"Labrusca" Lini 910 Lambrusco Rosé, 2009

With a totally different style of rosé the subject of my previous post, why not delve into another here? This wine is a frizzante style as well, meaning that it has some effervescence - in the manner of all Lambrusco wines from Emilia-Romagna in Italy. The producer, Lini Winery, was founded in the town of Correggio in 1910, and is gaining momentum across the United States as a known producer of fine sparkling wines. They strive to keep the philosophy and traditions of their forebears at the core of their wine-making; the outcome speaks for itself, because this just tastes great.


A rich salmon red in the glass, much darker than most other rosé wines I have tried. Strong cherry and cranberry aromas on the nose lead to some floral notes: lavender, lilac. Bold and fruity in the mouth, but light-bodied, with a zingy acidity to match the fizz. Totally surprising, completely delicious. We paired this with ribs roasted in a clay pot after being covered in home-made dry rub and slathered in BBQ sauce, home-made potato salad, and sautéed greens. $15.

"Tai Rosso" Rezzadore, 2007

Spring. No other time of year is as confusing as spring. First the air warms up, flowers bud, birds get territorial, jeans become shorts, jackets are flung into closets... and then it all gets rewound by the somehow-always-freezing Sundays of April and May. This past weekend was like that, beautiful Friday, cold Sunday. Everybody became confused and hostile, in need of something reliably comforting, something to pair with grilled Italian sausages or drink on its own.

Enter the 2007 "Tai Rosso," an Italian Grenache from the Veneto region, produced by Rezzadore and imported by a small company out of New Jersey (great guys, met them at a local tasting last spring, when it was too cold to be outside... interesting). A wine with gusto. A wine with spark. A wine with a nice red ruby color in the glass, hinting at tangerine, and then a veritable A-Team of aromas: tart cherries, cranberries, fresh-picked strawberries, hints of orange peel, loam... each time I open a bottle, I get a different set. These wonderfully rich aromas are followed by a bright mouthfeel, with acidity doing its two-step on the tongue while the fruit lingers with some soft tannins at the medium finish. $12. That is right, friends. $12. Buy a case.

Serafini & Vidotto "Il Rosso Dell'Abazia," 1999

Today's post is about the 1999 Serafini & Vidotto "Il Rosso Dell'Abazia," but begins with a long digression.

Only one wine has ever brought me to tears. It is unfortunately not eligible for this forum due to its extraordinary price ($350-400 retail), but I name it now to establish my benchmark for truly great wine: the 2004 "Astralis," the flagship Syrah from the Clarenden Hills collection. At first whiff it was the wine that will always haunt me, setting the bar for every wine I've tasted since. Huge, dark, brooding, pungent, rich - but it was an infant! Even then, I knew that the 2004 Astralis was a wine that would not be ready to drink until 15-20 years later; it is still barely approachable now. L'Enfant terrible. Shockingly good.

Which brings me to the focus of today's post: the 1999 Serafini & Vidotto "Il Rosso Dell'Abazia." It has nothing in common with "Astralis," not on the surface. "Astralis" is fermented from Syrah; this wine is made using Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, a Bordeaux blend. Clarendon Hills is located 25 miles south of Adelaide, and northeast from the McLaren Vale in southern Australia; Serafini & Vidotto have their vineyards in Montello, a hilly area on the right bank of the Piave river in Treviso, a sub-region within Veneto (see photo).

"Astralis" is an ultra-boutique wine, a world-class luxury item made in a truly New World style. "Il Rosso Dell'Abazia," on the other hand, is an exemplar of Cabernet Sauvignon in its Italian expression, but following the vinification philosophy and techniques of the great French makers. What do these wines share, what intangible quality? Easy: greatness. Why wax eloquent? It is greatness.

