Category: Red Wine

Decugnano dei Barbi

Villa Barbi

Umbria Rosso

Cabernet Sauvignon 34% / Sangiovese 33% / Merlot 33%

2016 – 14% – $17

Acid – 1 out of 5

Dry – 4 out of 5

            For this review we’re heading back to my hand gesturing home land of Italia.  This time we’ll be in the region of Umbria, a region that unfortunately I have yet to visit.  And if this wine is any indication of what Umbria has to offer, I’ll be there on my next flight!  If this Umbria Rosso is representative of the wine that the region produces I will be bulking up on its wines immediately.

            In the glass, Villa Barbi has a beautiful ruby color with hints of dark fruits, tobacco, and oak.  On the nose as this wine opened up it turned to a more earthy smell – in a pleasant way – reminiscent of a warm summer morning when the dew is out in all its glory.

            As I drank this wine at times it felt like I was drinking a light carbonated wine.  And as unappealing as that may sound, it was fantastic.  In Italian, it would be described as “frizzante.”  This wine is super dry but not in a mouth smacking kind of way.  While very dry it’s an easy drinking wine with little to no acidity and is felt most on the back of your tongue.  I’m usually a fan of wines you feel more in the back of your throat but this was very enjoyable. 

            It just so happens that Umbria is well known in Italy for producing some of the countries best truffles.  And funny as it may sound, the more I drank this wine the more I wanted it paired with a dish of pasta with black truffles.  However, for my meal it did pair well with skirt steak.  Once again, this wine is terrific and easy to sit back and relax with. 

Value – Casual Night or Impressing Company

Taste – 3 out of 5

Overall – 3 out of 5           

Ornellaia

Le Volte

Toscana Italy

Merlot 67% / Cabernet Sauvignon 20% / Sangiovese 13%

2015 – 14.5% – $27

Acid – 3 out of 5

Dry – 4.3 out of 5

            If I could visit one country over and over again it would be Italy.  Italy has some of the most beautiful landscapes, foods, and wines.  My favorite thing about it is the ability to visit a different city, climate, or atmosphere each time you go.  It has so much to offer, from medieval towns to gorgeous coastlines, to trendy modern cities.  One of those regions to hold a special place in my heart is Tuscany.  Tuscany is not only known for its outrageous countryside, renaissance art and architecture, but some of the best wines in the world including the Brunello di Montalcino- my personal favorite. 

            Tuscany may be most well known for producing something called “Super Tuscan” wines.  Super Tuscans are full bodied, big, and rich.  And Ornellaia, Le Volte falls right into the Super Tuscan category.  Through the glass Le Volte has a very deep garnet color.  On the nose there are hints of tobacco, dark fruits, licorice, and spice.  There is no mistaking where this wine was produced. 

Smelling this wine brings back memories of being 10-years old sitting around the family table at a holiday get together (before the pasta fagioli worked its way through my grandfather).  Sitting there watching my uncles and cousins drinking jugs of table wine playing all kinds of card games.  The rooms filled with antipasto, bocconcini, calamari, ham, turkey, bowls on bowls of meat sauced pasta, and most importantly Neapolitan dialect that no proper Italian would understand.

            On first sip you can tell just how dry this wine is.  It gives you a mouth smacking bite.  Yes, it is quite bold like most Tuscans, but it’s not too overbearing.  As the wine continues to breathe you begin to feel it most in the back of your throat.  What this wine lacks in strong tannins it makes up in complexity on your palate.  There is no doubting that this is an old school rustic wine.  This is the kind of wine you only drink with food such as tomato based pastas and heavy protein meals.  It’s perfect to bring to that BYOB red sauce joint you’ve been meaning to check out.

            This is a fun wine and for under $30 it can’t be beat especially if you want to enjoy what Tuscany has to offer.  What I’m left with after finishing this wine are thoughts of the settings in which I’d want to drink it again.  I want to throw four bottles of Le Volte into a jug, invite my oldest relatives over, and make some pasta.  We’d sit around the table finishing the jug while playing Scopa until someone gets upset, curses in Italian (the classic – che cazzo e¢ freddo che fa¢), and flips the table… but only after every last drop of Le Volte is gone.

