Paulo recently gave me a list of producers from Umbria to try, and I found this bottle at a local supermarket.
2005 La Carraia Sangiovese Umbria IGT
We drank this with grilled burgers topped with pesto and grilled sweet onions. The wine is dark ruby red in color. Very expressive nose with lots of red fruits, mainly cherry, and a little strawberry. Mixed in is a little oak spice, sandlewood and brown spices. The wine is medium bodied, with good acidity and a little pleasant bitterness to the tannin. It has appealing earthiness and a rustic mouthfeel, and went very well with the food.
After drinking this, I looked up some more info on the wine. I was surprised to find the co-owner of the winery was Ricardo Cotarella. The wine is 100% Sangiovese grown in Umbria. The winery is co-owned by the Gialetti family. The majority of the grapes from the estate go into the Orvieto Classico wine. There is also a Merlot/Cab Sauvignon blend called Fobiano and a Montpulciano wine called Tizzonero. The La Carraia seems to be the most basic red.
More info from the Winebow website:
Vineyards in Orvieto-Baschi, 1640 vines per acre,yields 3 tons per acre, soil is pebbly/ calcerous.
Fermented in stainless stell tanks for 15-20 days at 73-75 degrees, than aged in Nevers oak barrels for 3 months prior to bottling. Sorry, no info on the age or size of the oak barrels used.
5.1 grams/liter total acidity, 30 grams/liter dry extract, 13%abv.
I didn't find the wine soft, polished or excessively oaked to the detriment of the fruit flavors.
There is no merlot or cab to soften or muddle the Sangiovese flavors in the wine.
Very nice value for $11. I would buy this again.
2005 Alois Lageder Pinot Bianco Alto Adige-Südtirol
We made some New England style clam chowder with potatoes from the garden and some manilla clams. Clear straw color. Apple pinot blanc nose, some light minerals, a touch of grapefruit acidity, some glycerin adds body. A clean enjoyable wine, not terribly exciting but good with the food and easy on the pocket book at $10. 12.5% abv.
2006 Arca Nova Vinho Verde
A lot of sulfur when first opened. This blew off after 40 minutes. Honeydew melon, under ripe pineapple and a distinct salty nose. Frizzante with good acidity, airy body and some light minerals. Good summer sipper for $7, especially after the sulfur went away. Very good the next day too, not as rough in the mouth with the flavors more defined. 11.5% abv.
N.V. François Pinon Vouvray Brut
We drank this with some pasta and pesto which was a very decent match. Fine elegant bubbles. Honey and lemon and an earthy funk in the nose. Somewhat austere, acidic and very dry. Enjoyable and refreshing. $14.
1999 Louis Latour Meursault-Blagny 1er Cru Château de Blagny
Mature gold color. Lemon mint and nutty almond smells. Good body, decent acidity, some yellow apple fruit underneath the tertiary flavors. Good match with Dungeness crab and grilled white corn. I like the layering of flavors with this wine. I think this was $20 on sale 3-4 years ago. 13% abv.
2006 Erich & Maria Berger Grüner Veltliner
A glass went well with some potato salad and spicy cole slaw at a recent barbecue. Nice value at $9/liter. Lemon grapefruit floral aromatics, dry but with good body for a wine this inexpensive. Some light minerals add interest too. Finishes a little short, but still enjoyable. 13% abv.
2005 Domaine Andre Neveu Sancerre Le Grand Fricambault Silex
Enough rocks to chip a tooth on. Grey slate and chalk with some grassy gooseberry flavor, ripe with a bitter almost tannin like skin note. Nice fresh acidity and good depth of flavors. Not as drinkable on day 2.
A couple of recent reds.
2000 Reininger Cabernet Sauvignon
With baby back ribs. Drinking very well, a classic Walla Walla Cab. Leafy blackberry with a touch of bell pepper, oak nicely integrated, tannins very supple. Seems to be at peak right now.
2003 Domaine du Mas Blanc (Docteur Parcé) Collioure Clos du Moulin
I had no idea what to expect when I opened this wine, a red from Languedoc-Roussillon made in the Year of the Sun. Well this was a very pleasant surprise. I love this wine and found it not to be full of overripe cooked fruit I was expecting. I guess that is why you have to pull the corks. Made from 80% Mourvedre and 20% Counoise. Very expressive nose with loads of pepper spice and garrigue, earthy barnyard, plum and some kirsch flavors, nicely balanced with pretty good acidity and ripe sweet tannins. Long finish. I think it has great aging potential. 13.5% abv.
2005 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Beaujolais Cuvée l'Ancien Vieilles Vignes
Seemed off, maybe closed. 1/2 bottle left to try the next day.
Day 2: Little fruit, lots of bitter tannin. Not corked, but definitely not its best showing.
Best,
Marc