The annual migration is currently in full bloom. As ducks, geese and monarch butterflies head north, another great migration is occurring.
Italian wines are heading for our shores at top speed.
It has been a long time since Italian wines were in vogue. Their time was the 1960s when Chianti was king. Every bistro, pizzeria and college dorm room had the ever-present, straw-covered Chianti bottle as a candle holder, resplendent with multicolored melted wax drippings.
As the ‘60s departed, so too did the popularity of Chianti. It was not that the wine changed, it was the wine drinker’s preferences that did. Americans discovered California sweet white wines, which reigned supreme during the 1970s while Italian wines languished nearly into obscurity — finding their place mostly in Italian-American homes and Italian restaurants. It was a rather ignominious fate for something that was so popular for so many years but, as they say, tempus fugit.
Today, Italian wines are again being appreciated by serious amateurs and casual wine drinkers alike. While they still make their ever-loved Chianti, Italian winemakers have broadened their export spectrum to include many of the indigenous grape varieties not often grown in this country. There also has been a significant increase in the overall selection of Italian wine in general.
Cecchi 2015 Chianti ($13)
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Chianti has been reborn. This wine is a picture-perfect Chianti, with all of the flavors and aromas that made it an international favorite. Unfortunately, it now comes without the classical straw basket bottle.
This is a big and robust wine that despite all of its power, maintains a soft velvet-like character. The wine has a complex fruit aroma with the accent on plums and cherries. The flavor exhibits the same plum and cherry elements, which mingle with black raisins and just the slightest hint of oak. It is a fantastic accompaniment for Italian cuisine and a great way to relive the past.
Cecchi 2015 Sangiovese Di Toscana ($16)
This wine displays everything that has made sangiovese wines so popular. The aroma is intense, displaying cherries, plums and a subdued hint of fresh spices. On the palate, the wine presents a full fruit flavor and a hint of oak. The wine has a silky feel in the mouth and finishes with a long and pleasant aftertaste. The finish is one of the outstanding features of this wine, displaying the very noticeable flavors of blueberries and blackberries.
When well aged, as this one is, the wine takes on an incredible mellowness. As you might well imagine, this wine is great for spicy meat dishes and those accompanied by red sauces.
Cecchi La Mora 2014 Vermentino ($20)
Tired of the ordinary white wines, Cecchi gives us a chance to sample a wine from a grape not often seen in the United States, the vermentino. The straw yellow color announces the aroma of pear, white peach, lime and pink grapefruit, which follows with what I can only describe as an extraordinary finish.
The best way to describe this wine is to use that old expression a horse of a different color, but in this case it is a wine with a new and novel flavor twist.
Frescobaldi 2015 Montesodi ($36)
Frescobaldi is another winemaker of prominence in Italy, and like Cecchi, is sending over their latest vintages. It is almost universally agreed that the montesodi is one of Frescobaldi’s finest.
The wine showcases a darker than dark ruby color, while the nose is slightly spicy from aged wood that’s present but not overpowering. The aroma also abounds with violets, blackberry, black cherry and a positive and unexpected balsamic element. The taste is dominated by blackberry and backed up by a hint of citrus, all of which wind up in the long and velvety finish. This is definitely not the usual red wine. Rather, it’s a journey into often untouched flavors.
Wine columnist Bennett Bodenstein can be reached at frojhe1@att.net.
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