I do love an interesting wine label. Sometimes you’re going to get a not so great wine inside, other times it’s a great wine. Nothing starts a conversation at a social get together faster than a quirky wine label. True story. Bring a bottle of wine with an interesting label, and the questions will start pouring in. It’s happened to me a few times.
Here is a picture of my very first new wine for 2019. It comes from Verona, Italy, the home of Romeo and Juliet. It’s a Merlot dominant blend, with Corvina and Croatina, a grape I thought I was trying for the very first time, until I found out it’s also known as Bonarda. Both Corvina and Croatina are grapes widely used for blending in parts of Italy. And even though you may be on the wine budget in January, this wine is only $17 per bottle.
This wine I’ve written about before as it was one of the pleasant surprises I found at the Festival of Wines back in September. This wine featuring the face of the mighty lion is a delicious Pinotage from South Africa, and it’s a delicious full bodied wine that comes in under $16.
The bottle featuring the giraffe, is the dry red blend, also coming in under $16 per bottle. I can’t seem to find online what’s in the blend, but it was easy to drink and very pleasant, and a great price point.
How often do you see an elephant riding a bicycle? This interesting wine is a Zinfandel out of the Puglia region of Italy, normally where Zinfandel is called Primitivo. Another unique fact about this wine is that it is fermented and aged in American oak, which is unusual for Italian winemakers. It comes in at $20 a bottle and is a great dinner wine.
You are never going to believe the price point on this French wine. It’s under $14 a bottle and so good and so easy to drink. It was a Christmas gift from my friend Sandra, and it was so good, I will be buying it again and again. The winemaker says this 2017 version of the La Vieille Ferme Red Wine is the best in 30 years. Apparently it was one of the driest growing seasons, with optimal harvest conditions and a small yield, which in the wine world means better quality. It’s a blend of Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah and was kept in both vats and large oak barrels for only 10 months, so it’s not an oaky wine. Great wine at a great value is a great way to kick off a new year of wine.
I drank that wine after my handsome nephew won his second game 2 – 1, at our Ice Jam Hockey Tournament where these underdogs were undefeated after 2 games.
Till next week, Cheers
Darlene
Wine-It’s Just My Opinion 