Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Tour of Italy, part 2

Continuing all of the Italian wines I've had lately, I begin again in the Veneto. Up first are a pair of vintages of the same wine, the Allegrini Palazzo della Torre. This has been a favorite wine of mine for nearly a decade, as I believe my first vintage was the 1998. I still have some back vintages of the wine, as it actually ages quite well. As good as it has been, I think Allegrini has really upped the quality over the past few years. The 2004 was been my favorite young version of this when it first came out, and this latest bottle was just as good as usual. then I loved the 2005 as well, but, the 2006 vintage is really something - so fresh and full-bodied, yet refined. The wine can still be found for $20, and at that price continues to be a great bargain and a wine I will drink over and over.

Moving to Tuscany, I had the 2007 Argiano Rosso di Montalcino. Amazingly I found this wine locally for $16, another great bargain for a very good Rosso di Montalcino. This wine is pretty close to the 2007 Il Poggione, and at the price is a wine anyone who likes Sangiovese should seek out. It isn't a huge wine, but restrained and almost elegant. I have quickly gone and bought more.

Finally, I had the 2006 Villa Medoro Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. I haven't had too many wines from this region, and some of those I have had were "bargain" wines that really didn't offer much. This wine had a little more character, though I still wasn't blown away by it the first night. The second night it was better, and certainly an enjoyable wine that did more to show off the diversity of Italy. However, at the price similar to the other wines in this post, I'm just not so anxious to buy more.

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