I'm not a huge Pinot Grigio drinker. They seem to fall into three categories- cheap dull wines from Trentino or "Italy", $15-20 wines worth $8 like Santa Marg., or nice wines like Jermann's that really push the price envelope. But a couple of weeks ago I had 10 wines in my cart, and was looking for a couple more for the mixed case discount. I spotted the 2002 Campanile Pinot Grigio, with a shelftalker re the Friulian fruit. Friuli usually produces my favorite whites, and you seldom see sub-$10. I threw that and another bottle of Heretiques in the cart. My stepson and his friend wanted to help Betsy cook Wednesday, and they made a vaguely Italian vegetarian meal- spicy cooked arugala, chickpea soup with spinach, and rice with parmesan. I opened the 2002 Campanile Pinot Grigio, then noticed the label said "delle Venezie" IGT. But the back label indeed says it's from Friuli. Hmmmm. Anyway, the wine had some decent green apple fruit, with a citrus twist. Decent acidity, but the word that kept running through my mind was "insubstantial." B-
Thursday Betsy didn't have time to cook (after a day of opera showcase that included an opera re Jim Jones- isn't THAT cheery). One advantage of our little town with a large Italian-American population is we have a branch of an Arthur Avenue meat market. So she picked up some fresh mozzarella, bruschetta topping, assorted kebabs (lamb, sausage with cheese and broccoli rape, beef with mozzarella, and chicken), some squash, and some beans. A few minutes with the grill and we had another nice Italianesque meal. Opened the 2002 Morgante Nero D'Avola (Sicily). Much better acidity than at a store tasting (was it too warm then?), rich dark berry fruit, a little touch of oak, some nice spiciness. Pleasant fairly light-bodied wine to sit outdoors with after a hard day. B/B+
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency. Dale
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