Here's another pleasant surprise from Italy. I've had Fresh and Easy's Ogio Pinot Grigio and found it banal. Not so with the Primitivo. For those in need of an introduction, the Primitivo grape is a Zinfandel clone, grown pretty much exclusively in the Puglia region of Italy (the heel of the boot, AKA Apulia).
The Ogio Primitivo has a nice Zin nose, featuring cedar, spice, and a whiff of wet earthiness. Drink it (please do!) and you get dark raspberry, clove, and a hint of licorice, closed out by moderate tannins. It's straightforward wine, certainly, but tasty in its own small way.
Some words of warning: for anyone expecting a Cali Zinfandel experience, this is not your wine. There is nothing brawny about this wine, nor is their even a trace of oak on the back end. By the same token, it's not drenched in alcohol, featuring instead a nice acidity that will make for a good match with grilled meat, stews, etc.
In short, it's a nice Italian quaffer that's a great deal for ~$6.
Score
Drinkability: 8/10
Price: 5/5
Total value: 13/15
Other Reviews:
Full Pour
Just a Grape
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Monday
Re Del Castello 2007 Chianti Classico - ~$11
I'm a sucker for Italian wines and so I had high hopes for this Fresh & Easy Chianti Classico. That said, I was a bit skeptical of the quality of a CC for ~$10. In the end ...
... high hopes realized! This is a tasty red wine, full of dark berry fruit and a nice solid earthiness, shot through with strawberry and finished with that wonderful Sangiovese black-cherry sourness on the end. True, you'll get a more complex Chianti Classico for more money, but that'll take a trip to a quality wine retailer. And if you must make that trip, for God's sake get a Riserva! For the rest of us, this Fresh & Easy offering more than holds its own.
Like pretty much all affordable Italian reds, this is wine that strikes just the right balance between fruit and acidity, and so is made for drinking at dinner. I would pair this with just about anything outside of the kingdom of fish. Turkey might be a bit of a stretch, but if you know in advance that it's going to be dry and salty, why not at the very least have a good glass of wine on hand to take the edge off of your resentment of the cook?
Score
Drinkability: 9/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 13/15
... high hopes realized! This is a tasty red wine, full of dark berry fruit and a nice solid earthiness, shot through with strawberry and finished with that wonderful Sangiovese black-cherry sourness on the end. True, you'll get a more complex Chianti Classico for more money, but that'll take a trip to a quality wine retailer. And if you must make that trip, for God's sake get a Riserva! For the rest of us, this Fresh & Easy offering more than holds its own.
Like pretty much all affordable Italian reds, this is wine that strikes just the right balance between fruit and acidity, and so is made for drinking at dinner. I would pair this with just about anything outside of the kingdom of fish. Turkey might be a bit of a stretch, but if you know in advance that it's going to be dry and salty, why not at the very least have a good glass of wine on hand to take the edge off of your resentment of the cook?
Score
Drinkability: 9/10
Price: 4/5
Total value: 13/15
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