Rosso Conero is the Montepulciano-based wine from the region where my grandparents were born. It's always been somewhat hard to find in this country, but in recent years a few more have made it to the U.S. Unfortunately, the ones that make it here tend to be of the new, "international" style, which means harvesting riper than traditionally, blending in some damn Cabernet or Syrah (or something else that isn't from there) sometimes (which actually causes it to lose the authorization to be called Rosso Conero), and using small French oak barrels for ageing instead either large Slavonian oak casks or non-wood tanks. And as a result, most of the new-fangled ones suck. (Well, maybe not in a technical sense, but in the sense that they're inauthentic.)This one is a spot-on, traditional styled Rosso Conero that tastes like it should. Which means balanced, a tad rustic, and great with food.
Deep, plasma-like ruby (the Montepulciano is a deeply-colored varietal). Intense nose of rich gravelly soil, smoke notes, and underneath it all, deep dark berries. Mouthfilling and with a load of soft but noticeable tannin, this wine really packs a lot of rich flavor, mostly of earthy blackberry fruit and smoky minerally notes. Decent acidity. Really nicely done. Not the most complex wine, but that's not what it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be great with food, like the Pollo alla Romana I'm making tonight. A-. Imported by Grappoli Imports, Glenburnie, MD. My brother gave this to me, and he said it was around $15, which would make it a great buy.
No comments:
Post a Comment