Tom and Melody’s wine blog

Our son Tony gave us this wine for our birthdays. This Castello della Paneretta Chianti Classico 2002 is a deep, ruby red with a medium body. The nose is red cherries, vanilla, with a touch of tobacco. On the palate is red cherries, dark chocolate, plums, and luscious tannins. What more could you ask for in a wine? Tony really did a great job choosing this wine for us. Thanks, Tones!

Today is Tommy’s 24th birthday. He was born around 9:30 a.m. on April 6, 1984. Both Tommy and Tony will be coming to dinner at around 8:00 p.m. tonight. I have a cast-iron skillet in the oven with red potatoes that have been tossed with chopped garlic, rosemary, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and olive oil. On the stove is a skillet of highly-seasoned chicken that I browned and is now simmering. I have fresh baby-spinach leaves waiting to sautee and a loaf of Italian crusty bread for the oven. Oh, and a pan of freshly-baked dark-chocolate-walnut brownies. This is Tommy’s birthday dinner!

This wine is delicious and will be a great accompaniment to our dinner.

This Cetamura Chianti 2005 from Tuscany is 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo grapes. The nose is pleasant with flowers, herbs, and berries. On the palate is blackberries with zing. By “zing” I mean there is a subtle fizzy quality to this wine, which will probably subside as it breathes. It is medium bodied with lots of fruit and supple tannins.

Tom chose this wine for our Friday night (post martini) to go with our dinner of angel-hair pasta with bolognese sauce and steamed spinach. We are both happy it is Friday night. Trigger seems happy, too, as she relaxes next to me on my chair.

Tom selected this Aquila D’Oro Chianti 2006 to accompany our dinner of angel hair pasta with fresh tomato sauce (made from tomatoes from the garden) and steamed broccoli. It is an easy-drinking chianti without being too light. It is fruity but tannic. This will go well with our pasta dinner tonight.

It is getting cold in Michigan! There is a chance of snow tomorrow. Trigger is on my lap (and she loves the polar fleece throw that is covering us, too). I was grateful for daylight savings time this morning because the morning was brighter than of late. But driving home from work I needed my headlights and it was dark as dark can be. Well, you can’t have it both ways!

This Aquila D’Oro Chianti 2006 is a real value wine from Trader Joe’s. The color is purple and the body is light. The aroma is metal and cloves. (The aroma brings back memories of the monkey bars at my little two-room schoolhouse. This is very pleasant!) The taste is lovely; it is earthy and woodsy. There is fruit but it is not jammy. It is quite tannic. This will go well with our spaghetti dinner.

Tom: This Aquila D’Oro [Golden Eagle] Chianti 2006 is very nice. It has a rich, organic bouquet and taste: a certain yeastiness that seems indicative of chiantis. A nice fruit flavor. Very drinkable.

This Villagiachi Chianti Vendemmia 2005 is light and fresh tasting. The color is ruby red and the nose is a bit like a “Good & Plenty.” The taste is a gentle mix of cherries, raspberries, and almonds. It is not a big red. It is a light-to-medium-bodied, refreshing wine that is crisp yet delicate. Very tasty and satisfying.

Tom: This Villagiachi Chianti Vendemmia 2005 is medium bodied, with medium tannicity and subtle tastes of chocolate and perhaps licorice (so Melody’s reference to Good & Plenty makes sense to me). A very pleasant wine.

We’ve tasted this twice before: here and here.

This Villagiachi Chianti Vendemmia 2005 is rich and jammy, with hints of blackberry and tobacco. Medium body and medium tannins. Very nice and very drinkable. This will be pair wonderfully with our spaghetti tonight.

This Villagiachi Chianti Vendemmia 2005 is old world, dry, and tannic. Not a fruit-forward wine but a more austere, serious quaff. I like it very much. This is not the wicker-basket bottle of Chianti that I remember from college; it is more sophisticated and ascetic. I am marinating pork loin chops, and I think this will pair well, along with sauteed mushrooms, brown rice, and spinach. Poor me; I am also nursing a summer cold. This is the first cold I have had in years. I am so healthy I never get sick but this germ got to me.

Tom: This Villagiachi Chianti 2005 is very nice. It’s tannic but still fairly soft, with hints of cherry and vanilla. This is a very easy-drinking wine, and will be excellent with our pork chops.

This Gaetano D’Aquino Chianti Riserva 2004 is a brilliant garnet red with cedar and cranberry aromas. It is medium-bodied with a cherry taste along with subtle oak. The finish is earthy and slightly bitter; very dry. I like it very much! It will go well with our spicy pasta dinner tonight.

My first impression is that of cherries and pepper. This Familia Cara is basically a Sangiovese with a smidgen of Canailolo. It has a definite astringent quality. It is thin and dry. I imagine this would be perfect with pasta and red sauce with crusty bread and olive oil (unfortunately, that is not what we’re having for dinner). This wine is a pale red with tart dried red cherries in the bouquet and nose. As the wine breathes, it becomes more complex and delicious. I note a strong woodiness.  The finish is definitely not long. Although the wine is thin and acidic, it has that lip-smacking, dry punch that I enjoy.  I would rate this wine as very good.