2015 San Rustico Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

Happy Sunday!  It's been a slow, rainy day here, though I managed a couple hours between raindrops to remove some fencing temporarily in anticipation of a tree removal tomorrow morning.  But now I'm back inside, finishing laundry and making Sunday dinner.  For tonight's festivities, I've opened a bottle of a perennial favorite Italian variety that I recently bought from Wines Till Sold Out.  The 2015 San Rustico Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is a blend of Corvina and Corvinone (68%), Rondinella (27%) and Molinara (5%), dried for three months before pressing.  So, let's see how this wonderful and interesting wine is shaping up!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, with nice clarity.  A gentle swirl of the glass releases aromas of black cherry, kirsch and warm spices, with undertones of smoke and earthy loam.  Take a sip and your senses make and abrupt turn with a rush of sweet ripe cherry, blackberry and prune that very gradually evolves into some white pepper spice and bit of charred oak.  The tannins are nicely structured for the long, smooth dry finish with a reprise of spice notes on the very end.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's just a very pleasant drinking wine and it was a great value at just $30.  This wine would be perfect with steaks or game meat, such as bison, elk or lamb, as well as smoky barbecue.  Tonight I've taken a different approach and am enjoying this wine with some bucatini with mussels fra diavalo, as the spice and acidity of the sauce marries well with the up-front sweetness of this wine.  Cheers!

2018 Tenuta Gugi Valpolicella Ripasso

Happy Saturday!  It's been a rather mellow start to the weekend, with running errands and hanging out a bit with some friends, now I'm ready for a warm dinner and a nice glass of wine.  Tonight I've decided to take a bit of a spicy route to my meal, and with that I've opened a bottle of wine I recently bought from Wines Till Sold Out.  The 2018 Tenuta Gugi Valpolicella Ripasso, a wine that offers many of the flavors and boldness of an Amarone without the price.  This wine is a blend of  Corvina (60%), Corvinone (20%), Rondinella (15%) and Oseleta (5%) which undergoes a second fermentation with the Amarone skins (e.g. ripasso!).  So, let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, as you might expect from a nice Amarone.  A gentle swirl in the glass releases aromas of leather, blackberry and Kirsch with undertones of hearty spice.  Take a sip and you are greeted with a rush of earthy mineral notes intermingled with ripe cherry and plum that just engages your palate before transitioning to some cherry cola an peppery spice notes midpalate.  The tannins are somewhat sweet with lively structure providing for a wonderfully velvety dry finish that lingers for a minute or more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, even though it might benefit from a few more years in the cellar, it was also a solid value at just $14.  This wine would pair with many classic Italian dishes from risotto and pasta to hearty fire grilled steaks with farro.  Tonight I am taking a rather spicy route with this wine as I happened to find some very nice Hungarian hot peppers at my local market which would be great sautéed with onions and Italian sausage, served with a bit of pasta tossed with garlic and olive oil and topped with shredded Parmesan.  Cheers!

2013 Secco-Bertani Original Vintage Edition

Happy New Year!  It's been a relaxing day and I've done some reading and watching of the "Twilight Zone" marathon and now it's time for a New Year's dinner and tonight I am going totally Italian given my recent day trip to Chicago and Eataly!  My wine for the evening is a 2013 Secco-Bertani Original Vintage edition red wine from the Veneto region of Italy (this is in Northern Italy) that I picked up on the recent trip.  This wine is primarily made from Corvina grapes (80%), Sangiovese Grosso (10%), Cabernet Sauvignon (5%) and Syrah (5%), according to a blend from an original recipe from 1888, so let's see what it has to offer!

