2011 Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano

I've written several times about my trip to Italy with my college girlfriend, back in the halcyon days of 1996. I've recently unearthed a lot of photos (back when we used to take those on film and get them printed at the pharmacy) as well as my handwritten journal from the trip (prior to Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). I've got enough content to fill a book, but at the end of the day I know that what was a life-changing event for me has been repeated many times over the centuries. Young folks go to Italy, drink some wine, look at some art, and try to avoid getting robbed while figuring out a crazy street system in each unique city.

It doesn't mean that I'll never write about that trip in detail, but it has been on my mind recently. I miss the adventure of trucking out on foreign streets and conversing in a foreign language. I would be more than happy to trade my half hour car ride through horrible traffic clutching a V8 or Diet Coke with a quiet, contemplative train ride that I could enjoy with a newspaper, caffe latte, and chunk of bread. Let me fill out the crossword in the International Herald Tribune in peace before I have to spend hours creating performance metric dashboards.

Back to the wine, which brought back fond memories of tasty Tuscan reds that I sipped with wild abandon back in 1996, never asking for alcohol percentages, grape composition, or how long the family had been making wine.

2011 Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano
Montepulciano
94% Sangiovese, 6% other local red grapes
$19, 14% abv.

The wine shows classic Tuscan aromas of black cherry and plum with firm tannins and a long, lingering finish. It's chewy, a little tannic, and quite tasty when served with a rustic roast beef meal accompanied by grilled asparagus. Delicious and true to the region, and one that I hope you will enjoy here in the States as well as back in the home country.

Note: This wine was provided as a sample for review.