Citra, Niro, Montepulciano, d’Abruzzo, Italy
This red wine is made with the Montepulciano grape which gives it a wonderfully rich red colour. It has a full bodied feeling that lasts a long time. There are aromas and flavours of sour cherry, pepper and spices and its very smooth with well integrated tannins.
Its a solid italian red wine that won’t let you down. Pair it with a steak or a beef roast diner and you won’t regret opening a bottle.
Oh its also Eur 6 a bottle, so great value.
Castello del Trebbio, Congiura, Bianco Toscana, Tuscany, Italy
Its unusual for a Tuscan white to be made with Riesling but this wine from Castello del Trebbio gains when adding it to the Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay grapes.
It has a wonderful straw colour with a fresh mineral aromas and flavours with apple and pears and notes of almonds and peach. There’s some complexity to this dry white and it would be well paired with seafood. A decent wine but not fantasic.
Piccini, Collezione Oro, Chianti Superiore, 2018, Italy
It was a while before I got Chianti, over price and over here was my view and luckily I tried others before this Collezione Oro from Piccini.
OK so its a dry, medium bodied and reasonably well balanced red wine. It has aromas of cherry, raspberry with flavours of blackberry and redcurrant and earthy notes in there. Its not bad but its not exciting, its note shouting at me to buy a case. Sure at about £10 its decent value but what if you spent a little more on something else?
From North East Italy this Pinot Noir shows that italy isn’t just about Prosecco.
Its not go a lot of flavour, there are hints of lemon, peach, brioche and dryness that makes it easy drinking but it feels more grown up. Good structure but not Champagne quality.
Its subtle in many ways and it went well with a starter of smoked salmon and with a cheese board. Well worth trying out although may be not worth a case of it.
Jako Wine, Brut, Pinot Noir, Sparkling, Italy
This Italian sparkling DOCG wine from La Montina is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.Its a very well crafted wine, very small bubbles, its dry and fresh with ripe fruit rather than a heavy dollop yeasty notes that you would get from Champagne.
We had it with Oysters and dressed crab, the acidity and flavour complimented the food and I did prefer it to Champagne. Well worth the £25 a bottle if you want something as good as the french can produce.
La Montine, Millestimato Brut Sparkling, 2012, Franciaorta DOCG, Italy
Italian wine gets a lot of mixed press and this red from San Marzano shows why.
This is a bold, dry red wine which is smooth and fruity. There are aromas of plum, blackcurrant, tobacco and leather with jammy fruit flavours. Its here that the wine for fails for me. The flavours are overtaken by the jamminess and this masks what should be a complex and fine wine. As it is its an OK red for a party in an impressive bottle.
At £20 a bottle its over priced.
San Marzano, Vindoro Negroamaro, 2015, Italy
Marks and Spencer, Alta Luna, Gewürztraminer, Italy
Chianti, Chianti, Chianti, the more I drink of it the more I see the point and this one from Cantine Leonardo da Vinci is pretty reasonable. Its a typical dry red with a chuck of tannins and plenty of red fruit flavours, raspberry, strawberry, cherry with vanilla and oak notes that have decent length. The taste is more pronounced that the aromas which I thought let it down a bit but the dryness is more than the fruit which for me, I would prefer the other way round.
Its £11 a bottle and that’s decent value, no outstanding but not bad.
Cantine Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo, Chianti Riserva, 2013, Italy
made with 100% Sangiovese from Tuscany this red from Lunadoro is a pretty tannic and bold. Reasonable amount of red fruit, redcurrant and cherry and medium in body and finish, its well suited to a BBQ. Its easy drinking and not the big red you might think of from Tuscany.
At £15 a bottle is a bit overpriced. £10 or less is the right price for this, at £15 I would want more on all levels.
Lunadoro, Prugnanello, Rosso di Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy
Tuscany chucks out hundreds of different great quality wines and a lot more good wines each year and this Poggio Badiola, Toscana is the latter. Its a blend of 70% Sangiovese, and 30% Merlot and it gives you aromas of black fruit such as blackberries, black cherries with spice and tobacco. These follow into the flavours but there’s also a toasty under tone in there I think. The finish a bit short and not quite as fully flavoured as I would like, even at £14 a bottle. This medium body, dry red is better with food, pizza, meat dishes or hard cheese.
Mazzei, Poggio Badiola, Toscana, 2015, Tuscany, Italy