From the Archives: 2001 Rocca delle Macie "Primo Volo"

I tasted the 2001 Rocca dell Macie "Primo Volo" on 1/11/2008 alongside several other wines.

This wine brings together three different powerhouse regions: Tuscany, Piedmont, and the Veneto. Made of equal parts Sangiovese, Barbera, and Merlot, with an additional 10% from the best region for that particular vintage.

In the case of the 2001, an additional 10% Sangiovese was included in the batch, making the final composition 40/30/30 respectively. It's a unique wine because it's the debut vintage and it's not classified; it's table wine. Story has it that the winemakers met on a plane and began talking, and probably drinking, together...by the end of the flight, they'd decided to make a wine together. This is the product of that collaboration. The barbera adds acidity and the merlot provides backbone to the delicate brawn of the sangiovese. 2001 was a great year in Tuscany.

Brilliant ruby colors with aromas of flowers and fruit; on the tongue flavors of cherries, plums, blueberries, and spice with nice acidity and a gracefully lingering finish.

More on the collaboration and process:

Sergio Zingarelli of Rocca delle Macie contributed the Sangiovese, Andrea Faccio of Villa Giada contributed the Barbera and Giordano Emo Capodilista of La Montecchia contributed the Merlot. Each batch was vinified separately at their respect place of origin and aged in French oak for 12 months before blending and bottling.

2005 Denuño Jumilla, Spain

I worked an event for the New England Culinary Guild at the Commander's Mansion in Watertown. There I met a member of the family behind BLM Wine and Spirits. We poured several wines, unfortunately I only really tasted two of the wines, both red, enough to develop the opinion; the others were a Pinot Gris, a Prosecco, and a Kerner.

2005 Denuño: Jumilla, ESP
This exciting blend of 90% Petit Verdot, 5% Monastrell, and 5% Syrah with 13.5% alcohol, 6 months of barrel aging juice is delicious. I was speaking with John, host of a radio talk show on food and wine, about the varietal characters of Petit Verdot and how this was the most petit verdot I had ever had in a wine and hence the closest thing I've gotten to experiencing its pure varietal characteral s demonstrated in Heitz's 100% Petit Verdot, which also, surprisingly enough, has 13.5% alcohol.

The Winemaker calls wild berries, spice, and toasted oak. I wrote, garnet to ruby colors on the fringe, with creamy sort of dark fruit (black & red), spice, and a slight touch of an earthy element. A bit restrained when first opened. Soft tannins, low acidity, and a nice finish round out this easy-drinker. Decant.

Many people asked about how much I thought this wine would cost in the store. I reasoned it'll be no more than $15, but I'm curious to find out. Also, one particularly lovely lady ;) asked about the wine's with the most reservatrol in the same line as pinot noir. For the record, Tannat comes from the Madiran and has been suggested to me to have the most reservatrol.

Stay tuned for more on Pinot Noir, and for the lovely lady who requested a list of affordable Pinot Noirs, one will follow shortly.

The other red was a Mendocino Barbera that was deliciously plush with red fruit with some zippy acidity and mild tannins (IMO, tannins + meatless pizzas = bad), I instantly thought back to sharing many Regina's margarita pizzas with medium basil and crispy crust with many bottles of Barbera d'Asti and Barbera d'Alba.

Shameless plug to somewhere else related to wine: A perfectly affordable case of wine.

2007 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc Viognier

Aromatic, with melon and many other aromas that are difficult to distinguish which proceed its lusciously sweet, yet crisp flavors of Chinese pear. Surprising, a nice choice for my first voyage with Pine Ridge's Chenin Blanc-Viognier. The beauty of chenin blanc is that the winemaker's touch can have such a dramatic effect on what it turns into. In this case the viognier adds