Recommendation: Recommended as a buy.

Winery/Producer: Marco Ceddhini; Premariacco, Italy.

Grape Variety: Refosco.

Geographic Origin: Friuli, Italy.

Vintage: 2008.

Price: $21.00

Purchased From: The Caviste, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Pared With: Sipping with Maytag white cheddar cheese and toasted French bread.

Tasting:

He said: Sparkling clear, very dark ruby red color. Strong ripe cherry/blackberry and damp earth bouquet. Intense fruit, wet rocks and minerals in the taste and a long dry finish with lots of delicious acid that follows through in the finish. A powerful wine with lots of flavor and complexity. In a word it’s OUTSTANDING. Rich enough to chew on and a bouquet that is absolutely wonderful.

She said: Some wines are scrumptious right from the first taste and this is one of them. As soon as you see the dark red color you know there is serious wine tasting ahead. The fruity bouquet is delicious from the first sniff and persists onto the flavor and the long lasting finish with firm tannins. The wine has a medium body but the flavor is so great that all other considerations fade in importance. This is a wine you can chew.

Comments: An organic wine that is produced on the cool limestone foothills of the Alps in Northern Italy. This is the first Refosco we have tasted and it has opened a whole new dimension to our wine drinking. If you are adventuresome this is a wine to find and buy…you will not be disappointed!!!

Bar code: 8032927370845

Recommendation: Not recommended.

Winery/Producer:Ruffino; Pontassive, Italy.

Grape Variety: Blend

Geographic Origin: Umbria, Italy.

Vintage: 2011

Price: $27.00

Purchased From: Village Tavern; Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Pared With: Portobello mushroom sandwich, sweet potato fires, cold slaw.

Tasting:

He said: Clear, straw color. Fragrant apple and hints of floral bouquet. Crisp, fresh, nice apple and mineral taste that goes right through the finish. A very good balance of taste and acidity. The floral hints in the bouquet follow through to the finish and add a very refreshing nature to the wine. Nice Italian white blend.

She said: I didn’t think I would like a wine with a mineral flavor but I was wrong. It was as delicious before lunch as well as with it. I could smell a hint of floral bouquet occasionally but the mineral taste of the wine predominates for me. Equally good with the sweet potato fires as with the mushroom sandwich, this wine was medium dry with medium body and a pleasant acidity that lasted into the mineral tasting finish

Comments: We had this wine at a restaurant, but at the wine store price it would be a good value and a recommended buy.

Bar code:

Recommendation: Quality wine at a bargain price.

Winery/Producer: Cascina Barisel; Canelli, Italy.

Grape Variety: Foravia.

Geographic Origin: Monferrato, Italy

Vintage: 2011.

Price: $11.00

Purchased From: The Caviste, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Pared With: Sipping

Tasting:

He said: Very light, crystal-clear straw color. Ripe (over-ripe) crab apple bouquet. Strong damp earth, apples and hints of licorice and pear that continue through the long finish. Fresh with smooth, balanced acid, and very pleasant taste. It was great as a sipping wine but we’re going to have the second bottle with fish. If you can find this wine it’s worth the effort. This is a quality Italian white at a bargain price.

She said: Delicate green apple bouquet and flavor that I fully appreciate without food to detract. No point in overwhelming a lovely smooth, medium dry wine with strong food. The medium body and acidity last into the finish. How about a dinner with white fish? Yumm.

Comments: This Cascina Barisel wine is Imported by Piedmont Wine in Durham, North Carolina so it may only be available in the vicinity of Durham. The Piedmont Wine website (www.piedmontwineimports.com/) does list some restaurants and wine shops where this wine is available.

Bar code: No bar code

Second bottle tasting, see the first tasting post for the description of both the first and second tasting.

Recommendation: Recommended as a buy.

Winery/Producer:Seven Hills Winery; Walla Walla, Washington.

Grape Variety:Pinot Gris.

Geographic Origin: Umpqua Valley, Oregon.

Vintage: 2011.

Price: $16.19

Purchased From: Wine Merchants Gourmet; Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Pared With: Ripe strawberries

Tasting:

He said: Almost clear color. Light citrus bouquet. Smooth, tart lemon taste and medium length finish. This is just a delicious wine with a wonderful (just right) acid finish. We drink a lot of Italian Pinot Grigio and this is not as fruity, but has a smooth tartness of Granny Smith apple that is very pleasant.

She said: Sipping wine and eating strawberries is a treat if the wine is “just right” and this wine is. Mild bouquet and flavor, smooth and dry with nice tasty finish. No bite and delicious from start to finish. Cheddar cheese with it was a bust as was dark chocolate. This is a very nice wine at $16 but a bit pricey.

Comments:

Bar code: 73156400017

Recommendation: Not recommended

Winery/Producer:Cruz Alta; Mendoza, Argentina

Grape Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Geographic Origin: Mendoza, Argentina

Vintage: 2010

Price: $14.45

Purchased From: Total Wine; Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Pared With: Maytag blue cheese pasta and Caesar salad with garlic

Tasting:

He said: Very dark opaque red color. Light fruity bouquet (nothing to get excited about). Nice dark berry, cherry and current taste that continues into a dry, earthy finish with lots of tannins and acid. The fruit taste is good but it drops off very quickly. Cabernet was a very good pairing with this dinner, the blue cheese softened the wine and made it very drinkable. It’s a “not bad” wine, but I would rather spend $5 more and get a better Cab. Dark chocolate overwhelmed it.

