Sips: Cheap red wine – discovering an excellent $10 Chianti

For better or worse, we eat a lot of pasta in our house, despite often-expressed waistline concerns based on the narcotic-like effects of good pasta sauces. (How many of us can really resist the temptation to go back for second helpings?) And because we enjoy pasta so much, I often find myself in short supply of good, inexpensive Italian wines, especially reds, which for me are de rigueur for tomato-based sauces.

Budget Italian reds are a hit-or-miss affair, especially in the $10- and-under category. Yes, there are lots of cheap nero d’avolas from Sicily and primativos from Puglia around, not to mention the familiar big-brand Chiantis from Tuscany and Valpolicellas from the Veneto, most of them ordinary. One that rises above that  status is a $10 wine I brought home the other night from my local wine store, Vincenzo Cesani’s 2008 Chianti Colli Senesi “Pancole.”

This estate-bottled wine from a respected grower in San Gimignano also known for its white vernaccia is one of the better budget Chiantis I’ve tasted in recent years. It’s high in acidity (a requirement for good food wines) with spicy cherry and raspberry tastes, a leather note and a  tannic structure often lacking in wines at this price. Slightly chilled, it was a satisfying match for our tomato and meat sauce. Colli Senesi is perhaps the best known of the “other” Chianti appellations and is generally less expensive than Chianti Classico.  Alcohol in this sangiovese-based wine is 12.5 percent. Imported by Montecastelli Selections, New York.

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The Daily Sip: superb, affordable Chianti from a lesser-known part of the famed region

For the modest sum of $15, it’s going to be difficult to find a good example of Chianti Classico, the most celebrated appellation in the Chianti region of Tuscany. Fortunately, there are other lesser-known Chiantis that can be very good and affordable at the same time. One of them is Chianti Colli Fiorentini, which refers to a Chianti sub-zone in the hills around Florence. I’ve tasted two of them recently, both priced at $15, and one of them clearly stood out (and it was not the one represented by a very well known  promoter of Italian wines).

Petreto’s 2006 Chianti Colli Fiorentini is a fresh and fruity wine dominated by delicious black cherry and blueberry notes, subtle spice and the kind of crisp acidity that makes good Chianti and the sangiovese grape so irresistible. Moderately tannic and easy to drink, the bottle was a crowd pleaser and went quickly at a dinner with friends the other night. While some of its subtlety may have been lost on spaghetti and meatballs, it would do wonders with stews and roasts, hearty vegetable soups and sautéed broccoli rabe and sausage tossed with pasta. Alcohol is 13.5 percent. Imported by Farello Wines, New York.

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The Daily Sip: what’s wrong with a “grapey” wine? A seductive wine from Italy’s Calabria defies the connotation

In many years of reviewing wine, I don’t think I’ve described a wine as “grapey” more than once or twice. What is it about the word? Does it connote simplicity when good wine is supposed to be complex? Is it reserved for more proletarian grape products such as humble table grapes, grape jelly or grape soda? Perhaps. And yet, for the last two evenings, I’ve been tasting an unusual wine from Italy for which “grapey” immediately springs to mind in a most attractive light.

Savuto is an obscure appellation, or DOC as they call it in Italy, from Calabria in the far south of the country. Calabria makes up the “toe” of Italy and almost touches Sicily, which is separated by just a couple of miles of sea. Since the early 1990s, the Odoardi family has been farming about 170 acres of vines in the Savuto River Valley, right, and has been putting some lesser known indigenous grape varieties back on the map. Odoardi’s 2005 Savuto is a blend of Gaglioppo (45 percent) with lesser amounts of Greco Nero, Nerello Capuccio, Magliocco Canino and Sangiovese. See what I mean about obscure grapes?

The wine, for which I paid $15 in New York, has the aforementioned grapey core but with much more, including notes of black cherry, dark plum, vanilla and a touch of eucalyptus. There is both a bright fruit and candied quality, which may seem like a contradiction but which somehow works in a wine that, at first, suggests something quite simple but that turns out to be surprisingly complex. Alcohol is 14 percent. For al kinds of meats, pastas and pizzas. Imported by Jan D’Amore wines, Brooklyn, New York.

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Sips: rosé season officially starts

Not only was Memorial Day weekend the unofficial start of the summer season, but the official start of rosé season.  As I sampled a number of rosés at various parties, lunches and dinners, I was reminded of the versatility of the wines, which can complement everything from burgers and hot dogs to spicy grilled chicken to roasted whole fish, in this case freshly caught black sea bass from our favorite fish market.

With their almost infinite shades of pink and salmon and copper, rosés have become a red-hot category in recent years, and with good reason. Not only are they great aperitif wines, but they can effectively bridge the gap between whites and reds (they are made from the juice of red grapes with just minimal contact with the color-producing skins). I have often enjoyed rosés with simply grilled meats like lamb and steak, which are typical red-wine foods.

I’ll be pointing out rosés frequently this summer, starting with two that stood out for me this past weekend. From France, Jean-Paul Brun’s 2009 Rosé d’Folie Beaujolais is an unusual example of rosé from that region and from the gamay grape. It’s quite dry with tastes of spicy cherry, some herbs, a touch or orange rind and a distinct minerality that gives it a real sense of originality and place. It’s also made with wild or indigenous yeasts, which the exception rather than the rule in Beaujolais. $15. Imported by Louis/Dressner Selections, New York.

From Australia, I also enjoyed Robert Oatley’s 2009 Rosé of Sangiovese from the Mudgee region of New South Wales. Fruit-forward in style with notes of peach and watermelon, this one practically screams out “summer.” It’s  effortless to drink and is a natural for the picnic table and patio. $15. Imported by Robert Oatley Vineyards, Petaluma, California. (Wines received as press samples.)

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