*Sidenote* My apologies *AGAIN* for disappearing. Life is crazy. Life is good. Life is making me BACKLOGGED!
Recently, I was able to attend a tasting with some affordable Italian, Croatian, and Macedonian wines. And when I say affordable, I mean under $20/bottle retail, for the most part. While I won’t go through all 16 (!!!!) wines, I will share my highlights of this tasting.
All of these wines were well worth seeking out. They are great additions to your summertime wine lineup!
2015 Krauthaker Graševina Graševina is a new grape to me. This is known as “Welsch Riesling” or “Riesling Italiano”. However, I call it delicious. With this wine, there is a dry, crisp focus, yet it keeps a complexity that leaves you yearning for more.
2015 Jordanov Rkaciteli (pronounced ree-kaht-see-TELL-ee) Crisp citrus notes and ocean air salinity are two qualities of this wine that I adored. There’s a lovely clean, crisp quality to this wine. If you’re looking for an alternative to Sake to pair with Sushi, I would look at this rkaciteli.
2015 Palama Arcangelo Rosato 100% Negroamaro. This wine may look like the sweet pinks we all see in the grocery store, but it is nowhere near the sugar bombs. Aromas of strawberries are dominant. A nice acidic backbone gives this the structure to stand up to food.
2014 Antonio Sanguineti Cannonau di Sardegna Cannonau di Sardegna is the Sardinian name for grenache. This lives up to grenache’s reputation of being food friendly. This wine has plenty of cherry and ripe plum notes. Pair this with artichokes topped with a marinara-type sauce.
2015 Lovo Colli Euganei Fio d’Arancio DOCG Fio d’Arancio is also known as Yellow Moscato. It is very unique in scent, with an unmistakable citrus scent that comes from the orange groves that grow nearby. I would classify this as demi-sec (not too sweet or dry). This with panna cotta topped with peach melba and fresh raspberries…yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
There you have it, five great, yet affordable wines that you should have in your wine fridge this summer!
Disclaimer: I was a guest of these wines’ Washington state distributor, Noble Wines, and importer, August Wine Group, for this tasting.
