Contrary to the general feeling out there, sometimes I do show up. I don't always hide behind my computer. To prove it, I took Dr.Vino's suggestion and am throwing my voice into the ring of Blogging Wednesday or Wednesday Blogging, for September the 12th.

Here goes. The assignment was to put forward an indigenous grape from its hometown.

Bless Georg Mumelter's little heart for making this (possibly $14 dollars?) wine at Griesbauerhof, his farm situated outside the Alto Adige city of Bolzano in the DOC of St. Magdalener.

I bet the wine would taste much better in situ--such gorgeous, quasi-Alpine country up there--but here in lower Manhattan, it was extremely pretty. But just in case it made a difference, I climbed to my roof to see if the altitude changed the wine's taste. It didn't.

Schiava (aka Vernatsch,) comprises most of the blend. I have no idea what else is in this bottle, perhaps a touch of Lagrein?

And as far as its taste? Spicy, peppery, touches of aspirin and fresh strawberry in a fun-weighted wine that was entirely perky and surprising.

Brunello

Eleven bottles isn’t a whole lot but that’s what I tasted with few select drinkers around my kitchen table the other night. All bottles got an even shake. They were wrapped up and tasted blindly.

A lot of restaurants tell me they can’t sell Brunello these days. What a surprise. The wine has out priced itself. Like, what should you expect to pay? Mostly $65 to $120? And why should you do that? I mean, is it really that good?

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy a good, solid Brunello and it was good to remind myself what the wine tasted like because over the past few years I’ve either shunned it or I’ve been to tasting where all that was being poured were terribly wooded and cosmetically adjusted wines.

Saturday night, however, the wines were good enough to remind me what I had once liked about them; a comforting sunny happiness. Price aside, the best have a dollop of early summer cherry and cedar and forest honey. There may be some rusty nail, which I love. Or some sanguine, meaty quality. The tannins are not massive, but there’s enough around to age up well. Acidity? Yup. That’s what makes it such a good pairing with tomato based foods (and many others. I had a wild mushroom dish that it was terrific with, as it did with the roasted red peppers).

Two bottles were stellar.
The most expensive wasn’t the best.
In fact the least expensive Brunello was the most beloved. And the shocking news is that a lowly rosso blew all of the Brunellos out of the running. And as far as great producers? Biondi-Santi still makes beautiful wine. Another profound favorite is Mastrojanni. These were the evening’s hits.

2000 Biondi-Santi Rosso di Montalcino $33- $65
(Yup. You can find this wine at multiple prices) I loved this wine. On my first sip it got my attention; wow, what was that? The perfume from crushed, dried warm roses was intense. The cedar note blew off in a few hours. You could smell the sun and a touch of mineral metal, which might sound bad but it was compelling.

1999 Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino, $40
Bargain. Thank God. It's delicious. Intense nose. Touches of bergamot via Earl Grey tea and a high C of cherry with a good lively acid bath-- just the right nuance.

1999 Cantina di Montalcino. $51
The wine was expressive though I wasn’t exactly sure what it was telling me. It had a meaty (and bloody, in a good way) aroma and taste, made all the more happy by chocolate, cocoa, sun dried olives and apricots, nice rusty nail, silty tannins and a lovely balance.

2000 Piccolomini Pianrosso, Ciacii, $65.
Sure it’s a nice wine and if it were $40 it might really be worth it. Some forest, some pine needle, some moss and a definite dollop of that give-me-more- forest honey.

You’ll be pleased to know--as I was-- that the 1999 Barbi, Vigna del Fiore at $109, a modern style Brunello that was rife with cherry vanilla and a muddling point of view was a complete dud. Commercial. Pandering. A waste of money.

I've been down on the job and have been lax in tasting. But I got back on the horse this week. At a Montecastelli Selections tasting I actually found wines that pleased me. Here are a few.

ROSETI- VELIO 2003. This is a pretty inexpensive Chianti that sees no wood, it’s plunked in stainless and is a simple bit cheery wine with some chew to it.

PIRA DOLCETTO DI ALBA VIGNA FORNACI 2002.
Lovely. Basic every day lively dolcetto, and a little dusty. It’s just the way it used to be before the wine put on airs. You might find this for under $15. I did not like their Vigna Bricco Botti which had been housed in #2 pencils.

JOSETTA SAFFRIO BAROLO 2000. It’s the wine makers first effort and she produced a nice wine that successfully walks the tightrope between the modern and the traditionalists. There’s enough fennel and licorice to appeal to those of us who go trad and enough fruit to lure the barrique lovers. (around $43?)

ROCCA DI CASTAGNOLI CHIANTI POGGIO AI FRATI RISERVA 2000. I always liked this producer but in this tasting I found out they have gone modern, EXCEPT for this Riserva which shows they can still make a great wine. Edgy, great acidity with terrific sun baked, ‘chai tea’ like aromas. Mid $20’s.

ONA-CARMÉNERE 2003. I’ve been promising myself to be the kinder, gentler wine taster. And so when I initially passed this by saying, “Chile, I don’t think so.” I mentally spanked myself and came back to taste it. And wow, I said, that’s not so bad. Has a leafy, crushed dried herb thing going that was quite appealing, with a bit of blueberry. I take a better look-- it’s Chile’s only biodynamic wine. Go know. Pretty damned good and at around $11, a decent price.

ANTONIO FERRARI-SOLARIA JONICA 1959. You won’t be seeing this anytime soon at about $130 for 500ml, but it is really stunning. It started life as Pugliese wine (negroamaro?) made in one of the hottest years in the last century. It was brought up to Piemonte where it lay forgotten until ten years ago when plunked into large oak casks. This is a once in a lifetime oddity. Taste? Think a chocolate and prune PX flavor with an elegant Barolo like weight.