It's quite obvious if you read through this blog that Italy has probably become my favorite country for wine production, partly because of the great variety of grapes and styles on offer. Over the past couple of weeks, I've had three great examples from various regions of this wonderful country.
Starting in the north, I had the 2006 Massolino Barbera d'Alba. As I've noted previously, this wine offers up a great example of this vintage with a freshness and elegance that makes it a winner (especially for the price). I'll definitely keep this in rotation as long as it remains available.
Moving to Central Italy, I had a bottle of the 2004 Angelini Val di Suga Rosso di Montalcino. Angelini is a producer that we spent a great deal of time tasting at VinItaly, and I was excited to try out the Rosso di Montalcino from this great vintage. The wine did not disappoint, offering some rich cherry flavors like a Brunello, though not with quite as much complexity. Not to say this wine was simple though - it's more than just a light easy drinker, and it also took some time to fully open up. The wine drank better on night two, suggesting a few years of aging may be best. I have one other bottle already in the cellar, so I will see how it holds up over the next few years.
Finally, the last of this Italian sampler came from the island of Sicily. The 2005 Morgante Nero d'Avola is a great example to introduce anyone to the indigenous grape of this island. I've had this wine in several past vintages, but for some reason it had been a while since I last had a bottle. The 2005 from Morgante is another solid effort, and it remains a very good value at around $15.
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