Value – Casual Night

Taste – 3 out of 5

Overall – 2.5 out of 5

Insurgente

Tinto

Dao Portugal

Touriga Nacional / Alfrocheiro Preto

2015 – 14% – $18

Acid – 1.8 out of 5

Dry – 2.7 out of 5

            A little over two years ago I had the privilege of visiting Portugal.  I fell in love with the structure and complexity of the wines that I experienced.  From the Ports of Douro to the Touriga’s of Dao.  Each one provided a new tasting note that exemplified how one small but geographically diverse country can produce such extreme differences in wine.  Some of my favorites were the wines that went along with the medieval, rich, sea forward cuisines of the Portuguese.   I’m still holding onto two Tinto’s from the Douro that miraculously made the voyage back unharmed.

            For this review we’re hitting the mountainous Dao region and let’s just say Dan’s disappointed.  We’ll also be joined by Dan’s parents for this write up…. But let’s take their thoughts with a grain of salt.  My father could drink a jug of Carlo Rossi and say it was the greatest thing ever and my mother could down a bottle of wine like it was water…  But hey, wine runs deep in these Fierro’s.  Miguele’s appreciation for this wine increased as his cheeks got rosier (he’s a man of few words – but he did spill his potatoes explaining how good this wine made him feel).  Diana was pretty much on board with what is to come in the remainder of this review…

But enough about the hue of my father’s face.  An assault on the senses, this wine surely lives up to its name.  Like most insurgents, it looks intimidating but can’t actually shoot straight.

            Insurgente has a bold dark purple look to it and in all honesty looks fantastic in the glass.  On the nose you catch strong dark fruit scents, most powerful being cherry and plum.  This wine leaves you with subtle but refreshing hints of dark chocolate.  Once again, on the nose this wine is very pleasant but that’s where my enjoyment of this wine ends.

            If you’re looking for a fruit forward wine with a bit of a tannic bite, this wine is perfect for you!  Other than that it’s a bit basic in my opinion.  It is what it is from first taste to last.  Really doesn’t leave you longing for more.  It’s there, you’re drinking it, so you might as well finish it.  But, no second bottle of this one please.  To be fair, it is a wine that’s well put together.  It is fruit forward with a bit of structure to it.  Not really my bag, but if you love fruit forward wines that are pretty easy to drink go buy a bottle of Insurgente Tinto.  I will not be!

Value – One Time Buy

Taste – 2 out of 5

Value – 2 out of 5

Domaine Edmond Cornu & Fills

Vieille Vignes

Ladoix France

Burgundy (Pinot Noir)

2013 – 13% – $30

Acid – 2.8 out of 5

Dry – 3.5 out of 5

My first wine blog!  Oh man!  I hope that if you happened to stumble across this you’ll get some enjoyment out of my excitement for wine.  The idea of starting a wine blog has always been in the back of my mind.  I just hadn’t found the inspiration to get the wheels moving, until the un-corking of this wine.  It’s a bottle I’ve had for a few months and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.  Now onto the important stuff….

Upon initial pour, the pale ruby color of this Pinot Noir is the first thing that strikes me.  It has the common color characteristics as most wines of its type.  On the nose I’m reminded of strawberry and raspberry but am mostly overcome by the wonderful freshness of this wine.  It has a strong fruity smell to it followed through with hints of nutmeg.

On the tongue, its freshness is the initial characteristic that hits me.  Funny as it sounds, I’m reminded of a beautiful spring day.  The flowers are blooming and the birds are a chirping!  From the start I knew this would be a phenomenal wine and after tasting it, my hunch is confirmed.  This wine is a bit silky right over the tongue and leaves a nice acidic bite in the back top half of the throat.  I’m a big fan of wines that have a long finish to them and develop a bit of depth to them as you let them open up in the glass, which this one does superbly.

This wine would pair well with light protein or game meals and pasta dishes low on acidity.  I would also drink this wine without food any day of the week.  What I’m most impressed with this wine is how well it opened up throughout my tasting process, along with just how fresh it was to smell and drink. 

Value – Impressing Company

Taste – 4 out of 5

Overall – 3.5 out of 5

So there’s my first wine blog, hope you enjoyed!