not that they don’t have merit, they do, but wine is like music, what’s in one minute is out the next.
Tonight I opened a cheaper “super Tuscan” the 2005 Poggio alle Querce, IL Guado ($19) from the Bolgheri region of Tucany Italy. It’s sourced from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varietals. I had scribbled it’s name on a card at a wine bar a few months back when I was three sheets to the wind after trying it and liking it. So I bought a bottle and shoved it in my cellar.
Click to continue reading “It a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Super Tuscan”
Finally July 20th arrived and it was time for the wine tasting at my parent’s wine club. They live in South New Jersey, not too far from Atlantic City in a very nice retirement community. When I write retirement community I do not mean a “home” or assisted living facility. It’s just a suburban development of houses where you have to be 55 or older to live. Being that folks are living longer and are healthier at older ages, other than the gray hair they mostly seam pretty spry and fun to be around. I especially like their friend Tony who has mad wine knowledge.
Friday night I arrived, as usual, at the Alphabet City Wine Co. tasting. When I walked in Zac, one of the guys that works there said recognized me from my blog. He seemed a little surprised, but in reality I think I told him about it the last time we met. Ah, the luxury of drinking at work.
Zac was there with another guy, Andreas, an employee of In Vino. In Vino is a wine bar that’s owned by the the same guy as the ACWC. I love the tastings at ACWC, they always take on the feeling of a small party. I was under the impression that Andreas was supposed to be at work, but had opted to stay to taste the wines. Then taste them again. Then again. …Well he was there tasting.
I forgot to mention a couple of things in video. The maker of the wine is Produttori del Barbaresco and Langhe Nebbiolo is a sub-region of Piedmont. Piedmont is in Italy.
Also, looking back at the video, I don’t think it was clear that I thought this wine was really fantastic. After another hour of air it softened up a little. There was a lot more flavor and more complexity. There was more fruit and it had a very good mouth-feel. The nose lost that Converse sneaker scent and became more floral. The 2006 Produttori del Barbaresco weighs is at a low 13.5% alcohol.
I think that given more time in the bottle the tannins will soften up a lot and this will be a really lush wine.
In the future I’ll try to keep the videos shorter. I’ll also get a little closer to the camera. Honestly, it’s nerve racking being in front of, opposed to behind, the camera.
