The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine of the week: Pico Maccario Barbera d'Asti Berro 2010

It's more difficult to make quality cheap red wine than it is to make quality cheap white wine, which is always one of the challenges that the Wine Curmudgeon faces in finding a red to serve as the wine of the week. Complicating the issue this summer is Dallas' record-setting heat wave. I'm dedicated to what I do, but 14 1/2 percent red wines and 105-degree temperatures do not agree with each other, especially when I have to taste three of four wines at one time.

Thankfully, several wine regions still produce lighter and less alcoholic red wines, so I've been touring Spain and Italy this summer. Which, of course, I do a lot anyway, but I've been paying more attention over the last couple of months.

That's how I found the Berro ($10, purchased), stuffed on the shelf at what is probably Dallas' best Italian wine retailer (and wonderfully grungy and old-fashioned as well). It's from the Piedmont region and made with the barbera grape, which produces more rustic kinds of wines.

The Berro fits that description well. It was a little choppy toward the end, with too much oak showing (though that may eventually go away), but otherwise all was as it should be -- sour cherry fruit, not especially heavy and low in alcohol at just 12 1/2 percent. The Berro needs food, like barbecue or burgers, and don't be afraid to chill it for 20 or 30 minutes. No, it's a not a fruity, New World-style merlot that you'll hardly notice going down, but that's not what I was looking for.

Mini-reviews 27: Toad Hollow, J pinot gris, Santi, Round Hill

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. This month, in honor of the record-setting temperatures across much of the U.S., heat wave wines:

• Toad Hollow Chardonnay 2010 ($15, sample): Frankly, given how disappointing the current vintage of the Toad Hollow rose is, I was worried about the winery. But the chardonnay, aged without oak, is up to its usual standards. More pear than green apple, but solid and winning throughout.

• J Vineyards Pinot Gris 2010 ($15, sample): Another fine effort, with lime fruit (though it seemed a touch sweetish this time), with a clean middle and some mineral on the finish.

• Santi Soave Classico 2010 ($12, sample): Unimpressive. Very New World in style (sweet apple fruit) without any of Soave's grace or style.

• Round Hill Chardonnay Oak Free 2010 ($12, sample): This wine deserves a real review, but I'm still waiting -- after several calls and emails -- to hear from the winery about availability, so it gets a mini-review. Lots of fresh pear and green apple with refreshing crispness. Highly recommended, assuming you can find it.

Wine of the week: Fattoria dei Barbi Brusco 2008

Don't let the longish Italian name intimidate you -- this is well-made, wonderfully priced red wine from a top Italian producer.

The producer is Fattoria dei Barbi, which has been around Tuscany for centuries and makes very well-regarded and expensive Brunello. The wine is called Brusco ($14, sample); the name refers to both Tuscan slang and a love triangle involving a couple of outlaws and a married woman.

What do you need to know about this sangiovese? First, that you can rarely go wrong by buying the least expensive wine made by a quality winery. Second, that it's very Tuscan, with lots of acid, enough cherry fruit to be recognizable, and an affinity for food -- grilled meat, tomato sauces, and the like. Third, it has lowish alcohol, so you can drink it and not feel overwhelmed.

How much did the Wine Curmudgeon enjoy this wine? I tasted it with Alfonso Cevola, the Italian Wine Guy, and Raffella Federzoni, the Barbi export manager, at a surprisingly good pizza place in Dallas. And I could have spent the entire afternoon drinking the Brusco, eating pizza, and talking about Italian wine.

Mini-reviews 25: Moet, El Coto, Martin Codax, Pecorino

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. This month, a couple of roses to close out rose week.

• Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Rosé 2002 ($80, sample): Classic in style, with lots of acid and fantastic bubbles. Could probably age for a couple of years more to give the fruit a chance to show. A fine gift for someone who appreciates Champagne.

• El Coto Rioja Rosado 2010 ($10, sample): Much more New World than Spanish in style, with lots more fruit (strawberry) than a Spanish rose would have. Having said that, it's still dry and a fine, simple, fresh rose for summer.

• Martín Códax Albariño 2009 ($15, sample): Spanish white had lemon fruit and was a little fresher than usual, which was welcome. But it's still $2 or $3 more than similar wines.

• Cantina Tollo Pecorino 2009 ($16, purchased): This white was bright and Italian, which means not that much fruit (pears?), balanced acid, and long mineral finish. Highly recommended.

Mini-reviews 23: Shoofly, Primaterra, Stag's Leap, Bella Sera

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.

• Shoofly The Freckle 2008 ($14, sample): This Australian white Rhone blend is starting to show its age, but does have pleasant honey floral aroma, sweet apple fruit at the back, and a peach pit finish.

• Primaterra Primitivo 2008 ($10, purchased): This Italian red has an Old World beginning and a sweetish black fruit New World-style back. There's nothing really wrong with it, but it's not the Layer Cake.

• Stag's Leap Artemis 2003 ($40, sample): This is classic and elegant Napa cabernet sauvignon at a time when consumers expect trendy and pushy Napa cabernet. That those consumers don't appreciate it is their loss.

• Bella Sera Pinot Grigio 2009 ($8, sample): Simple, decent, and surprisingly pleasant Italian white wine. This won't offend anyone, which is saying a lot for pinot grigio at this price.

Wine of the week: Notorius 2009

The Wine Curmudgeon has found a flaw with this wine. It doesn't have a screwcap. Otherwise, it's pretty close to a perfect $10 wine.

Some two years ago, the Notorius was the first great, cheap Sicilian wine that I tasted, and it led to even more great, cheap Sicilian wines. The 2009 vintage of the Notorius ($10, purchased) has much of what the 2007 did: a richness not usually associated with wines at this price; a clean, long finish, and subdued lemon fruit. There's also some spiciness I don't remember from the 2007, as well as new, well-done, U.S. consumer friendly packaging.

Don't be intimidated if you don't recognize grillo, the grape used in the wine. It's native to Sicily and has been around for centuries as a grape in marsala, but only recently has been successfully turned into table wine. It's a seafood and grilled chicken kind of grape, and would also pair with vegetarian main courses. I drank it with couscous flavored with onions, mushrooms, and saffron, and it did quite nicely.

• Notorius 2007 review: "More complexity than the usual cheap Italian wine."

Wine of the week: Layer Cake Primitivo 2008

The Wine Curmudgeon is never quite sure what to make of the Layer Cake wines. A year-old review of the shiraz was one of the most popular posts on the blog in 2010, and it's still getting comments. Is it the quality of the wine that elicits so much enthusiasm, or the quality of the label, what with it featuring a chocolate cake?

For the primitivio ($12, sample) the answer is the quality of the wine. It's made in Italy, but done in a decidedly New World Style -- lots of oak and lots of dark black fruit, with vanilla thrown in for good measure. But it also offers plenty of traditional zinfandel-style spice and brambliness, which helped balance the wine -- and the alcohol is only 13 1/2 percent. Another point in its favor: I tasted the wine about a year ago, and it wasn't as interesting as this. Another year of bottle aging seems to have helped.

Why the zinfandel reference? Because primitivo is apparently the same grape, though there is still some debate about the subject. In this, too many Italian primitivos I've tasted, including one the other night to compare to the Layer Cake, go whole hog for the New World zinfandel style without understanding what's involved. It's not a pretty sight.

Pair this with almost any Italian-American red sauce dinner (I did Mark Bittman's take on chicken parmigiana).