Tag Archives: Italy

Red Wine of the Week | Red Wine Reviews

Archeo Nero d’Avola

Cost: Average price $5

Where buy now: Trader Joe’s for $4.99

Grapes: Nero d’Avola

Region: Sicily, Italy

Vintage: 2010

Archeo Nero d’Avola

Archeo Nero d’Avola “Neh-roe DAH-voe-lah” by Ruggero di Tasso is a delightful wine that hails from Sicily. Like the dark-black grapes this wine is named after, they have been blasted by the Southern Mediterranean heat providing the wine with a deep, rich crimson hue. It is a fuller bodied wine with lots of juicy flavor. It tastes of black cherry, raspberry and a teensy-bit of sweet baking spices and chocolate to round it out. The tannins are mild as was the acidity.

I know lots of folks love Cabernet, Syrah and Zinfandel, but dammit, give Nero d’Avola a chance!

As it’s a milder Nero d’Avola, this is the one I’d strongly suggest for the uninitiated. Also, it can hang with all three of those varietals, and I bet you’ll find as good [if not better] a bottle for much less dough. I love me some Cab and steak, so, substitute the Cab with Nero d’Avola, and that’s exactly how I enjoyed a home grilled porterhouse the other night.

Dining al fresco

Great thing is, this wine pairs well with grilled meats, but would also go really well with your Tuesday night frozen pizza.

If you’re already making the sojourn to Trader Joe’s (which, if you live near the St. Louis Park location, pack a lunch) to pick up the “Skank Wine of the Month” Primitivo, then grab a bottle of this Archeo Nero d’Avola. Make sure you get the Archeo priced at $4.99, not the Epicuro priced at $5.99! I just don’t care for the taste of the $6 Epicuro Nero d’Avola nearly as much as the $5 Archeo. I just asked a friend to pick up a few more bottles for me because, while my recent vacation was fun, MAN did it kill my vino budget! It’s simply not an option to run short on great, staple wines, now, is it?

Skank Wine of the Month | Wine Reviews

Grifone Primitivo

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Cost: Average price $5

Where buy now: Trader Joe’s for $3.99. ***2015 UPDATE now $4.99

Grapes: Primitivo

Region: Italy

Vintage: 2010

Grifone Primitivo

I truly was skeptical when I saw this Grifone Italian Primitivo at such a price point (insert infomercial joke here). I [stupidly] asked the sales clerk what he thought of it. (Ugh, remember when I did that with the Rosé and it turned out to be useless swill?) Well, in true TJ’s form, he said it was “really good for the price”. Great, thanks. Dare I plunk down $4 knowing I’ve had such stinkers from TJ’s as of late? Throw good booze money after bad? Well, “they cannot _all_ be stinkers” I thought, so I took the $4 gamble.

Primitivo is a grape that most similarly resembles the Zinfandel grape. Some even say that Zinfandel grapes are the same or born out of Primitivo grapes. Hell, check out the label, which says “Old Vine Zinfandel” right on the front. So, let the great debate continue! Either way, I say if you like one, you’re more than likely going to enjoy the other.

Also, like Zin, Primitivo is a great BBQ wine. This wine will fit in nicely with your weeknight hamburger and hot dog grilling plans or could pair with anything slathered in BBQ sauce.

“Anything, Savvy Lush?”

Well, anything you would slather BBQ sauce on in front of your grandmother, at least.

The taste of this Primitivo is fairly mild with notes of cherry and jammy spice. The nose isn’t anything special, and finish is rather fleeting but really, who cares?!? Easy drinking, smooth and pleasing, this is classic “Skank”. But, if you’re truly worried, make sure you have some dark chocolate on hand-never a bad idea.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It’s advertised as a limited selection so I’m telling y’all, get off yer arse and get yours ASAP.

Snob Wine of the Month | Wine Reviews

I Greco Savu Rosato

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Cost: Average price $19

Where buy now: Zipp’s Liquor Store

Grapes: Gaglioppo

Region: Calabria, Italy

Vintage: 2011

i Greco Savu Rosato

Savu in my heart

Calabria I listen

My mouth awakens

I present Savu, the Calabrian wonder Rosé. Well, I don’t think that’s how they market their wine but that’s how I’m describing it. It had been a couple months since my last haiku, but this was plenty enough to inspire me.

Why am I gushing about Calabria, well it’s simply a matter of history. My history, yes, but I’m selfish like that. My Grandma’s side of the family comes from Calabria so therefore, it instantly peaks my curiosity. Calabria is the “toe” of the Italian boot. It’s a region that has been raped and pillaged by several different warring conquerors. It’s rough terrain, wrought with earthquakes, and due to a long standing feudal system, people weren’t able to own land and suffered from poverty. Hmm, sounds great! No wonder there was a mass exodus in the late 19th-early 20th century to the new world, mainly the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Australia.

Times, they are a-changing. Calabria is becoming more of a travel destination as is the rest of Southern Italy. They are exporting delicious olives, olive oils, figs and what’s this. . .wine? The main grape indicative to Calabria is called Gaglioppo (gah-L’yee-OHP-poh). It is used to make Ciro, probably one of their more popular wines. The grape is known to provide a full-bodied red wine that is rich in spices, smoke and tannins. This is indicative of Calabrian wines made with grapes grown toward the bottom of the mountains. They grow in warmer temperatures near the sea which bring out the grapes’ intensity.

The Savuto wines are made with Gaglioppo grapes grown at a higher altitude. This creates a little more balance, the wines are softer and lighter in that the grapes get the warmth of the sun during the day but in the evenings, it cools off. Tis what’s happened with the grapes used to make the I Greco Savu Rosato (Rosé in Italian). This Rosé isn’t that bright pink color like we’ve been seeing in other Rose’s. This one has an orange-pinkish hue. It’s interesting, not in a Yoko Ono-odd kind of way. But it’s mildly complex and delicious! It’s wine you’ll drink in and feel transported to the Calabrian hills.

Unlike some Rosé’s that have that strawberry fruit forward taste, this one does have red fruit character but it’s layered with a floral, salty and spicy quality.

If the price was lower, I’d cellar up with this baby for the Summer. Alas, it does toggle my $15 price point so I Greco Savu Rosato is my Snob Wine of the Month. I’m glad to have enjoyed it and hope you’ll give the Calabrian wine a chance to wet your whistle!