I opened the "Il Rosso Dell'Abazia" to celebrate moving to Brooklyn. It was to be paired with prime rib, roasted potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms, the first meal made in our new kitchen. If wine and food pairing could be considered a tango, this wine was definitely the leader. Textbook blood orange fading to pale rose-brown at the rim in the glass. On the nose, the first pour offered devious aromas, almost all secondary: rose petals, waterlilies, tar, olives, hung meats, and hints of dark fruit. In the mouth, "Il Rosso Dell'Abazia" felt like velvet. Over a decade of bottle-aging softened the tannins beautifully, giving it one of the finest textures of any wine I have tasted since "Astralis." More dark fruit in the mouth, along with tobacco and a definite touch of balsamic spice. Long finish, echoing the completely even and balanced experience this wine provides. It touches greatness.

Normally a bottle retails for $80, but I found some for $16 at wholesale. Buying another half-case today. I do not think it will last another year, having just peaked, so find this wine immediately. Pairs with roast game of any kind, simpler fare; let the wine lead you.

Cantele Salice Salentino Riserva, 2006

Often in winter I am looking for just one thing in wine: compatibility with food. If I cannot choke down my glass with whatever is on my plate, immediate action must be taken. The cold months make for hearty dishes, full of roasts, root vegetables, and flavors leaning towards umami. As a result, my rotation of wines shifts to the deep end of the color spectrum, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Zinfandel dominating dinnertime.

Not all of my meals are giant grilled steaks, however. Sometimes that lamb just wants a little finesse, a light touch. Sometimes I want blackberry fruit without the bramble pepper of Syrah, or the wall of tannin presented by a tight Cabernet Sauvignon. When those times arrive, I look to Italy for inspiration, due to its plethora of obscure varietals and regions that offer some great values.

A recent glance in that direction provided me with this bottle, the 2006 Cantele Salice Salentino Riserva, from Puglia. Affordable, tasty, the wine is a fine example what a blend of 85% Negroamaro and 15% Malvasia Nera, both southern Italian grapes, can achieve. After the grapes are pressed, the juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks, and this shows itself in the clarity of the fruit. In the glass, this wine is a lovely garnet color. The nose features strong notes of blackberry and dark chocolate aromas, punctuated with some mineral. Soft, lush, extremely supple in the mouth, like a kitten using your tongue as a blanket, but without the fuzz or sharp bits. Dark fruit is backed by some light tannins, balanced acidity rounded by malolactic fermentation, and hints of earth and dried herbs. Medium finish. Begs for roast lamb shank or shoulder. $11.

Grignolino "Poggeto," La Casaccia, 2008

This is the first Grignolino I've ever tasted, and I must confess an immediate fondness for the varietal. Wines made from Grignolino are fairly rare here in the United States, with only a few examples being produced domestically (Heitz being the one example I can name). In general, they tend to produce wines that are surprisingly earthy and tannic, because of the low proportion of juice in the grapes and an abundance of pips, or seeds. Hailing from Piedmont, this particular wine is produced from 50-year-old vines, and the resulting intensity far exceeds my expectations based on the price.

In the glass, the 2008 "Poggeto" is a clear pale cherry in color, and the nose shows bright, fresh strawberry and raspberry fruit with white pepper and hints of leafy vegetal notes. The mouthfeel has great tannic grip for an everyday red, and is also shockingly bracing, with such crisp minerally acidity that the red fruit core seems wrapped in razor wire... in a good way, of course. Complete with notes of tar and roses, and a nice finish, this wine belongs on every table at least one night out of the year. Pair with antipasti or roast beef. $12.

Banfi Chianti Classico, 2006

Spaghetti and meatballs: the quintessential Italian-American red sauce pasta. Chianti is this dish's playmate, its eternal companion in our cinema, contemporary literature, and public perception. Those ridiculous straw bottles... better candle holders than wine, to be certain. Squeaking violins, bad accents, mustaches you want to remove with a weed whacker - all of these belong in the Chianti section of popular imagination.

However, it is a wine with a rich heritage, like the land from which it comes, and can have serious heft in terms of quality and value. Produced in Tuscany primarily from the Sangiovese grape variety, Chianti is an appellation comprised of seven sub-regions, including Classico, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi, Montalbano and Rùfina. Chianti covers a significant portion of the Tuscany region, and its sub-regions are full of Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) appellations with varying legal restrictions governing grape yields, blends, and production. All Chianti and Chianti Classico must feature at least 75% Sangiovese in the blend.

