We had a group of six lighter red wines this Thursday for our tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton. The only thing they had in common is they were selected to be a little lighter bodied reds. We ended up with three from Italy, one each from France, Chile and Spain. Two of the Italian wines came from the Piedmont area (northwestern Italy) and the other was from Veneto in northeastern Italy.
The French wine was a Beaujolais, the Spanish wine was a Garnacha from Aragón and the Chilean wine was a Carménère from the Rapel Valley.
2009 Francesco Boschis Dolcetto di Dogliani Pianezzo – The favorite wine of the group, though the nose was fairly closed. There was a nice red fruit (cherry and strawberry) flavor with leather, lots of tannins and good acid. A nice long finish, very nice everyday wine.
2010 Bertani Valpolicella – With a light garnet color and a floral and red fruit nose this was the second favorite of the night. Tart red fruit flavor, light tannins and good acidity. The finish was tart fruit with a hint of bitterness. There may be more to this wine as everyone seemed to get something different out of it.
2007 Henry Fessy Morgon Cru du Beaujolais – I am not a fan of Beaujolais be it Nouveau Beaujolais or one aged for many years, however, this wasn’t bad. It didn’t have the strong Gamay flavor I dislike. A medium purple color with a nose of red fruit and cigar box. A lot of acid, I got a little burning in my throat initially and at 13.5% abv. I don’t think it was alcohol. Light tannins along with subtle red fruit in the flavor and a medium length finish.
2008 Marchesi di Barolo Maraia Barbera del Monferrato – A medium garnet color with a restrained nose. There were light tannins and flavors of mature fruit. Nicely balanced, decent wine. It did get more interesting the longer it sat in the glass.
2010 Lapostolle Casa Carménère – The wine’s color was such a dark purple that everyone commented on it. In the nose was fruit and green pepper, typical of Carménère. The flavor followed the nose, dark fruit, green pepper and some leather. There was a long finish with fruit followed by a vegetal aftertaste. Not a bad wine for everyday drinking.
2009 garnacha de Fuego – We tasted this back in July also but it seemed like a different wine then. This was a dark purple color with a light earthy nose. There seemed to be some spritz in the mouth, maybe acid or maybe a little CO2. Moderate fruit flavor, somewhat nondescript.