The wine is a bright ruby color in the glass with great clarity, somewhat lighter, in the style of a nice Sangiovese.  The nose is a wonderful blend of earthy leather, lavender and a combination of herbs that reminds me of many of the small grocers in Little Italy.  The taste is a rush of ripe fruit, cherry, blackberry and plum that transitions effortlessly to some notes of spice box, nutmeg and tea midpalate.  The tannins are very fine, providing a nice backdrop for the long, dry finish as the acidity kicks in to provide notes of tart cherry at the end.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's just a pleasant drinking Italian red wine that would pair exceedingly well with a broad range of Italian cuisine, from Tuscan toast to risotto to classic pasta.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with an old Italian favorite comfort dish of braciole served over a plate of bucatini with plenty of fresh basil.  The fruit and spice of this wine just complements the hearty beef and spice of the braciole so well.  Cheers!

2016 Giuseppe Campagnola Valpolicella Ripasso

Happy Sunday!  Sometimes on a Sunday, you just need to open a wine from Italy, and after spending the afternoon working around the house on various projects and finishing with yard work, I am in need of a nice Italian Wine!  Tonight I've opened a bottle of 2016 Giuseppe Campagnola Valpolicella Ripasso that I bought from Wines Till Sold Out a few months back.  I am a big fan of Amarone, and for a more affordable alternative, I love a good Valpolicella Ripasso, or the second pressing of the dried grapes used for Amarone.  This wine is a classic blend of Corvina (60%), Rondinella (35%) and Molinara (5%).  So let's see how this one tastes.

The wine is a wonderful deep ruby color in the glass.  The nose presents aromas of blueberry, currant, and cherry with hints of rosehip and graphite.  The taste is very fruit forward with a rush of cherry, blueberry and currant that transitions nicely to notes of tar and pomegranate midpalate.  The tannins are well integrated, with balanced acidity to drive the long, lush and wonderfully dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, it's a pleasant drinking and food friendly wine that's also q solid value at just $15!  This wine would be wonderful with a creamy risotto, or pasta with cream sauce as the acidity of this wine would be an ideal balance.  It would also pair well with lamb, wild game or a classic well-marbled steak as the fruit and acidity would be great to cut through the fattiness of a prime steak, which is great since tonight I'm enjoying this wine with a grilled prime ribcap along with grilled romanesco and a big baked potato with all the trimmings.  Cheers!

2010 Viticoltori in Valpantena Amarone della Valpolicella

I was in Florida this week for work and finally arrived back home last night, so today has been catch up day for all my household chores, including taking down the last of the Christmas decorations outside!  So now it's time to relax in the evening with a nice bottle of wine, and tonight it's a bottle of 2010 Viticoltori in Valpantena Amarone della Valpolicella, and those who know me know what a big fan of Amarone I am!  This one is a classic blend of Corvina (60%), Corvinone (20%) and Rondinella (20%).

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass with great clarity.  The nose is a classic Amarone, with wonderful cherry and ripe plum notes, with just a hint of floral essence with some rose petals.  The taste is classic Amarone, with a blast of ripe fruit, cherries, blackberries and prune that transitions flawlessly to some vanilla and a hint of white pepper spice midpalate.  The finish is lovely, with some earthy notes of dusty limestone and a hint of hazelnut as the well structured tannins form a foundation for a long, voluptuous finish that can only come from a nice Amarone.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's drinking quite well now, but it's still young and should improve with a few more years in the cellar, and it was a great value at less than $23 from Wines Till Sold Out.  This wine would be ideal with a variety of great Italian dishes, from Bistecca alla Fiorentina to a hearty pasta with a spicy red sauce.  Tonight I am pairing this wine with the classic American (almost Italian?) dish of stuffed peppers!  The sweetness of the wine is a perfect complement to the hearty beef and rice stuffed peppers topped with a bit of spicy marinara and some grated parmesan and asiago cheese.  So delicious!

