WTN: Not quite dry

2005 Champalou Vouvray (Loire) Rich, flavorful, and slightly off-dry. This is quite yummy with the Dijon mustard-parm crusted chicken. Nice balance, good acidity, very refreshing. Even better on day 2 as lots more beeswax/honey complexity and palate heft has developed.

1999 Mumm Napa Grande Année Sparkling Wine (Napa) 60/40 pinot/chard. Orange blossom, bread dough, and honey aromas with fairly rich flavors of peach, plum, nuts, and a bit of vanilla. The midpalate is pretty non-existent but the touch of residual sugar (even though it’s only 0.9 dose) and grapefruit pith finish makes it a good match with spicy pork carnitas. Decent, not great.

2003 Saladini Pilastri Pregio del Conte (Marche IGT) A flavorful 50/50 blend of montepulciano and aglianico that carries some heft and raisiny quality of the vintage but also has enough acidity to match with grilled meats and full cheeses. Lots of ripe ripe dark fruit and licorice on the full palate with a hint of residual sugar and round tannins on the finish. Even though it spent 18months in barrique (edit...and in older slavonian barrels), I don’t find the new oak to be intrusive. Good every day red at a reasonable price ($13).

So you took a plunge on the Saladini, huh?

Sounds like a good deal---although that "touch of residual" mixed with the obvious new oak would give me a little pause.

Still, at that price...

Ya, I got the skinny from Brad and then tasted through the Saladini portfolio. This aglianco blend and the basic rosso piceno where the winners for me. And the oak isn't at all obvious. I was surprised when I heard from the pourer about the barrique treatment although I just read that the wine does spend part of the time in old Slavonian barrels. With the exception of the barrique, the wine making is pretty traditional...long maceration, slow fermentation, no pump overs. It's a decent balance here.

The rosso piceno superiore and a couple of more modern vineyard specific blends were far too oak infested. I'll have to write up the rest of them one of these days.

The new supply chain has knocked about $5 off a bottle. The basic rosso piceno is at $10..not bad at all. I was in Charlotte, NC last week and saw that the Total Wine chain has the full assortment as well.

Cool. I'll keep my eyes open for it.

Old Slavonian oak is okay with me. Okay in the sense that it's not oaky (ba-rum-bump).