A fabulous Chianti

[rsbeck]

In my opinion, a wine cellar needs a stock of go-to wines for lots of different kinds of occasions.

I also want to encourage you to take a break and get out of the Cabernet Sauvignon rut.

For example, what if it's a casual Tuesday night with spaghetti and meatballs in a red sauce?

Or, Pizza?

Are you going to bring out a heavy hitter?

Gonna reach for a Cab because it's red?

Personally, this is when I am looking for a nice Chianti.

Chianti is the perfect pairing for this type of food.

The Chianti will have the acidity to play nicely with your red sauce.

It's a better match than cab and -- hey -- don't you get tired of Cabernet?

If you have bad memories of the swill they used to sell in those bottles with the straw around them, you needn't worry -- Chianti has come a long way.

You can get a real nice Chianti for around $20.

Here's one:

2007 Felsina Chianti Classico

Here's a link to some stores that sell it ----

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/fa...+classico/2007

Some vintages need to age for awhile for the wine to settle down and knit together. If you want to drink it on the young side, you need to open it hours before you want to drink in order to let it breathe, calm down, and open up.

The 2007 vintage in Chianti is what is called an early drinking vintage. That's part of what makes this such a nice staple for your cellar.

It's 100% Sangiovese that sees no new oak. 13% abv. Very solid crowd pleasing go-to pop and pour food friendly ready to drink Chianti that can dress up or down.

Buy a case and drink it over the next five years.

Here's a review from Antonio Galloni in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

The 2007 Chianti Classico is a sweet, super-ripe wine with an enticing core of fruit. The heat of the vintage has filled out the wine nicely. Although the acidity is still relatively high, this doesn’t look to be an especially long-lived wine. That should hardly matter, though, as readers will have a hard time keeping their hands off this gem. In 2007 the Chianti Classico is a selection of fruit from eleven different vineyards harvested between the end of September and early October. The wine was mostly aged in cask, with about 10% seeing smaller neutral French oak barrels. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2015.

If you were to cut proprietor Giuseppe Mazzocolin’s veins the man would bleed Sangiovese, such is his passion for Tuscany’s most important native grape. Mazzocolin has a terrific set of new releases on his hands. In 2007, I have only tasted the Chianti Classico so far, but if that wine is indicative, Felsina could have another superb vintage in store for fans of this venerable property. So far 2007 looks to be a vintage of ripe wines made in a more generous, if early maturing style, than the firmer 2006s. Not only are Felsina’s wines magnificent, they also remain exceedingly fairly priced in relative terms.

[flez007]

You won't beleive it..... But I had a GREAT Chianti at Epcot (at the Italian Village restaurant) - not cheap - but great great Chianti....

Unfortunatly I lost the piece of paper where I wrote the bottle name but agree completely with your post above.

[rsbeck]

Sounds great. Do you recall anything about the label? Sometimes restaurants post their menus on-line. You might be able to find it. I've been in the same position before and have actually called the restaurant a week later to track it down. You get some funny conversations, "the label had a woman on the label holding a jug, I'm pretty sure it was a 2004...."

[flez007]

I can surely try... Something I do not forget it was a +$35 us a glass Chianti .

[rsbeck]

Does the name Castello di Ama ring a bell?

[flez007]

Nope , it was a single word name AFAIK.

[devert]

"hey -- don't you get tired of Cabernet?"

When I get tired of drinking Cabernet, I switch to Syrah.

[flez007]

Hi devert - quite different tastes between both of them.. Cavernet Savignon itself has different ways to age so one can find differen tastes and mixes (it is more friendly to blend).

I am not big on Syrah (or Carmeniere) since the flavour at the end is quite spicey IMO, I lean more towards mature, aged, tobacco, wood and forest fruits tastes.

But that is me.....