Winter Wine Adventure
February 5, 2019
Passport 2019
March 7, 2019
2 ITALIAN WINES HIT THE SCENE
The Grapefather's double-barrelled wine machine has dropped two fantastic Italian wines: Barbera 2016 and Super Tuscan 2015.
Past vintages have won multiple awards. For Barbera we count 22 GOLD and higher. For Super Tuscan, 4 GOLD and 8 SILVER.
Barbera for The People
An Italian classic, Barbera is full-bodied but surprisingly light. It is meant to be enjoyed young (within 2-4 years). Barbera has "juicy" notes of strawberry and sour cherry. If you enjoy the mouthwatering acidity of white wines, then Barbera is your red. Try it chilled. Barbera enhances almost any dish—meats, cheeses, pastas, rustic pizza, mushrooms, vegetables. Because it's a wine that's easy to like and to share, Barbera has a growing circle of fans, even a local annual festival of its own.
Super Tuscan for Renegades
What happens when the head of a 600-year-old family Italian winery breaks with staunch Italian wine laws and uses an unsanctioned grape variety (gasp!) to make a higher class Chianti wine?
Piero Antinori rocked the wine world when he blended non-Italian Cabernet Sauvignon with the holy grail of Italian wines—Sangiovese—bringing to market a new “Super Tuscan” wine.
Other wine producers joined the rebellion because the new wine sold like crazy and at higher prices. (Also, well, this was the 1970’s and people didn’t want to follow the rules, they wanted the rules to follow them!)
By the 1990’s Antinori’s revolt did help change the laws. Today Super Tuscan style wines lead a movement that inspires winemakers to be free and creative in their craft.
Nello blends Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with Sangiovese (all estate-grown) to make his Super Tuscan Style wine. It has many fans and usually gets onto our TOP 5 list without breaking any rules.
Anyone who appreciates Nello's talent for blends knows his Super T belongs alongside his other legendary blends: Grapefather Red, Toscanello®, Dieci, and Drop Dead Red.