Greetings, wine fans! It’s time for another round of wine selecting here at the SDMB Wine Club. By the way, what do you think of the club decor? Mission style furnishings and wood panelling seemed like the way to go, with french doors out to the vineyards, of course.
Our sommelier of the week is the lovely and talented Athena! I’m sure she will pick out something great for us to try.
I’m liking the Mission style. Good choice on the leather; the dark color won’t show the wine stains too much.
My choice for this week is the 04 or 05 Falesco Vitiano. It’s running $10.49/bottle here in the frozen north, and widely available. It’s a blend of Cab Sav, Merlot, and Sangiovese. One of our daily drinkers, it’s got some nice chewy tannins along with dry berry flavors.
And before she asks, I’m gonna guess it’s going to be too dry for Opal.
I found a bottle of the '03 at Cost Plus World Market for $9.99. Now the decision will be what to fix for dinner Friday night to go with it. Do I take the trouble to make lasagna, or just fake it with spaghetti? Maybe the wife’s Eggplant Parmesan? Decisions, decisions.
Yummy. Your typical Italian blend. I’m drinking the '03 vintage. Dry, dark and delicious. Berries, tobacco, spice flavors. The merlot mellows the cab, while the sangiovese provides the spice. Nice bite on the finish. It will go with just about anything. I’m having a glass before dinner, then one with.
I enjoyed this wine. I find that most if the reds I have drank do well with food and this was no exception. I haven’t had many Italian wines, but this piqued my curiosity. I will try some others based on the nice rich flavor of this one. I could have done with a bit less merlot in the blend though.
I tasted it last night (and drank half the bottle), but felt it didn’t get a fair shake, since I’d spent the day over in Napa (mainly in the Stag’s Leap district/Silverado Trail tasting some really powerful wines, so I tasted it again tonight (and am about to finish the other half.)
I liked it. I got aromas of plum, black cherry, boysenberry, licorice, and baked earth. Tastes were similar - cherry, plum, tobacco, leather. Nice tannins. Medium body, medium-long finish. Would go well with a nice Italian dinner like lasagna or veal parm, etc. Nice pick. My husband liked it too, so I’m sure it will end up on the wine rack again soon.
I’ve got the 2003 as well. I got it at Edina Liquors for $13.
After all the Italian wine bashing I’ve done, I pretty surprised to be saying that I enjoyed this bottle. The sangiovese isn’t too prominent, which is a plus for me. I’m typically not a fan of sangiovese based wines. It’s definitely noticeable here, but the cabernet gives the wine a nice boost.
Actually, I matched this wine very poorly with dinner. I put it up against salmon served on top of curry noodles. The wine just disappeared in the bold flavors of the curry. The glass I’m having after dinner is quite interesting though. This is fairly uncommon for me. Most of the Italian wines that I enjoy, I’m slogging them down with food. It’s a nice change to have one that I can enjoy on its own.
If you get to this neck of the woods, I got mine at the 50th & France location of Edina Liquors. Their Italian wine section is very small, so you won’t miss the bottle.
Had the second glass with sausage and peppers in marinara. Marriage made in heaven. The sangiovese cut through the tomato like a knife, and the flavors melded wonderfully. Ye gods I love Italian wines!
Ditto, almost to the word – right down to the husband liking it enough to make it a regular in our rack.
We had it with lasagna, and it worked very well with that. Not so dry that it can’t be drunk by itself; we started our glasses before dinner. Just enough tannins to be interesting; not enough to overpower the berry, cherry, and plum, though.
