Italy

Le Fraghe Chelidon Rondinella 2018 Review – A Rose-Esque Wine

For as much as we study wine, every so often we have a bottle that surprises us.

Sometimes this is because what is in the glass is completely different from what we expected. Other times is because we simply picked the wrong bottle for our meal and really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.

Le Fraghe Rondinella from Italy is one such bottle that hit all those marks. We opened it thinking we were having a somewhat intense Italian red and it turns out this one was characteristically more like a lighter rose.

Naturally, we were in for a surprise- one that was not necessarily what we wanted.

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Collosorbo Brunello di Montalcino 2015 Review – Fruit and Spice Bomb

It is easy to get stuck in the habit of only drinking Chianti when it comes to the Sangiovese grape, if only because wine from this region is plentiful all over the world.

But there are other regions in Italy that are known for this particular grape, and if you find that you love the flavors of Chianti then you may want to look for Brunello di Montalcino as another delicious region to explore.

Just be prepared for a bit of a higher price as these come with a  minimum of five years' aging before release!

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Cesari Recioto della Valpolicella 2015 Review – Lovely Dessert

I've always been fascinated by the Corvina grape as grown in the Valpolicella region of Italy.

Beyond simply making a delicious dry red wine, the winemakers do something a bit different here. They sometimes choose to dry the grapes prior to fermenting which gives raisinated and cooked/stewed flavor to wines that you may not otherwise get until the bottle is of sufficient age.

When fermented to dry or off-dry, this is known as Amarone della Valpolicella and goes wonderfully with game. But sometimes the grapes are so concentrated with sugar that fermentation stops naturally due to alcohol killing the yeast. In these instances, you get a wine that is much sweeter and can be consumed as a dessert wine much like you would a port wine (admittedly at a lower ABV and often in a 375 mL bottle).

This is Recioto della Valpolicella, and if you ever see one on the shelf for a reasonable price you'll do well to buy it.

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Salcheto Obvius 2017 Review – A Fairly Reduced Wine

Salcheto Winery takes an interesting approach to their Sangiovese. The bottle of Obvius is made naturally with (as we understand it, at least) indigenous yeasts, no sulfites, and was not aged in barrels. As such, it was meant to be enjoyed with a bit of reduction going on as well.

But for us, the reduction notes were too intense for our liking.

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Fattoria di Bagnolo Chianti Riserva 2016 Review – Mellow Chianti

On my 2019 visit to Italy, my family and I went out on a day tour to check out several vineyards in Chianti. One such vineyard was Fattoria di Bagnolo where we were able to sample some of their delicious Chianti Riserva.

We bought several bottles to bring home (this and other styles like their Super Tuscan Capro Rosso) and opened up a bottle in late 2020 to enjoy just after ordering more bottles directly from the winery.

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Antonio Mazzella Biancolella 2018 – Apple Becoming More

Biancolella was a new grape for us when starting this project, and we first sampled it with the bottle of Antonio Mazzella Biancolella 2018.

This one comes from the small island of Ischia just off the coast of Italy and brings a modest acidity with an array of subtle fruit flavors.

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Fattoria di Bagnolo Capro Rosso 2016 Review – A Wine to Age

Although the term Super Tuscan is more or less a marketing word used to describe high-quality wines outside of the traditional Italian designation classification when we hear the name used our ears perk up all the same if only because, on the whole, we've had some pretty stellar Super Tuscans when traveling around the region.

Fattoria di Bagnolo's Capro Rosso was one such Super Tuscan, and after visiting the vineyard on a trip to Tuscany in 2019, I was more than happy to pick up some bottles (including the delicious Fattoria di Bagnolo Chianti Riserva). In this review, we popped open a bottle of the 2016 vintage to see what the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend was like four years in.

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