No exception to the general rule of thumb for Chianti, the 2006 Banfi Chianti Classico is a dark garnet in the glass, with decent clarity, and a nose chock-full of black fruit and floral notes, mostly violet. The mouth has a vibrant cherry and plum fruit core, with hints of leather. This is backed by supple tannins and good acidity, leading to a medium finish. As previously noted, this would be great with any red sauce pasta dish, particularly spaghetti and meatballs, but also pairs well with others roasts or grilled meats. Drink now. $16.

Collineri Valpolicella, 2008

Easily the cheapest wine I will drink, Valpolicella is a light, fragrant red table wine produced in a hilly region by the same name in the province of Verona in Italy. It is typically a blend of three grape varieties: Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara, and ranks just behind Chianti in total DOC production.

This 2008 Collineri is an everyday food wine, completely unoaked, that pairs easily with a wide variety of light dishes. It shows a pale ruby in the glass, with decent clarify. Ripe berries on the nose, enough acidity to balance out the cherry fruit in the mouth, with some stony notes. This wine is very low in tannin, making it friendly and approachable, and is obviously meant to be drunk young. Due to a bit of secondary fermentation in the bottle, this wine even shows a mild effervescence that I thought made it more interesting. And the price? A trifling $3.99 for something I did not spit out. Not bad!

Medici Ermete Solo Reggiano Lambrusco, 2007

What do you need when it is time to do battle with a huge platter of cold cuts? That's right. You pour a glass of Lambrusco, a sparkling red wine made from the varietal of the same name in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Lambrusco is frothy, meant to be drunk young, and absolutely perfect for salami, pizza, or hearty meat sauce pasta dishes.

Although sparkling, Lambrusco is rarely made in the méthode Champenoise, but is instead created using the Charmat process, where a second fermentation is conducted in a pressurized tank. As a result of an inundation of cheap Lambrusco in the 1970's, expectations for this wine are generally quite low. However, some artisan wines are produced, although they are hard to find. This particular bottling, the 2007 Medici Ermete Solo Reggiano "Le Tenute," is one of those, showing a dry frizzante brimming with rich blackberry and floral notes on the nose, followed by more cherry and strawberry fruit and a distinct earthiness in the mouth, balanced to ripe tannins and beautiful acidity. Balanced, fun, and possessed of mild minerality, this wine finishes clean and bright. $14.

Maravigna Nero d'Avola, 2006

Some wines I would recommend to anybody for all varieties of red meat sauce pasta, or pizza. The 2006 Maravigna Nero d'Avola is a must-try, a casual Italian dinner red produced in Sicily. Also known as calabrese, Nero d'Avola is a grape variety that makes robust, fruity, often concentrated reds, and is often considered the premiere Sicilian red grape. Upon pouring we came to see why this is the case. Maravigna was a beautiful garnet color in the glass. On the nose I found rich dusted berry aromas tinged with spice, leading to more juicy berries on the palate, particularly cherries, with perhaps a hint of plum. Medium-bodied, with the fruit balanced against strident acidity and some fine tannins that bit right into our spaghetti carbonera. Quick finish. $9.

Renzo Masi Sangiovese di Toscana, 2004

The best casual table wine for Italian food. A bottle of 2004 Renzo Masi Sangiovese di Toscana presents you with near-Chianti quality at rock-bottom price. It features a smoky, earthy aroma followed by a supple, lean fruitiness on the palate, in turn balanced with the brisk acidity typical of Sangiovese. Light-bodied, and a quick finish. I have frequently detected some effervescence resulting from secondary fermentation in the bottle (also something I've found in cheaper Valpolicellas), but it only enhances the wine at this price. Tasty! Any pasta with red sauce, such as spaghetti or lasagna, would be nicely complemented by this wine. It is also simply the best pizza wine in existence. On a totally separate note, I would like to note that Trader Joe's stocks some excellent Chiantis at this price point: $7 a bottle.