The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine of the week: Fattoria La Valentina Cerasuolo 2010

The wine of the week, which usually posts on Wednesday, runs today because of the July 4 holiday. The blog's schedule will return to normal next week.

The Wine Curmudgeon is criticized regularly because I have standards. Just because a wine is cheap does not mean it doesn't have to be well made and varietally correct. Or, as my pal Tim McNally put it the other day: "There are cheap wines, and they have a place. Then there are wines that are made cheaply, and they don't have a place at all."

The La Valentina ($7, purchased) is firmly and unequivically one of the former. In a perfect world, whenever someone sends me a tart email or leaves a snide comment on the blog about my insistence that a California appellation, cute label and too much fruit does not make a quality wine, I would pour them a glass of this.

This is a surprisingly complex rose made from the montepulciano grape in the Abruzzi region, east of Rome (and not to be confused with the Montepulciano region of Tuscany, home to many high-priced wines). It's not just refreshing, but offers some zip and crispness. Look for strawberry fruit and even a bit of citrus finish.

It's a perfect porch wine, and will go with almost anything you can think of for a July 4 picnic. Highly recommended, and candidate for the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame.

More about Fourth of July wine:
• Fourth of July wine 2012 
• Wine of the week: Louis Tete Beaujolais-Villages 2010
• Wine of the week: Luc Pirlet Pinot Noir Barriques Reserve 2010

Expensive wine 40: Pio Cesare Barbaresco 2007

Every once in a while, the Wine Curmudgeon is lucky enough to meet someone like Pio Boffa, whose family has owned Italy’s Pio Cesare in the Piedmont for 130 years. The only thing more interesting than the conversation was the wine.

Every wine we had (even the Oltre, which is made for U.S. palates), was worth writing about. And I’ll probably get to several of them over the next couple of months. My favorite, though, was the Barbaresco ($65, sample). It’s not enough to say that this is classic Barbaresco that will only get better with age and in 30 years should be a gorgeous wine. That’s what all great Barbaresco should do.

Rather, what struck me about this wine is that it was greater than the sum of its parts. All of the things a great Barbaresco requires were there – the cherry fruit (almost sweet, believe it or not); the black pepper spice and Italian acidity; and the mineral finish that you can still taste a couple of swallows later. But they weren’t what made it what it was. There was something else going on that was difficult to pin down. If that seems too vague to make sense, then accept it as part of the mystery of a great wine.

Frankly, given how much ordinary wine costs $65, this is a bargain. And, as Boffo reminded me several times during lunch, though this wine will improve with age, it's accessible and ready to drink now. Think rib eye and a Father’s Day dinner. Highly recommended, and one of the best ones I have ever had.

Mini-reviews 35: Anne Amie, Chianti, Raimat, Cline

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

• Anne Amie Estate Riesling 2009 ($19, purchased): Lots of petrol on the nose, acid and lime fruit to balance what sweetness there is, and a nice slate-y finish. It's not what I expected -- a little more sweet and not as honeyed, but that's more my problem than the wine.

• Fattoria Montellori Chianti 2009 ($13, sample): Thin but adequate, with black pepper and some red fruit. But there are better examples of Chianti that cost less.

• Raimat Castell de Raimat Albarino 2011 ($8, purchased): Simple, basic wine with lemon and some varietal character, but won't be confused with better examples of albarino. A decent value and something to keep on hand if you want a glass for dinner.

• Cline Pinot Noir Cool Climate 2010 ($18, sample): Lots of red fruit (cherry and strawberry?), but not overly sweet, with some pinot earthiness and character. Just not sure if it's $18 worth of wine.

Wine of the week: Villa Farnia di Farnese Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2010

This wine cost nine bucks. How do the Italians do it? Their economy is in shambles and the euro is killing the dollar. If this was French wine, it would cost $15 or $18. The Wine Curmudgeon is not complaining, of course. I'm just continually and pleasantly surprised by the quality and value so many Italian wines offer.

The Farnese (purchased) was exactly what I was hoping for when I bought it. There is soft white fruit in the middle (an English critic described it as "gently fragrant," which is why Engish wine writing is so much fun), low alcohol (12 percent), not a lot of acid, and a kind of stony finish. In this, it's a wonderful antidote to all the mass-produced, turpentine-like pinot grigio that we're told we're supposed to like and that everyone seems to be making these days. Right, Drew B.?

Pair this not only with seafood, but spicy food. That's what I did (chicken tamales with green sauce), and it worked wonderfully. And, for those of you keeping track of grape varieties, there is apparently a difference between the trebbiano grape and the grape that is called trebbiano in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The former is more or less ugni blanc, one of the Wine Curmudgeon's old pals, while the latter is something called bombino bianco. Maybe I can get the Italian Wine Guy to explain the difference.

Mini-reviews 32: Antinori, Marques de Caceres, Souverain, Parlay

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

• Antinori Pèppoli 2008 ($27, sample): Modern style of Chianti, with more red fruit in the middle. But still a fine wine -- balanced and fresh. The price is problematic, though.

• Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Blanco 2009 ($8, purchased): Traditional style, so not much fruit, and a little more rustic than California. Offers more than than $8 worth of wine, and more than suitable for a weeknight dinner.

• Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($22, sample): Grocery store quality -- thin, flat and uninteresting, with little terroir. Seem to remember this producer being much better than this.

• Parlay The Bookmaker 2005 ($20, sample): Lots of sweet black fruit in the middle of this red blend, but very well made with a long chalky finish and sturdy tannins. Not my style of wine, but well done nonetheless.

Wine of the week: Coltibuono Chianti Cetamura 2009

The Wine Curmudgeon has always wondered how to approach Chianti, which is not only the one Italian red wine that most Americans know, but the one Italian red wine that wine snobs turn their noses up at. If I review it, I run the risk of alienating both groups -- a neat trick, of course, but right up my alley. The former would think the wine was too obvious for them, and the latter would think I was naive.

But that hasn't stopped me before; there are handful of reviews and a variety of references to Chianti on the site (and, quickly, Chianti is the region in Tuscany where the wine is made, using mostly the sangiovese grape). And it won't stop me now, because the Coltibuono ($10, purchased) is well-made wine that offers lots of value.

In this, it's a simple, young, lighter Chianti with big dollop of cherry fruit (which apparently comes from a small percentage of the canaiolo grape, which also softens the wine). But there is still the telltale Italian acid, which means the wine cries out for tomatoes, pork and cheese. Or, in other words, pizza. I drank it with olive and tomato bruschetta, and that was terrific, too.

Mini-reviews 31: Carmel Road, Campodelsole, Wine Guerrilla, Embotellado

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month (Thursday this month because of the holiday):

• Carmel Road Liberated Chardonnay ($16, sample): Unoaked chardonnay that is fresh, clean and crisp. Holds its 14.1 percent alcohol well, and is pretty much a value at this price.

• Campodelsole Sangiovese 2008 ($5, purchased): As The Italian Wine guy put it: "That $5 wine should be $12. But we don’t know how to sell it to Americans. So we are discounting it while it is still good. Our gift to you." Earthy and old-fashioned; needs food.

• Wine Guerrilla Rebel Cru 2009 ($25, sample): Powerful zinfandel red blend with massive fruit, almost 15 percent alcohol and very little subtlety. If you like that style of wine, you're going to love this. Excellent example of post-modern California winemaking.

• Embotellado Rioja 2010 ($12, sample): Lots of red fruit in the middle. Nothing really wrong with it if you want a fruit forward wine that tastes like Australia but comes from Spain.