I second Notnits' assertion about the tar and the burning tires. When I taste wine, I tend to get some visual locked into my head, and it takes me some time to zero in on what I'm tasting. In this instance the images were: Garage, Blacktop in August, and New Car (or more specifically, one of those novelty scratch-n-sniff stickers that claims "New Car Smell".)
Not to beat up on it...the wine seems to mean well. There is a crackle on the tongue and in the gums that felt nice. But it never developed.
The chips and hummus didn't help.
The following evening I made some pesto and gave it another shot. Not much better. Though the basil did seem to lift the tar-ish afterburn and bring out some decent berry flavors.
Unfortunately, with this wine it seemed like too many miles to go for too little payoff.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Villa Sonia 2006 Ripasso
I was hoping my first review would be a positive one.
Not long ago, I was at Fine Wine Brokers in Lincoln Square, and I saw two identically priced ripasso wines on a shelf in the Italian section. The hand-written cards stated that if you love big Italian reds and haven’t tried a ripasso, you should right away.
I bought one of them—a 2006 Remo Farina—and it was great. Smoky, earthy, spicy. On my next trip, I decided to buy the second one, the Villa Sonia. I just opened it a few minutes ago.
Not much nose to speak of at all. The first sip was bold and spicy, but with a bit of dishwater undertone that I didn’t find very promising.
There’s some tar, and there’s a sense that it might be trying to develop into a warm earthiness, but the result is almost acrid. The taste doesn’t stay on the tongue long, but when it disperses, it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste and a trace of burning tires.
I let it sit for a while, hoping it would open up into something more pleasant. The best it was able to muster for me was a little bit of earthy raspberry. But all in all, I was pretty disappointed.
I did some in-depth reading about ripasso that maintains that the wine is easy to pair with food. As it happens, my girlfriend just called, and she’s on her way over with some chips and hummus. Maybe this wine will be better with something to cling to.
Not long ago, I was at Fine Wine Brokers in Lincoln Square, and I saw two identically priced ripasso wines on a shelf in the Italian section. The hand-written cards stated that if you love big Italian reds and haven’t tried a ripasso, you should right away.
I bought one of them—a 2006 Remo Farina—and it was great. Smoky, earthy, spicy. On my next trip, I decided to buy the second one, the Villa Sonia. I just opened it a few minutes ago.Not much nose to speak of at all. The first sip was bold and spicy, but with a bit of dishwater undertone that I didn’t find very promising.
There’s some tar, and there’s a sense that it might be trying to develop into a warm earthiness, but the result is almost acrid. The taste doesn’t stay on the tongue long, but when it disperses, it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste and a trace of burning tires.
I let it sit for a while, hoping it would open up into something more pleasant. The best it was able to muster for me was a little bit of earthy raspberry. But all in all, I was pretty disappointed.
I did some in-depth reading about ripasso that maintains that the wine is easy to pair with food. As it happens, my girlfriend just called, and she’s on her way over with some chips and hummus. Maybe this wine will be better with something to cling to.
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