Posts Tagged ‘pizza’
Varietal: Blended Red Wine (44% Zinfandel; 34% Syrah; 22% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Region: California – USA
Cost: $12
Deep purple color with aromas of clove, berry, oak, and plum. Flavors of cherry, blackberry, and mocha all pair well with hamburgers, pizza, or beef in general.
Recommendations: I picked up this wine at a Fresh Market near my house while grabbing some food for the grill before my vacation, and had honestly forgotten it was there until last night when throwing a pizza in the oven and wanting a bottle of wine to go with it. Such a good pairing. The jammyness of the Zinfandel was great, and the wine in the mouth was nothing so much as juicy, with a nice smooth finish that made the Rosso incredibly easy to drink.
Paired with some pizza this is a great wine after a long day, and I could see it going great with burgers topped with cheese, bacon, and all your favorite fixings. For the price this is a wine you can afford to grab in bulk, and I would recommend doing just that as this is priced like a table wine, but drinks like something much better. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Merlot (90% Merlot; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Region: California – Livermore Valley – USA
Cost: $15
A darker red in color with aromas and flavors of blueberries, chocolate, and dark cherries with hints of cigarbox, brambles, and caramels. Lush in flavor with a subtle tannic finish. Pairs well with gourmet pizza or grilled hamburgers.
Recommendations: I was quite thrilled when Concannon sent me this bottle as I’ve been trying to delve more into Merlot having had bad experiences with it in the past, but better ones recently. After letting the wine settle for a week (I try to let any samples that get sent to me rest after being tossed around in shipping), I opened it on Friday night after a trip to the store with the wife as there was a distinct lack of food in the house.
Paired with a pizza topped with basil, sliced tomato, and buffalo mozzarella, the wine was a nice compliment, the subtle finish neither overpowering or underwhelming, and the notes of cherry and cigarbox being enjoyable both while eating the pizza, and after we were done and relaxing from a long week at work. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Sanviovese
Region: Italy
Cost: $10
Violets, berries, spices and leather on the nose of this garnet colored wine with flavors of ripe fruit that pair with pizza, pasta, and grilled meats.
Recommendations: I grabbed this bottle of wine at a local store because, quite frankly, the price point was too good to pass on for a Sangiovese that had been highly rated by The Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator in previous years. Also, as Chianti is my first love of red wine, I have a hard time walking away from any Sangiovese.
Paired with a meal of pasta with red sauce and ground Italian sausage, the dryness of this wine was a perfect compliment. A bit of ripe fruit on the palate does take the edge off the wine, making it enjoyable well after the meal is gone (my mark of a good wine), and the price means you can pick this wine up in bulk to keep around for any occasion.
If you’re not a fan of dry wines, you might want to pass on this one, but if you are a fan of Chianti or any dry wine, or are looking to get into them, this is absolutely one you should pick up – easily one of the best values I’ve found for any red wine.
Varietal: Blended Red Wine (Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc)
Region: California – Sonoma – USA
Cost: $19.50
Deep purple coloring with aromas of berry fruits. Blueberry, blackberry, chocolate, vanilla, and smooth oak are found on the palate. Pair this medium-bodied wine with pasta, ravioli, pork barbecue, meatloaf, and even moderately spiced Middle Eastern food.
Recommendations: Taking a cue from the name, I shared this bottle with my wife and a friend of ours over a meal of cheese and meat pizza. This proved to be wise as the high alcohol content (14.2%/vol) needed the sauciness of the pizza to cut down the alcohol finish and make the wine much smoother and enjoyable.
The blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Franc was very enjoyable, with some pepper coming through, along with ripe berry. The deep purple color was impressive, and reminded me once again that the Cabernet Franc they grow in California is much different than what we grow in Virginia (where I live).
I certainly enjoyed this wine, and would recommend it so long as you’re enjoying it with a saucier meal such as pizza or pasta – the kind of meal that makes you want to invite family and friends over for a big meal – to cut the alcohol on the finish.
Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club for supplying the wine.
Varietal: Zinfandel
Region: California – USA
Cost: $10
Deep purple in color with an abundance of fruit on the nose. Subtle flavors with plum being the most prominent and a hint of pepper and alcohol on the finish. Pairs with BBQ, pizza, and pasta.
Recommendations: I had seen Gnarly Head on various store shelve and never picked it up, but my wife and I decided on this as we thought a Zinfandel sounded good, and the price was too good to pass on. Aromas of fresh fruit were prevalent on the nose, but not on the palate, where the flavors were subtle, with hints of plum.
A pepper finish had just a slight bit of alcohol, a very small bite considering the wine is 14.5% by volume. Paired with a pizza, this was a perfect wine. If you’re looking for something with a bit more pepper you might want to pass on this, but for a nice middle of the road Zinfandel to pair with a simple dinner, you really can’t miss with the Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel – especially for the price.
Find Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel Here
Varietal: Chianti
Region: Italy
Cost: $10
Ruby coloring with a smooth taste of fruit and just a hint of tannins at the end. Pair with pasta, pizza, roasted meat.
Recommendations: The wife and I picked this up while having dinner at Verde the other night as they were out of the Sauvignon Blanc we wanted, and this would pair well. I should preface this by saying, for anybody that hasn’t read this blog before, that I am a fan of Chianti. It’s probably the first wine that I really fell in love with and was certainly my introduction into red wines.
Now, all that being said, the Toscolo Chianti was not, by my standard, a Chianti. That’s not to say that it wasn’t made with the Sangiovese grape, but if the bottle hadn’t said Chianti on it, I would have thought it was something else. I honestly thought it had been labeled wrong and was actually a Tempranillo.
I’m not saying it wasn’t good with our meal of paninis and chips, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting. That being said, at $10, it’s not a complete waste – I wouldn’t pay more for it though. If you’re curious I’d say try it, but otherwise you can find a better Chianti for about the same price.
