Wine review week-ending 7/4

June 30th, 2008 | Posted in: Cheese, Wine, Italian, Wine Blogging, Wine Reviews

Ciao!!

This week Captain Reality & Vino Boy traveled to Italy to bring you two tasty treats. Well, actually we traveled as far as the Italian section at Wally’s, but you know what I mean.

Our first selection is Quattro Mani Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2006. The main aspect of this wine is the bright Bing cherry taste that predominates. As the wine opens, plum and tobacco begin to show. An easy drinker, this wine is a bit one-dimensional. Pair it with chicken or pork. It’s a little too lean for red meats (I had it with a light beef stew and it struggled a touch). Due to its extremely reasonable price point and that great cherry fruit, Vino Boy rates this wine six poopy diapers out of ten.

Our second choice is Masi Masianco Pinot Grigio & Verduzzo 2006. This blend has a lime citrus and mineral quality that screams “flaky white fish or shellfish”. Plain chicken dishes would do very well as well as Brie or triple cream cheeses. The mineral characteristic is classic: go to any rapids, get a nice round wet stone and place it in your mouth (or just take my word for it). That’s what I mean about a mineral quality. The oak shows through a little more than I usually like, but is not over-powering. As it opened and warmed up, some honeysuckle and stone fruit flavors began to poke through. When pairing with shellfish, Vino Boy informs me that a classic mignonette sauce would be far superior to cocktail sauce. Vino Boy gives this one seven poopy diapers out of ten.

There are this week’s wines! So raise your glass (or sippy cup) high and salute Captain Reality’s & Vino Boy’s search for Truth, Justice and a decent glass of wine!

By Mark Crabtree