Brief Notes from a product tasting of affordable wines for the summer. All prices are Canadian (readers in the US should remember the conversion rate, and also that it isn't polite to laugh at those less fortunate...)
Nino Franco Prosseco di Valdobbiadene - bubbly in half bottles for $18. Sweet nose, but dry on palate with excellent acidity. Good news - a pleasant wine. Bad news - twice the price of my favourite vintaged Cava.
2002 Dom. de la Charmoise Touraine Sauvignon - grassy nose, soft entry then the acidity hits. A good food wine. $23
2003 Ch. Tour de Mirambeau Entre Deux Mers - classic white Bordeaux nose, smooth and soft in the mouth, will last a couple of years. $23
2003 Planeta La Sagreta Bianco - Sicilian white IGT with soft nose with nice grapy aromas, and finishes well with good acidity. Food friendly wine that merits the 88 points from Tanzer. $23
Plan Pegau Lot 2001 - a blended wine from the Rhone with light colour, balanced and crisp and great for summer drinking. $23
2001 Tedeschi Capitel dei Nicalo Valpolicella Cl. Sup. - light wine with sweet nose and lots of acidity that oversteps from being simply 'lively' to needing food to tame it. $25
2003 Planeta La Sagreta Rosso IGT - excellent unmistakably Italian nose of cherries and pepper, a light quaffer by weight. $24
2001 Morgante Nero d'Avola IGT - an almost Burgundian nose and a warm and friendly wine, balanced and tasty. Good value at $24
2001 Caprai Ross del Umbria Poggio Belvedere - a medium bodied well balanced Chianti substitute (80% sangiovese, 20% ciliegiolo). Sadly, not so many years ago you could buy very nice Chianti for the $26 price....
2001 Lamborghini Trescone - I dutifully buy this Umbrian IGT wine as an owner of one of the cars of the same name (and produced by the same family), but I find this much less convincing than the Campoleone. Not much in the nose, although clearly a more serious wine on palate, showing complexity and needing time. We shall see..... $25
2002 Maculan Brentino Veneto Rosso - killer nose, but a little green in the mouth. Interesting and showing some flavour complexity. Not bad at $24
2002 Jumilla Casa de la Ermita (purple capsule) - a sweet ripe nose on this Spanish offering, and as expected, sweet and soft on palate with very good length. A lot of bang for the buck at $24
2001 Jumilla Casa de la Ermita (grey capsule) - dark wine with a less fruit-forward nose. Nice mouth feel and some complexity. $29
2002 Mitolo Jester Shiraz - anise and cherry nose, quite intense. Fairly full in mouth, finishes sweetly. Good cheese wine, should age 3-4 years. $30