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Weekly guide to a wine lover Wine $ 10 – A carton Organic Sangiovese
Sangiovese. When I hear that word, only I have to tell a story. In the last semester of my sommelier course at a meal we were served our wine, unknown to us, a Brunello di Montalcino. This is one of the great wines of Tuscany for obvious reasons will not be reviewed in this column. I was sitting across from our teacher. When the first drops of this liquid noble reached my lips have spoken a word is pronounced more slowly than usual, Sangiovese. Twenty students came, and I was the only one identified the grape. Two additional comments are in order, a purist) is taken into account that the Brunello grape is a clone of Sangiovese b) I have never been able to repeat this stroke of luck. When you want a good wine in the range of $ 40 (or much, much more) is likely to recover with a Brunello di Montalcino.
The wine reviewed here is made from organic grapes grown without chemical and pesticides. It comes in a recyclable Tetra Pak. I'll be reviewing a lot of organic wines, but most is not here, organic wines cost more $ 15 a bottle. Now, just so you know, while the Sangiovese grape is often associated with Tuscany, this wine comes from Puglia in southern Italy, which partly explains the price relatively low.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at full retail price.
Wine Review Organic Sangiovese carton Ciao 13.2% alcohol about $ 11
Please note two things. There is no date on the package. The box is of a liter, in other words, has a third more than a standard bottle.
Let's start with marketing materials. Tasting Note: Medium ruby with garnet, aromas of sweet red fruit, licorice and hints of light oak, dry spices in the final. Tip: burgers, ribs. And now for my review.
In the first sips This wine was thin and not fruity, but surprisingly long. The first match was with beef stew and braised potatoes. The side was a non-spicy style Moroccan (Matbucha) salad made of tomatoes, peppers, chilies and garlic. Wine is encouraged with the stew. I tasted black cherries and a touch of snuff. The tannins are moderate. Sangiovese wines usually go well with tomato dishes, but nothing happened when I tried this wine with the tomato salad. When you add a mixture of quite spicy jalapeno wine to the pot was not saturated, nor was overwhelming. The flavor of snuff intensified.
The second pair involved a meatless lasagna filled with sliced olives, peas, onions, cottage cheese, and tomato sauce, mozzarella and topped with cheese. Once again I have snuff. There was good balance between acidity and tannins, but the wine was not tasty.
The final meal included slow-cooked chicken legs in a soy-based sauce, accompanied by potato pancakes and a spicy tomato, lemon and garlic sauce, which served as a vegetable palate cleansing. The wine was round and balanced with a taste snuff. But the sauce was too strong for the wine.
The tasting Cheese first was with provolone. This was a pretty good combo, the wine was refreshing and fruity. Then I went to a yellow cheddar. The Sangiovese flavor became dark but combination still worked quite well.
The final verdict. If you are looking for an organic wine, or something to pair with home run of the mill cheeses, this wine is nothing special to recommend it. However, if you want to go organic then this is a cheap option. And as an added bonus the box recyclables does not appear to negatively affect the taste. I would not trust a Brunello di Montalcino to such packaging.
About the Author
Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but definitely prefers drinking fine French, German, or other wine. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His global wine website
www.theworldwidewine.com
features a weekly review of $10 wines and new sections writing about and tasting organic and kosher wines. Visit his Italian wine website
www.theitalianwineconnection.com
.
Weekend Travels with Alice Pak