We tried this red last night:
1. Tenute Rubino oltreme IGT: Salento (Susamaniello; www.TenuteRubino.com; www.VinityWineCompany.com Emeryville; Frmtd & aged in steel; 13.5%) Dino Capriotti/RubinoLuigi/Brindisi 2012: Very dark color; quite fragrant Grenache-like/blackberry/boysenberry slight smokey/pungent rather attractive nose; soft lush/ripe boysenberry/Grenache-like/grapey/plummy slight earthy/alcoholic flavor w/ light/bitey tannins; long soft very ripe/lush strong plummy/boysenberry/Grenache-like/jammy finish w/ light/ripe/bitey tannins; no hot-climate character at all; a tasty/clean big fruit very International in style red at a fair price. $20.00 (WoP)
_____________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Susamaniello: This is a "blending" grape variety in Apulia near Brindisi. Which means it's a grape that can't stand on its own, usually. It is identified as an "ancient" grape that maybe came from Greece or Croatia. DNA indicates it's a natural cross between a Apulian table grape and Garganega and that it's closely related to Sangiovese. At any rare, it's a pretty rare grape. It's usually blended w/ Negroamaro and MalvasiaNera.
I rather liked this wine for its effusive fruity character very much like a Calif Grenache buut perhaps a bit too International in style.
Tom