Tom and Melody's wine blog » Nero d’Avola

Il Papavero

Tom & Melody — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:21:01 +0000

We have had this Italian red table wine, Il Papavero, before and really enjoyed it. This is delightful; a juicy cherry-flavored quaff; dark and spicy with ripe fruit and chocolate.

For dinner tonight, I am making baked, spicy chicken, steamed brown rice and vegetables. I also baked some brownies with chopped walnuts. Tom was craving my brownies. . .

We both had busy weeks. Tom was in Montreal on business and I was up north to see my folks and to watch our son, Tommy, play his bass guitar in The Ben Daniels Band at “The Loading Dock” in Traverse City. My 77-year-old mother came with me to the bar; the band started playing at 11:00 p.m. and my mom was as lively as can be. What fun!

I am missing our youngest son, Tony. Hurry home, Tones!

Ruggero di Tasso Nero d’Avola (2005)

Tom & Melody — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:02:42 +0000

I had to work late tonight and travel quite a distance for a presentation tonight. When I came home, Tom had our martini glasses chilling (what a great husband) and we read the paper and had our cocktail. Following that, Tom opened this bottle of Ruggero di Tasso Nero d’Avola 2005, a Sicilian red wine. Tom is enjoying this wine but I did not care for it. This is a personal thing and it does not reflect on the quality of the wine, but for me, it just didn’t do it for me. The nose is musty and yeasty. I only had a couple of sips and Tom insisted on pouring me a glass of another wine so I will stop this review and Tom will pick it up from here, because he is enjoying this wine. (He poured me a glass of Morgon Beaujolais. . .)

Tom: This Ruggero di Tasso Nero d’Avola 2005 is quite good. It has a quality that I am coming to recognize as common among Italian wines: it has a certain earthiness or yeastiness that is something of an acquired taste. (Melody calls this musty and I see what she means: it appeals to you or it doesn’t.) But I find this very nice: a strong, dry red with that certain yeastiness.

Feudo Arancio 2004 Nero d’Avola

Tom & Melody — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 23:42:46 +0000

A floral nose and lovely balance of cherry with blackberry acidity. The nose reminds me of a Malbec but it has hints of Shiraz with a spicy finish. I noticed a definite , but surprising black licorice, along with chocolate-covered cherries, that assserts itself in the finish. This is simply delightful. I can’t imagine it can get better with decanting! This Feudo Arancio Nero D’Avola is delicious right out of the bottle.

Tom: This is a delicious soft red, dry but not tannic like a cabernet. This wine has absolutely no astringent or heavy alcohol taste; instead it’s very smooth. There’s a pleasantly strong fruit taste (but not fruit-bomby). This is an easy-going red wine that is tasty but not a “big red;” it would be great with cheese and fruit and would be an interesting wine for white-wine lovers to try.