I've got a bit of a backlog of notes for more noteworthy wines I'd like to get up at some point, but figured the best way to get back into it was to post what I'm drinking each week if it merits it. This is only the second Lagrein that has ever crossed my path, and oddly, the first one from Italy. I previously had one by Imagery, a CA winery that specializes in offbeat grapes. My previous experience with the CA example indicated a distinctive wine, but one that I thought at the time was dominated by a New World fruit profile. Turns out that fruit profile might just be characteristic of the grape. This one has quite a nice painting on the label.
Dipinti, Lagrein, Trentino 2010
Dark reddish-purple. Solid nose, with ripe dark fruit, some floral aromatics, and a nice sense of stoney depth. On day one, behaves a lot like a Australian Shiraz, with a jammy fruit profile, and not a lot of distinctive character, frankly - although with air it reveals some more Italianate qualities. On day two however, its true personality is revealed: ripe and somewhat dense blackberry, plum, and cranberry, with floral aromatics, some orangey acidity, prominent notes of bitter almond, anise, and some nice stoney / black soil earthiness giving a sense of depth. Medium-full bodied, with an almost but not quite jammy fruit profile nicely balanced by prominent Italianate acidity. It certainly is interesting, and $11.50 is a good value for a taste of something off the beaten path. * * 1/2 [8/27/12]