Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
40% Negroamaro, 30% Primitivo, and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon - The platonic ideal form of red wine under $15. Think of this as the best wine to buy a case of to serve at a dinner party. I’ve used it as the major red at multiple weddings where I’ve curated the wine now, and it has always been a hit.
The Negroamaro adds a soft earthiness. The Primitivo creates a red berry, brown spice, and floral mid-palate. The Cabernet adds weight and plays well off the soft, vanilla oak treatment the wine has received. Cabernet in Italy tastes nothing like Cabernet in France (somehow it is always more interesting and musky), and I hope to see variations on this blend tried by wine makers in all parts of the world soon.
$11.99 at T.B. Ackerson Wines 8.0/10
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cheap Drinks, Italy, Negroamaro, Primitivo, T.B. Ackerson Wines, Wine Reviews | No Comments
Monday, October 20th, 2008
Negroamaro translates roughly as “the black bitter one,” and it is known for creating some of the world’s more “rustic” (i.e., ostensibly not-so-tasty, but still entirely alluring once imbibed) wines.
The 2007 vintage from Li Veli seems to have forgotten that. The wine is almost entirely sleek and “easy drinking.” The nose creates a warm aroma of dried cherries reconstituted with a mixture of half water and half squid ink and then slowly baked into a pie. Squid ink cherry pie perhaps?
The passamente wine making style (drying the grapes slightly before crushing) adds a slight fruit “skin” flavor on the finish, but the overall feel of the wine is alternatively light and juicy. The finish has almost no tannin to speak of and doesn’t seem to progress even after a slight airing out.
That being said, it tastes good, and there is no law against making drinkable wine with traditionally undrinkable (for many of us) grapes.
$12.99 at T.B. Ackerson 6.9/10
Cheap Drinks, Italy, Negroamaro, New World, T.B. Ackerson Wines, Wine Reviews | No Comments