She said: The very dark red color belied the lack of bouquet and flavor. Nothing bad but the wine lacked distinction. Blah bouquet and flavor, light body, dry but with pleasant tannins and lasted into the long finish. Decent for a cheap Cab but not worth the $14.45. If you can spend a bit more for a good Cab or change gears and find a good cheaper one you’ll be better off.

Comments:

Bar code: 722358006168

Recommendation: Not recommended.

Winery/Producer: Ferrari Carano Mountain Winery; Geyserville, California

Grape Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Geographic Origin: Alexander Valley, California

Vintage: 2010

Price: $25.00

Purchased From: The Village Tavern (wine paring dinner)

Pared With: Baked chicken with rosemary and garlic, sweet potatoes and peas.

Tasting:

He said: Dark red color. Dark bery bouquet with hints of alcohol. Strong taste of ripe berry and cherry that continues into a medium length finish, but the tannins and acid linger. Good with the garlic and rosemary chicken. This is an OK wine, but surly not memorable. And, the acidity was just a little to much for me. At $25 I don’t recommend it.

She said: Loved it! The nice fragrant bouquet and flavor was full of berry; body was medium while acidity and tannins were moderate just like I like it. The only down side was a disappointing finish, too short and with a bit of sourness for such a tasty wine. For $25 I want a good finish too. A hoot with cheese and chocolate

Comments:

Bar code: 742651135198

Recommendation: Quality wine at a bargain price.

Winery/Producer: Chateau de la Vieille Tour

Grape Variety: 60% Sauvigon, 35% Semillon and 5% Muscadelle.

Geographic Origin: Bordeaux, France

Vintage: 2010

Price: $10.40 (We bought this one bottle from the discount bin for 20% off.

Purchased From: The Caviste, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Pared With: Maytage white cheddar cheese.

Tasting:

He said: Almost clear, maybe a tinge of straw color. Very light citrus bouquet, but a wonderful combination of citrus and fresh forest floor, with tad of ripe olive and licorice, that continues on into the medium finish. This has to be the easiest drinking wine ever. It’s as smooth as silk, delicious and VERY refreshing. With the smooth Maytag white cheddar it’s absolutely great.

She said:

Comments: We picked this wine to celebrate one son moving into a new house in Atlanta and the other son in California selling his house for more than the asking price. A milestone day and a memorable wine that was fitting the occasion.

Bar code: 3442980997524

Recommendation: Recommended as a buy.

Winery/Producer: Dacapo, Italy.

Grape Variety: Barbera.

Geographic Origin: Piedmont, Italy.

Vintage: 2010.

Price: $14.00

Purchased From: The Caviste, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Pared With: Parmesan chicken, garlic pasta with olive oil and Parmesan cheese, and broccoli and cauliflower mix

Tasting:

He said: Dark red, with a tad of brown color. Very light cherry and current in the bouquet. Strong fruit (cherry) and lots of fresh earth in the taste and medium dry finish. Wonderful balance of flavor/tannins/ and acid…actually it’s outstanding. VERY smooth and easy drinking. In the end this is a great wine at $14.00

She said: First sniff was indifferent; if it has a bouquet I missed it but the rest of the tasting experience was very good. The flavor was subtle and a bit overwhelmed by the taste of garlic in the pasta (five fresh cloves dug from the garden this week) so I don’t hold it against the wine. Once I finished the pasta things settled down and I could enjoy the wine. I love the finish which includes long lasting moderate tannins.

Comments:

Bar code:

Recommendation: Recommended as a buy.

Winery/Producer: Odile Verdier and Jacky Logel, France

Grape Variety: Gamay

Geographic Origin: Cotes du Forez; Loire, France

Vintage: 2011

Price: $11.70

Purchased From: The Caviste, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Pared With: BBQ chicken, oven fried potatoes and blue cheese slaw.

Tasting:

He said: Clear ruby red color (actually it’s a magnificent red color). Light earthy/floral bouquet. Wonderful ripe cherry taste that continues into the long dry finish. There is so much flavor in this wine it catches you by surprise and the earthiness in the wine combines so well with this flavor. The vibrant cherry taste is outstanding, the acid and tannins just right…and at this price it’s a real bargain.

She said: After a wonderful visit to our favorite wine shop, The Caviste in Winston-Salem, North Carolina we decided on this wine for our dinner of chicken barbecue. Not a great pairing. We know the wine was fabulous from our tasting at the wine shop; but the delicious fruity cherry flavor was overwhelmed by the strong flavors of the dinner. No problem, I scarfed down the dinner and enjoyed the wine afterwards!!! And what a treat. Smooth, dry with medium body and moderate tannins that linger into the long tasty finish. A bargain wine at $11.70; but don’t drink it with barbecue or strong blue cheese.

Comments: The Cotes du Forez wine region is located in the Loire Valley close to Burgundy and Gamay is the only grape planted. So if you like Beaujolais as much as we do, you will love this wine.

Bar code: (No bar code on the bottle)