Tom and Melody’s wine blog

This is our second bottle of this Sangiovese Italian red wine. A medium ruby red in the glass, the nose is a lovely fruit — very delicate and inviting. I like the taste of this wine very much. This has as much to do with the structure as it does the taste. While it is quite dry, it is also softly spicy and fruity. This wine has a somewhat austere, old-world quality to it that is quite wonderful.

We are enjoying this wine at the ideal temperature for red wine — thanks to Tom’s brother and wife, Bob & Suzanne, who gave us a wine refrigerator! Thank you, Bob & Suzanne!

We opened this Vezzani Sangiovese Rubicone 2007 to go with spaghetti tonight.

It has a dark-ruby color, a pleasantly mild but distinctive Sangiovese nose (that certain yeastiness), and a nice dark-berry fruit taste.

This is a great example of an Italian table wine, and it paired beautifully with our spaghetti, spinach, and salad (from our garden). We both loved it.

This French Chateau Fantin Bordeaux is delicious. I ordered a half case of this wine on the recommendation of another red-wine lover. The nose is black fruit and plums. In the mouth is medium to full-bodied structure with a rusty taste mid-palate. The finish has the lovely taste of candied cherries. This wine will stand up to a good steak — which is what we are having for dinner. Tom will grill one steak and then I am going to slice it to serve with steamed brown rice, broccoli and a salad. I think this wine is a winner and I’m glad we have 5 bottles left to enjoy.

We received this Terre di Ricaldone Barbera D’Asti 2005 in a wine-club shipment. We opened it last night, but I didn’t get a chance to write about it. I just finished the last of it and I loved it. This wine has the Italian characteristics I have come to enjoy and appreciate: acidic, dry, fruity but not overly so, and no sweetness. The tannins are firm.

Definitely my kind of wine. I am happy to know we have two more bottles of this one on hand. Exquisite!

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.

Although we received this Terre Nuove Primitivo Puglia 2006 from a wine club and paid over $10 a bottle, I have this tagged at under $10 because I believe it is available for around $9 a bottle at wine shops (based on a quick search).

This Italian red wine is soft in the mouth with smoky spice and fruit. The Primitivo grape is known as Zinfandel here in the U.S. I like this wine very much. For dinner tonight I have made a casserole of ground beef, unpeeled cubed potatoes, onions, pinto and black-eyed peas, and salsa. It’s a weird recipe that I found and seemed like a good idea for a Friday night. I think this wine choice is perfect for tonight!

Melody is still out of town, Trigger is dozing in Melody’s chair, and I’m trying this Saliero Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2006.

It’s a pleasant Italian red table wine, with medium body, medium dry, with a mild berry-fruit taste. It has the yeasty, musky nose and taste that many Italian reds have. Quite different from our usual big reds, but pleasant.

This Lagone Toscana 2005, an Italian red table wine, is a delicious surprise. We opened it tonight (Tuesday) to accompany a dinner of pizza and . . . wine! It is superb. I definitely want to get more of this wine. We cannot recall where we purchased this wine, but I think Tom bought it for me for Christmas (along with a variety of other wines). I think all of those bottles were in the $10 - $15 range. It is the quintessential Italian red table wine — dry, not sweet, with a finish of coffee and chocolate. It is absolutely lovely!

We are, yet again, experiencing a winter storm. There is a winter-storm warning in our county and I am grateful to be home after a treacherous drive (26 miles) home from work. Cheers!

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.

This Il Valore Primitivo Puglia 2006 is a black-plum colored Italian wine with a nose of blackberries and cloves. On the palate is a very grapy fruit (almost like Welch’s grape juice) with a slightly fizzy quality. The tannins are soft and the acidity is high.

It’s a Monday night and we are having a well-deserved cocktail hour. All that shoveling yesterday made my shoulder muscles sore (if there ARE muscles up there)! I think Tom is fine because his arms are strong. . . but it feels very good to me to relax. I have some leftover vegetable soup on the stove with some good bread and cheese for our dinner.