Welcome back after the summer break – did a bit of filming over the holidays, so while it’s all busy busy busy on the tasting calendar, you’ll be seeing several new videos up here in the near future. I did post a video on YouTube while I was on holiday in Spain, prompted by an unusually-named coffee we found in the local supermarket…more here.
But back to wine, and four Italians to kick off with.
ITALS
Tesco Finest* Teroldego Vigneti delle Dolomiti (CAVIT) 2009, Veneto (£7.99 Tesco)
Really delicious, friendly wine, eminently gluggable thanks to its bold, crunchy blueberry and blackcurrant flavours, but also with a refreshing, tar-like earthiness – try it after half an hour in the fridge. S(-)
SPAR Montepulciano d’Abruzzo NV, Abruzzi, Italy (£5.79 SPAR)
Pleasant fleshy fruitcake flavours – warm berries, vanilla and spice – but let down by a touch of volatility. C+
Tesco Finest* Nero d’Avola (Cantine Settesoli) 2010, Sicily (£6.99 Tesco)
Really good mix of the rich and the restrained, offering plummy cherry fruit with a slightly earthy, roasted edge, touches of vanilla, dark chocolate and coffee, and an exotic, almost Viognier-like floral nuttiness. S-
Tenuta Degli Dei ‘Le Redini’ IGT Toscana 2008, Italy (~£18)
Quite a lush modern style with berry, sour cherry and damson skin flavours, Alicante adding some iron and herbiness and oak giving a smoky vanilla sheen, finishes in gentle, soft and supple style but maybe just too smooth? S-
Caiarossa IGT Toscana 2006, Italy (£39 Berry Bros & Rudd)
Very classy wine, manages to pack in the slightly spiky personality absent in Le Redini, shows notes of cola, herbs, chocolate, brooding dark fruit and grilled, herb-sprinkled meat, has richness and warmth, but still finishes with freshness. S+
Piccini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva 2007, Italy (£9.99 Sainsbury’s)
Struggles a little after Caiarossa, but still shows decent, slightly dusty cherry, berry and redcurrant flavours with a touch of vanilla, good bistro glug. B(+)
Dry Creek Heritage Zinfandel 2007, Sonoma County, California (contact Bibendum)
Starts well with briar, bramble and berry fruit and a touch of chocolate, but finish lacks structure – feels as if the winemaker was scared of making it too structured, and the result is just a little fey. B(+)
Da Vinci Chianti 2008, Tuscany, Italy (£8.99 Liberty Wines, Whole Foods, Noel Young) Juicy, earthy style, combining violet-scented bitter cherry & raspberry flavours with a herby wildness and a sappy, refreshing finish. B+
Poggiotondo Chianti Superiore 2007, Tuscany, Italy (£11.99 Liberty Wines, Whole Foods, Noel Young) More flesh and polish than the Da Vinci, a touch of VA (volatile acidity – think ever-so-slight vinegar) but it’s in balanced with the smooth, serious morello cherry and blackcurrant fruit, also a seam of minerality, with tannin & acidity to keep it in balance. S(-)
Greenstone Sangiovese 2007, Heathcote, Australia (£26.99 Liberty Wines, Imbibros, Noel Young, Wimbledon Wine Cellar) Shows the cola edge often found in Sangiovese, along with the characteristic earthy bitter cherry fruit and tangy tannins, but it’s more leathery, warmer & riper than the 2 Italians. Perhaps lacks subtlety, but it’s not too heavily extracted, and the finish is full and satisfying. S-
First Drop Wines Minchia Montepulciano 2008, Adelaide Hills, Australia (£17.99 from October 2010 New School Wines Ltd, The Secret Cellar, Cambridge Wine Merchants) Riper and fleshier still, almost verging on the jammy, with the slightly baked berry edge of very ripe grapes. Plummy and upfront, but with a sappy savoury edge and tannin to freshen up the finish. B+
