2011 Fontanafredda Nebbiolo

Well, it's been a busy week with some travel and a lot of work, but thankfully the week is winding down so we may as well enjoy a nice bottle of wine with Thursday dinner.  Tonight, I've decided to open a bottle of 2011 Fontanafredda Nebbiolo, a wine made from the same grape that gives the lovely Barolo wines of the Piedmont their fantastic, earthy character.

The wine has a bright ruby color in the glass with great clarity.  The nose is remarkable in its young complexity with aromas of tar, licorice, dried flowers and an almost cotton candy note.  The taste is quite nice, with notes of berries and plum that transition to some earthy notes of peat midpalate.  The finish is quite pleasant as the young, yet very well structured tannins support a long, dry and velvety finish that lingers.  A pleasant wine today that, given the character of the grape, will likely improve with some time in the bottle.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a pleasant drinking wine and solid example of the varietal, but it was screaming bargain as well!  I bought this one about six months ago from Wines Till Sold Out for only $10!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a traditional Italian dinner of spinach and ricotta ravioli with some spicy marinara and Italian sausage.  The earthy flavors are just the perfect foil to the spicy acidity of the sauce.  Tutti a tavola a mangiare!