Villa Medoro, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, 2007

My previous experience with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a light red wine from central Italy, was unmemorable. But the 2007 vintage from Villa Medoro was much better, and being priced from $12 to $15 makes this a decent value (granted, I’d be more likely to pick this one up again if it were just a tad cheaper).

This was an inky wine the color of dark prunes. It had a really interesting nose with aromas of meat and vanilla with a hint of chocolate; it was very earthy, not fruity at all. It had firm tannin as well, but the taste was not very distinct; it wasn’t bad, but rather undistinguishable. After being opened a while, the wine’s dark prune color transformed into an even darker blackberry.

It was a pleasant wine that went well with pasta and tomato sauce. A fair value that I will rate with a 6.5 using my scale at the left.

An unmemorable Italian red

There were notes for this wine entered into my iPhone, but I obviously didn’t write about it soon enough after drinking it because I was unable to find the label. Did I throw the bottle away without first saving the label? Alas, no, this was a wine I drank at a restaurant with friends, hence the very dark image that is displayed. It finally occurred to me to search for the image in a computer folder. And after looking at the image background, which for quite awhile wasn’t stimulating my memory, I finally remembered where and with whom I drank this. It was at Francesca’s on Bryn Mawr in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, and it was with Curt.

What did we have to eat that night? I made no notes as to what we dined on. Judging by the notes I did make regarding the Barba Colle Morino, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, 2006, this wine was OK, went well enough with what we did eat, but not really memorable.

Here’s what I tapped into my phone: Light and acid, nose is much better than the taste, buttery blackberry on the nose, but tastes more cherry.

And that’s it. Given the terse nature of my notes, I would say this wine didn’t inspire much (unlike Thomas Jefferson it seems, who was very impressed with the wines of Montepulciano). It was acceptable. I’m sure the meal itself was wonderful – they always are at Francesca’s. The wine, however, I will rate with a 6 using my scale at the left.