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!

It is a beautiful June Saturday evening. We started the evening with a refreshing gin and tonic with plenty of fresh-squeezed lime. Now, we are having a glass of this Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 Red Wine 2005, a delicious blend of Syrah, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon. This Washington State blend is luscious and fruity. The nose is a delicate whiff of vanilla and cloves. The taste is plums and spice. Tom purchased this wine for about $8 from Polly’s (our local grocery store).

I harvested some lettuce from my little garden for our salad tonight. I am also marinating pork chops, which we will grill. I have brown rice steaming now. Cheers and happy summertime!

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.

We opened this Il Valore Sangiovese 2006 last night to have with pizza. (It even says, “Serve at room temperature with red meats, pastas, and pizza,” on the label!)

It’s a very pleasant Italian red table wine. We’ve reviewed it before. It’s medium bodied, medium dry, and medium fruit (blackberries), with some tobacco flavor.

It complemented the pizza nicely last evening (as the label promised!) and is a pleasant cocktail-hour quaff this evening; a wonderful value at way, way under $10 from Trader Joe’s.

This Il Valore Sangiovese 2006 from Italy is a delightful, light-bodied quaff. Not a big red, it paired well with our roasted chicken dinner last night. Tom purchased this bottle from Trader Joe’s while I was in Austin last week. He is such a good shopper!

Tom: This Il Valore Sangiovese 2006 is a very nice, dry, light table red. Very easy drinking. It is from the Puglia region of the Italy (the heel of the boot). The Sangiovese grape is the main component of Chianti. A wonderful value at way, way under $10.

We have had this lovely Tuscan wine before and enjoyed it very much. This Villa Puccini Toscana is 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot. In the glass it is ruby colored with good legs. On the nose, I note a whiff of tobacco and coffee. The taste is dry and acidic, not very fruity, with earth overtones. This is a real Italian, rustic-tasting — almost grainy textured, red. The body is somewhat light and actually a good summer wine to sip on the patio — although I can picture having this in the dead of winter in front of the fireplace, too. A good find!