2006 Di Majo Norante Sangiovese Terre degli Osci IGT

Type: Red
Producer: Di Majo Norante
Variety: Sangiovese
Country: Italy
Region: Molise
Appellation: Terre degli Osci IGT
Price: $9.99



The Little Wooden Guy is disappointed, and that's not really fair to the wine. At $9.99, it delivers a decent bang for the buck. No, he is disappointed because it failed to meet its promise, and herein lies one of the real problems with rating wines. The shelf-hanger said:

Wine Advocate - December 2007 - 89 points - Great Values from Italy

"The 2006 Sangiovese Terre Degli Osci is simply gorgeous. This superbly balanced red offers generous, super-ripe blueberry, spice and sweet toasted oak along with a soft, accessible personality."*

Hey, $9.99 for that? What a bargain! And then, disappointment. On the one hand, it suckered me into buying it. On the other hand, I was disappointed where I should have been thrilled- for $9.99 this wine really delivered. So I guess the question is, do they want a large number of individual sales, or a smaller number of multiple sales and loyal customers?

Night One

The nose opens with big aromas, starting with rubber and dark ripe fruit, blackcurrant and plum, followed by spices, primarily pepper and cardamom.

The palate, too, opens with rubber, followed by black pepper, blackberries, plums, and lots of florals, including violets and roses. Vanilla comes out on the finish. Mouth-feel is very smooth.

Night Two

The nose is much lighter on Night Two, more fruity, opening with cherries and raspberries, plus the cherry pits.

The palate is far simpler on Night Two, as well. Cherries and raspberries, some spice including white pepper, not any significant changes on the mid-palate, and a hint of nutmeg added on the finish.

*I am not a big fan of wine ratings and rarely buy anything based upon shelf-hangers, but as the manager of The 89 Project, if see and "89" under $10, I really have to buy it.

2003 Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva

Type: Red
Producer: Castello di Monsanto
Variety: Sangiovese Blend
Designation: Riserva
Country: Italy
Region: Tuscany
SubRegion: Chianti
Appellation: Chianti Classico
Price: $23.99



The Little Wooden Guy offers the Sun Salutation to this quite reasonably priced product of earth and sunshine.

Night One

The color is very dark in the center, almost black, with a bright ruby edge about three-quarters of an inch deep.

The nose is interesting, offering more than most chiantis in this price range. It has cherries and some pomegranate, but also adds earth, chestnuts, and some spices, as well as a bit of tar.

The palate is filled with red fruit, opening with cherries, their sweetness mitigated by dry cranberry and perhaps some pomegranate. There is more than just fruit here, though. This is a very floral wine, with violets ripping across the palate. The mid-palate is pucker-dry, cranberries and violets, plus a touch of tar on the finish. Acidity is good, quite bright, and the tannins are a touch rough, not much, and very drying This could improve significantly from Night One to Night Two.

Night Two

The nose is floral, more so than on Night One, rich with violets and roses. The fruit has changed some, too. Before, it was cherries and cranberries. Now, it is dried cherries and dried cranberries.

The palate has not changed a lot. Acid is still bright, tannins perhaps slightly smoother. I saw this wine for $17.99 today at Costco. For that price, this is surprisingly cellar-worthy. Based upon a two-day tasting, I expect it has a couple more years of not just life, but perhaps improvement as well.

2006 Mosby Sangiovese

Type- Red
Producer- Mosby
Variety- Sangiovese
Country- USA
Region- California
SubRegion- North Coast
Appellation- Mendocino County
Price- $10.99



The Little Wooden Guy is disappointed. Very disappointed.

Night One

The color is brickish dull red and cloudy. The nose is pleasant, mostly cherries plus a touch of raspberry and some pepper. On the palate, though, it falls apart. The first impression is of heat, blatant alcohol. The flavors are much sharper, the cherries turning sour, the raspberries turning to unsweetened cranberries (try them some time- they are incredibly tart to the point of being bitter). Acid and fruit and tannins are an unbalanced mish-mash, fighting with each other rather than complementing each other or working together. It might come together on Night Two. Stick around and we will find out together.

Night Two

Cherries in alcohol make the nose for Night Two. There is also some pepper, and a hint of toasted pecans. Again, sour cherries and cranberries, though some vanilla is starting to make itself known. This is just out of balance and not particularly pleasant.

Deerfield Merlot Cuvee 2004

The Wooden Guys take the gratuitous over-use of wood personally.

Deerfield Ranch Winery
2004 Merlot Cuvee
North Coast
75% Merlot
10% Cabernet Sauvignon
7% Sangiovese
5% Malbec
3% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol 14.2%

From the bottlenotes:

Winemaking is a combination of art and science, cooking and chemistry. Like a memorable meal, it's first about the quality of the ingredients and then about interplay of flavors, textures and techniques. Our merlot cuvee is all this in the glass. Six of our favorite vineyards supplied the grapes. Our winemaking focused the individuality of each varietal. Long barrel aging gave them texture. The blend, done by taste, married them into a harmonious, fruit flavored sensation, each element playing on the other, nothing out of place, every sip memorable. We produced 2,000 cases.

Sante'

Night One

Black fruit, red fruit, fruit fruit fruit. Lots of fruit up in your snoot. Not just fruit, there's lots of wood. Do you like wood? Some wood is good. Too much wood, though can be bad. Too much wood, it makes me sad. Fruit and wood and something more. What's that more down in the core? Tobacco from the cabernet franc, cabernet franc added to the tank. It's time to drink, to drink and think. Will it be great or will it stink?

I sipped and tripped on all the oak, so much oak it's like a joke. Sure theres's fruit, it's plenty sweet, so very sweet I beat retreat. Vanilla, brown sugar, cherries and wood, too much too much is just not good.

Am I being fair or just trying to rhyme? I can rhyme at any time. Just watch me go- "blow, Joe, though, fro." It's really the wine. I thought you should know.

Will this be better on Night Two? Stick with me, my faithful crew.

Night Two

Wood defeats fruit.

Sticky vanilla oak juice.

Too much is too little.

Poliziano Rosso di Montepulciano 2005

Montepulciano, Italy
Sangiovese
13% alcohol
Vinyl "cork"

The Little Wooden Guy is just not sure of this one. It really might be good in a few years, so he is reserving his opinion.

When first opened this was very tannic and tight.

Two or three hours later I tried it again. The nose was harsher than you would expect from 13% alcohol. Fruit, sour cherries and raspberry, could be smelled through the alcohol. There was also a strong floral aspect, lavender I would say.

On the palate all the fruit came across as stewed. There was some tobacco and flowers, but still harsh. Tannins are still overpowering and drying. The finish is short.

It will be interesting to see if this changes over night.

Night Two

On the second night the alcohol is far milder, no longer overwhelming the nose. Cherries and raspberries again, but not as tart this time. Add some black fruit to the nose as well, all very ripe, even over-ripe, and sweet. There is also sweet vanilla and oak.

On the palate, tannins are still strong and drying. Red fruit predominates, secondary flavors of tobacco and cedar join along for the ride. A bit of anise slowly grows into a background shine at the end. The wine is even-bodied, the finish moderate in length.

Based upon this two day tasting, I would say this could be very good in a few years, but really deserves time in the cellar.