2008 Stella Montepulciano D'Abruzzo

Ah, my first wine review!  At the store today I picked up a bottle of 2008 Stella Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, it was cheap so I figured I'd try it.  For those unfamilar, this type of wine hails from the Adriatic coast of Italy (the Abruzzo region is in the east central part of Italy, sort of a east coast cousin of Tuscany).  The wines are generally pretty dry, and very affordable making them ideal everyday table wines.

This wine has aromas of tart cherries, a hint of leather and a somewhat woodsy scent (I have no idea how to describe it, since it just made me think of walking in a forest trail in the middle of summer).  The taste is pretty nice, quite dry with the flavor of cherries, blackberries and a little fall fruit, perhaps some plum that isn't quite ripe and a nice dry finish.  I am having this with some Kielbasa and saurkraut, but it would go well with just about anything, from pizza to pasta to grilled mean, the type of wine that would not take center stage at the meal. 

Overall I would rate this one a 6/10, not outstanding, but a good solid value wine.  After all, I bought this bottle for only $5.39!