— Iron Chef’s Review —
Decanted for 45 minutes.
Never had a wine from Sardinia before. The grape is the original Grenache that was later imported to Rhone and other places. This winery has been producing this wine since 1899.
Nose: Leather, earth, barnyard and root vegetables. Some oak and orange liquor notes. Rose petals and Port-like oxidized aromas.
Taste: Rustic. Sour cherries, menthol and dusty tannins. Cloves and black tea. Tastes like an austere Chianti. Chalky acidity. The palate is hollow in spots. Delicate tastes.
Overall the nose was much better than the taste. There just wasn't enough fruit to support the dusty tannins, felt unbalanced and hollow. Interesting to try.
PS Robert Noel's wine of the week.
Price: $24.29
Value: 2/5
Score: 83
Grape: Cannonau / Grenache
Region: Italy, Sardinia
Alcohol: 13.5%
UPC: 8006725100256
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Nice to see the Cannonau reviewed! I actually wrote to the powers-that-be about the pricing of this wine – $14.95 at the LCBO, $24.29 here. ANBL doesn't have the LCBO's purchasing power, but a little tweaking of the markup for small-lot specialty wines would be nice to see. The Sella & Mosca can be austere on its own, but it's a different beast with the right food.
ReplyDeleteI've long had the impression that this end of the price range is where NB prices are most out of line. For some reason, prices at the higher end of the price range tend to be very competitive with LCBO and SAQ. That's great if you want something fancy, but it makes it tough to find reasonably priced everyday wines that are good rather than merely drinkable.
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