cognitivebottletherapy

2015 Azienda Agricola Scacciadiavoli Montefalco Rosso

Easier to drink the contents than pronounce the producer. 60% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino and 25% Merlot. With the happily confounding exception of vino Piemontese which seems to carry its alcohol with grace, anything over 14% in la Bella Italia tastes a bit prune like to this aging dissolute and a pass for something with a declared 13.50% or less. So this at the declared limit does seem crisper and fresh red fruited. Cherries, walnuts and a touch of sweeter raspberry clamped to good food loving acid and tannins make it seem like southern Tuscany without the ambitious price tag and the sometime scent of the stable. From the Italian supermarket, Conad, which seems happier hunting than trying to find good retail enoteche in Umbria. Maybe the locals buy direct?

13.50%. Diam! 12 euros.

91 points

2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo

At an irresistible 13.90 euros on the shelf of the venerable Enoteca Trimani not far from the hurly burly of Rome’s Termini Station. Central casting aromas of the Langhe in old roses, old leather chairs, bright red cherries and the basso profundo of the soil. Same in the mouthful with the texture and zing of blood orange juice and fine but stern tannin. Odd thing Nebbiolo as the all flavour seems to be from the middle to end, perhaps a back to front tadpole in shape? Once you get the calling though, the siren don’t stop singing. This one better after a few hours and not quite as bright the next day or maybe this drinker wasn’t. Nonetheless sublime bargain for the Nebb fancier.

14.50% alcohol. Cork. 13.90 euros, yes, the one and three are round the right way.

93 points.

2016 Vietti Dolcetto d’Alba Tre Vigne

When in Rome one road leads to Matricianella and it’s mammoth wine list. A plate of tagliatelle with porcini and cicoria, incidentally another traditional dish to satisfy vegans, and something from Vietti for 20 euros on the list. Could have gone for a Barolo Cru or Brunello but blinding bargains do beckon. Just love Dolcetto with good pasta. This was foot forward, sweetly ripe, full of succulent berries and that wonderful Langhe rocky soil scent and flavour. Clean, no hint of the dreaded Dolcetto reduction and mouthwatering acidity jammed tight to fine tannins. Simple drinker, simple pleasure on a grand scale. La piccola bellezza.

14% alcohol. Cork. 20 euros on a list it takes a while to read.

92 punti but what a drink with s’ghetti.

2016 Azienda Agricola Duca Carlo Guarini Nativo Salento Negroamaro

Another recommendation from the Wine and More Enoteca in Lecce and a lovely. Really clean and perhaps fresher and less dried skinny leather than some Salento Negroamaro. Very ripe pomegranate juice concentrate, something between very ripe raspberry, cherry and plum and only medium weight. Fresh tingly acid wins over fine tannin and goodness doesn’t it make the mouth water for food. Delicioso. Not in anyway profound but the fruit just seems so well grown and even. The fact it’s organic got something to do with it?

14% alcohol but doesn’t seem it. Cork, humph. 13 euros.

93 punti.

2015 Agricola Sanchirico Lutroc Negroamaro Puglia IGT

A return to the great Cucina Mama Elvira in Lecce for a slap up dinner. The wine list is an amazing curation of intelligence and passion for the land of the Salento. All the work of Andrea, owner and maestro of the region’s food and wine. This was a pitch perfect example of richly fruited but acid cut Negroamaro. Lots of clean dark cherry pithy fruit, savoury dusty clay and that dry grape skin flavour and tannin so typical of the sun worn Salento. Sense of place distilled into a glass.

13% alcohol. Diam, yet again! 17 euros on the list.

92 punti.

2016 Tenute Rubino Oltremé Salento Susumaniello

After really enjoying Vallone’s Susu, perche no another? This is modern, fresh and just the right weight, no too ripe not too fresh. No rustico here. Bright red cherry runs deep and long without bombast. The effortless first touch of Andrea Pirlo and a perfectly weighted palate sends this to a plate of pasta. Not sure how something with such simple self assurance but no little depth got Tre Bicchieri. It’s not oaky or built for keeping but has lovely even ripeness and the fine acid mingles well with the finest grade sandpaper tannins. A bit of nut and dried fruit skin says Salento. Wish my football team played with such composure.

13% alcohol. Diam again! 10 euros from the treasure trove of Enoteca Wine and More in Lecce.

93 punti.

2015 Vallone Salento Susumaniello

No matter how much you think you know Italian varieties along comes another to put your shallow understanding in its place. Andrea, the amazingly knowledgeable source of Pugliese wine wisdom and owner of the great Mama Elvira wine bar in Lecce, says Susumaniello is an old variety gaining new popularity for its relative freshness and medium weight. Other sources say it may be a cross of Sangiovese and an as yet unidentified partner. This savoury lovely bears out both views. Initially some coffee oak lifts the the odour, then sweet ripe cherries pushing into plum and a nutty savoury finish in an old leather chair. Just a bit of regional dried grape skin and some good natural acidity wound with fine tannin drag things along.

13.50% alcohol. Diam again, becoming a thing in Puglia! 11 euros.

92 punti.

2017 Feudi di Guagnano Diecianni Salento Verdeca

After a few more local bottles which were perfectly clean and perhaps made with safety first and a sensible business plan in mind for which nobody can be fairly criticised, a return to Feudi di Guagnano. One of the those recent bottles, however, did raise an exasperated sigh. A local blend of Fiano and Manzoni ordered with some amazingly fresh seafood pasta was made with an eye to the vast Savvy Bland market. More yeast than what could have been a taste of a special place. Expectations deflated.

So, back to a local Verdeca. Clean, fresh with a touch of Meyer lemon and camomile tea fragrance and a twist of green herb bitters. Deliciously simple, local and drinkable with the warm golden sun declining into the Ionian Sea. A perfect match.

88 points but true to its roots.

12.50% alcohol. Diam, bravo. 9 euros.

2015 Feudi di Guagnano Diecianni Negroamaro Salento

A couple of days in Puglia and a few glasses of local red later it was starting to seem as if there’s a common theme of size, maximum extraction and alcohol ripeness, and that despite avoiding the richest Primitivi. Last night’s dinner choice was a welcome relief. Medium weighted, moderately extracted and mouthwatering cherry fruit mingled with fresh natural acidity, properly integrated with some gentle fine tannin. Hooray, instead of tiring after a glass, the bottle emptied easily and just got more delicious. Brilliant with local veggie, fishy pasta as it should be. Now to try and find more of this sensitive producer’s wine in the local shops. Avanti!

13.50% alcohol. Cork. 16 euros on the osteria’s list, perhaps under 10 retail I hope!

91 yum points.

Other goodies by the glass from the Pugliese stiletto –

2016 Erbaceo Colle della Murgia, Greco di Tufo e Minutolo. Refreshing fragrant flower and green herb scented. Green melon, citrus and great acid.

2017 Polvanera Rosato, Aleatico, Primitivo e Aglianico. Deep colour for a pinky, toffee, cherry and an endearing chalky tang to bring you back to the glass. Enough to fling rosé prejudices aside!

2013 Le Temps Retrouvé Mourvèdre

From vines in the hills above Perpignan in Roussillon via the seminal natural wine caviste La Cave des Papilles in Paris’ 14th. Developed but still some freshness to the dark cherry fruit and relatively high acidity. Improved with being open for a day as the parts came together to make a delicious wine. As well as cherries there was a lasting sweet roasting pan juice flavour tinged with rosemary. Clean and fine for its warm climate origins. The last glass was wistfully the best.

12.50% alcohol. Cork. 25 euros.

94 points