2004 Valentina Cubi Morar Amarone della Valpolicella

Well, it's the first Saturday of November and that means it's officially "Cellar Saturday" that time when I open a bottle of wine that's been given some time to mature in the cellar.  Tonight's feature is one that I actually bought fairly recently, the 2004 Valentina Cubi Morar Amarone della Valpolicella, a 10-year-old Amarone that should just about be hitting it's prime about now!  And for those of you who are unfamiliar with Amarone, it's a classic northern Italian wine made from the Corvina and Rondinella grapes which are partially dried (for up to 120 days) before pressing.  The result is usually a much more concentrated and powerful red wine that is a personal favorite.

This wine is a deep ruby color in the glass with a bit of opacity.  The nose is classic Amarone, rich fruit notes of raspberry and raisin, over cascading aromas of leather, white pepper and just a hint of lavender.  The taste is quite subdued up front, with some mild flavors of blackberry and cherry intermingled with vanilla and pipe tobacco, that gives way to some spice notes of white pepper and Asian spice midpalate.  The tannins are very nicely integrated, supporting a long, flavorful and very dry finish.  A very classic Amarone.

Overall I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it is a fine example of the wine and a nice value, as I bought this one from Wines Till Sold Out for just $30.  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a simple dinner of rare grilled New York Strip with grilled leeks, a baked potato and some steamed green beans.  This wine would also pair well with a lot of Northern Italian dishes, such as a nice wild mushroom risotto with a bit of Asiago shaved on top, wow I'm making myself hungry again!  Cincin!

2008 Palazzo Della Torre Veronese

So tonight being the 100th anniversary of the last dinner aboard the RMS Titanic, I thought it might be interesting to honor the tragedy with a dinner and bottle of wine that hearkens back to those days when technology and industry seemed to hold all the answers for mankind (where have I heard that before?).  So I thought about recreating the menu, but I have to admit I had neither the desire nor inclination toward creating a 12-course dinner for myself tonight, so that seems out, though you know whatever I have will be good. 

Then I searched the web trying to find a list of wines served on Titanic, and perhaps I might have a current vintage, or even a similar wine, like a Bordeaux or Burgundy, but alas there is very little detail on the wines served on board.  It seems they had more than their fair share of Champagne, but little else was detailed in the documents I surveyed.  So strike two for my last dinner evening, though I did learn an interesting tidbit, that apparently on ocean liners like Titanic, they seldom carried a great selection of aged red wines for fear that the rumbling of the massive reciprocating steam engines might somehow shake loose the sediment in old wine rendering them undrinkable.  Here's some information I could use, if I can't find a wine list, I can enjoy a rather young wine with my dinner.

So with my dinner I've chosen a bottle of 2008 Palazzo Della Torre Veronese.  For those familiar, this wine is a distant cousin to Amarone, and a closer cousin to the Valpolicella Ripasso, or the "second pressing" of the Amarone.  The main differences are the grapes used in making this wine, Corvina and Rondinella  which are often blended to make Bardolino and Valpolicella.  Unlike Amarone, this wine takes a slightly different approach, with the majority of grapes pressed at harvest to make wine with the remainder are dried or "raisined" during the period from harvest to January when they are pressed and the resulting wine blended with the wine pressed at harvest.  The result is a very similar wine to Amarone or Valpolicella Ripasso.

This particular wine is a deep red color in the glass.  The nose is quite fruity, with hints of dried cherries, plums, anise and oak.  The taste is somewhat concentrated, with initial flavors of red fruit and spice, followed by a real raisin sort of flavor mid palate.  The tannins are softer than I was expecting, creating a very smooth, dry finish.  Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8 with the chance to improve with a little time in the cellar (I'll also note this was #60 on the Wine Spectator list of the top 100 wines of 2011).  And what about my pairings?  Did I come even close to 12 courses?  Not really, but I did enjoy this wine with a very rich meal that would have been quite acceptable during the early 20th Century.  I had a nice grilled ribeye served with Béarnaise sauce along with some linguine tossed with a bit of garlic and olive oil and some steamed broccoli rabe.  And for dessert, what else but a cannoli!  Salute!