lots of vanilla on the nose, and also blackberries, raspberries, and spices. It is long and lush and mouth-filling on the palate, which adds leather and tar and features firm tannins that end with an “oomph.” I find it a tiny bit sweet, but otherwise it exhibits good varietal typicity (by which I mean that it has characteristics of more expensive Negroamaros I’ve enjoyed). It is excellent value at the price, and a great place to start to explore this grape varietal and style of wine.Price: $10.29
Score: 83
Value: 5/5
Region: Forli, Italy
Grape: Negroamaro
Tasted: March 2009
UPC: 8032610311346
Posts
Glad to see a post on this. I've been trying to get you to taste this blind since November, but I keep drinking the bottles I buy. At this price, I agree you can't really go wrong.
ReplyDeleteFriends of mine in Sackville turned us on to this one. Excellent value. Not to stereotype but its a LL Bean, sitting in your leather wing back chair smoking a cohiba type of wine (thats going to be my type of descriptions from now on).
ReplyDeleteVesper, I believe you did bring over the bottle we tried. Thanks! It just took a while to get through the queue. Michelle, I was going to make a joke about Eddie Bauer, a recliner, and a cigarello; but it really is distinctly a wingback and a cohiba.
ReplyDeleteI have been fond of this wine for a good number of years, it has 'thinned' in the recent vintages, but still a solid value. It surprisingly evolves with 30-45minutes of decanting- not usual for a bottle in this price range.
ReplyDeleteMy sister brought a bottle over the other day. For the price, can't beat it. I thought it was actually tastier the second day.
ReplyDeleteJust wondered if you thought this bottle was safe to drink in 2010. How do you tell when a wine has peaked? Thanks & Great Blog!!
ReplyDeleteHi Style Girl,
ReplyDeleteAlmost all wines that cost less than $20 are ready to drink when released and will not benefit for additional cellaring - so you should drink this one soon.
The same is true of many more expensive wines as well. I don't have any good way of telling when to drink a wine. If the wine is worth cellaring I usually try to find out what drinking window is recommended by the wine-maker, or some authority like Robert Parker or Wine Spectator. But that's not always reliable. I've had wines that were drinking very well long after the recommended 'drink by' and others that had fizzled long before.
Glad you like the blog.