Posts Tagged ‘sicilian wine’
Varietal: Blended Red Wine (70% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Cabernet Franc)
Region: Sicily
Cost: $43
Dark red color with aromas of wild berry, black cherry, leather, earth, and mineral. Palate carries over the flavors with the addition of spice and balsamic notes. Pairs well with meaty pasta, meats, and some cheeses.
Recommendations: This bottle was given as a gift to me, and I have to say it was pretty enjoyable. I had been holding off on opening it until I could pair it with something Italian in nature, and I finally got around to it last Friday. My wife decided to make these lasagna rolls that are stuffed with Italian sausage and ricotta cheese, then topped with red sauce and mozzarella and thrown in the oven to bake. Very tasty.
As for the wine itself, the dark color was appealing in the glass, and the aromas of berry and black cherry with a hint of earth were enticing. On the palate, I continued to get black cherry, and a bit of the spice did come through at the finish for me. Nice tannins on the finish made it a great pairing with the lasagna rolls. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Blended Red Wine (50% Nero d’Avola; 50% Merlot)
Region: Italy – Sicily
Cost: $14
Intense red colors with hints of purple featuring aromas of cherry, sweet spices and tobacco with balanced tannins on the palate. Pairs well with pasta with meat sauce, braised beef, juicy steak.
Recommendations: When this wine showed up for me I instantly started thinking of what to pair it with. The bottle itself recommends pasta with meat sauce, and given my love of Italian-style food, I was quick to agree. More purple than red in the glass, with a good tannic structure, the high alcohol content (14%) does demand that you pair the wine with something to help take the edge off.
That being said, allowing the wine to open up (either by decanting or just letting the bottle sit for a bit) takes the edge off the wine and makes it a very enjoyable sipping wine, especially with the flavors of crushed fruit that came through for me after it opened up. Read the rest of this entry »
