Norton - November 2012

Wow!  I really got behind.  2 months to catch up on and another one due this weekend.

Norton - not a grape you hear about  or see one a wine list if you live outside of Virginia.  Why is that?  Well, Norton is a truly American grape and is ideally suited to the soil and climates of Virginia.  

On a funny note, it is the state grape of Missouri.  I know, who knew Missouri made wine?!  Apparently, they take it very seriously too.  Next time you are in those parts, try a glass and let me know what you think.

We are talking about a red wine here.  Medium to full body, depending on how it is handled by the wine maker.  Gorgeous ruby to plum coloring and a nice nose.

If it weren't for the pricing of Virginia wines (and I live in the Commonwealth), I would keep them on hand more.  Despite the fact that there are so many good Virginia wines available, their price points of over $20 keep them from being an everyday kind of wine for me.

Okay, on with the yummy-ness...

We have tasted this gem before and it did not disappoint this time.  This bottle is the reason why we did a Norton tasting (see the Virginia tasting notes).  This is $17.99 at Wegman's and is a lovely example of the Norton grape.

Sorry for the freaky picture.  I don't know what happened.  This was a really tall bottle of wine (aptly named "The Tower Series").  From Horton Vineyard, this bottle cost $14.99 at Total Wine and was okay at the start, but it faded really quickly on the palate.  Disappointing, is the best description for it.

Horton Norton!  The funny thing about this wine is that it is better than its counterpart.  This was cheaper ($12.99) and had a bigger flavor that held up longer.  I picked this up at Wegman's.

.

Cooper Vineyards finished the night with their Norton Reserve 2010.  It was okay.  At $21.99 from Total Wine, we expected much more.  I will stick with Chrysalis for all my future Norton desires as they seem to have figured out how to make it work and how to do right all the time.

Italian Reds - December 2012

We finished out the year on a lovely note!  We explored Italy through its red wines.  Only one bottle had anything left in it and that was the bottle that none of us were impressed with.  This was a really, really great tasting and I highly encourage anyone interested to try it for your friends.

Italy - the land of amore and vino.  Red wine is taken seriously in Italy and don't just think Chianti cause you are overlooking some really great wine!

When you are buying Italian wine, you will see that some bottles have a little "tape" on them.  Some of those have DOC and a few have DOCG.  These stamps are signs of wineries who have adhered to the strictest standards under Italian wine laws.   Currently, there are only 33 wineries in all of Italy that have the DOCG stamp, which is the highest the country allows.


On to the wines...

First up is this lovely Madonna de Como Dolcetta d'Alba - which means it is the Dolcetta grape from the Madonna de Como winery in the town of Alba in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy.  WHEW!  I like the way the Italians say it better. This was $14.99 at Wegman's. This is an example of everyday drinking wine in Northern Italy.  I could drink this every day.  It was nice on the nose and ever so especially yummy on the palate!  Everyone liked this one and at the price, it is an easy one to keep on hand.  It does not have a DOC or DOCG.

I need to ding Wegman's here.  There Italian red wine selection leaves much to be desired!  If all you really want is a Chianti, please feel free to look for one (or 20) at Wegman's, but if you want to explore the other reds that Italy has to offer, find a wine shop!

Next up is a personal fave grape, Barbera (pronounced like Hanna Barbera).  I LOVE this grape.  I would go to Italy just to see this grape growing on the vine.  Okay, so I would probably ship back as much of the stuff as legally allowed and then go around the law by "gifting" the legal limit to at least 2 friends, but you get my drift.  To me, the Barbera is about friends and laughter and time well spent and thoroughly enjoyed.  This grape represents all that life should be and is, when sharing it.  Okay, enough of my nonsense.  About this particular bottle.  All Barbera comes from the Piedmont region.  This is a Terra Sabaude Superior Barbera d'Alba.  See if you can figure out what all that means from the example I gave for the first wine.  Superior is a high rating in Italy and it means it has been aged longer than normal (though the 2006 on the bottle might have given that away).  This gem of a wine set us back $13.99 at Wegman's (okay, they can have a few points back for stocking this wine).  This one was DOCG.

On to what Italy is famous for, Chianti.  Fratelli d'Italia Chianti 2010.  This is just a normal Chianti with no extra aging or anything and no tape.  I feel like we got ripped off at $7.99 at Total Wine.  This was bleh (technical term).  This was the bottle that still had most of the wine in it.  Boring.  Try a different Chianti.  Oh, all Chianti comes from the Chianti region of Italy.  There is no Chianti grape.  The Sangiovese grape is the primary in all Chianti and most are a blend of 4 different grapes.

There is a reason different wines have different levels.  This Chianti Classico bears that out!  Classico is another designation referring to the aging and processing and man, does that extra time make for lovely wine!  If I had known Chianti could taste like this, I probably would have tried it sooner (Lancers ruined me).  S. Andrea in Colle Chianti Classico 2009 from Total Wine for $14.99.  AWESOME nose and incredibly smooth and yummy.  Keep this one hand.

The winner of the night by a TKO is Villa Maffei Valpolicella 2011 from the Veneto (Venice) region of Italy.  The grape used is the Corvina grape, which I had never even heard of before this little bottle.  We almost fought over who got to finish this bottle.  We shared, but none of us were happy about it.  This wine smelled fruity and lush and right when you though it was going to blow up and ruin on your tongue, it pulled back and finished smooth!  I would buy this by the case and not regret a single bottle.  Share this with people you really like, because you will get pissed sharing it with people who don't appreciate wine :0)  This bottle was $9.99 (yes, I typed that correctly) at Total Wine.

Next up is the heavy hitter for the night.  We tasted a 2011 Caleo Nero d'Avola from Sicily.  WOW!  Big wine from an itty bitty island.  Savory was the agreed upon word.  This is a 

D-R-Y wine, but it was a nice wine.  At $7.99 from Total Wine, not a bad buy either.  It tasted lovely with the pasta bolognese that was brought to accompany the wine.

I could not leave Italy without sharing a bottle from my private collection.  This is the only bottle of it I have found in 2 years.  I could have kept it for myself, but I really enjoy sharing good wine with friends and it made a perfect addition for the tasting.  This is Cantine Sant' Agata BABY Barbera d'Asti.  Cantine Sant' Agata winery.  A BABY (young grapes) Barbera from the village of Asti in the Piedmont region.  OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG  If you EVER see this on a shelf - buy it all.  Don't hesitate or blink cause it will be gone.  Buy it.  It is worth it.  It is divine.  It has a jammy nose that invites you to drink and is well rounded and lush yet supple and WAY too smooth!  I love love love love this wine.  If it were still imported, I would always have it and probably wouldn't drink much else.  I don't remember what it cost me and I don't care.  That's how much I love this wine (and we drank it all, so I guess I am not alone in my opinion).