A Serious Wine Blog For the Not-So-Serious Drinker
2019 Chicharo Tinto (Tejo): Extremely pretty, but with a wild side (as in, wild herbs and wild berries). $NA B+
2015 Dom Bella Cabernet Franc (Dao): CF takes a Portuguese holiday and finds the climate more than suitable to its constitution. $NA A-
2020 Luis Pato Vinhas Velhas (Baga): Pepper, wild berries, delight, and a sense of elegance…
When I visited Celli in Italy’s Romagna, for a media tasting of some of the sub-area’s best wines, it was hot. And I don’t mean equatorial-Africa hot (I’ve been there, and it’s pretty hot). I mean more like Houston-in-early-August levels of hot. Like, 3rd ring of the 7th Circle of Hell hot. The heat wave…
2021 La Sabbiona ‘Guilia’ Passito (Albana di Romagna): A light, lithe showing of Romagna’s sweet honeyed dessert goodness. $37 A-
2021 Merlotta ‘Ombre di Luna’ (Albana di Romagna Passito): A floral explosion of lemon blossom & Bergamot, with a beguilingly soft and balanced palate landing. $NA A-
2021 Fattoria Zerbina AR Passito Riserva (Albana di Romagna): Jasmine and mandarins usher in this decadent, expressive, and expertly…
There’s a movement afoot in Italy’s Romagna to get Predappio Sangiovese—long the jewel in the crown of the region’s top reds, thanks to the diverse ochre and brown calcareous clay and yellow sand soils of its vineyards (thought to impart the wines with their distinct minerality—its own DOCG status. It’s a bit nascent for the…