Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

The Azienda Zenato, located in Lugana, Italy, is owned by the Zenato family. Sergio Zenato founded the winery in 1960. Sergio has a relentless passion for winemaking as well as experimenting with new vineyard plantings. Planted in 1975, the Zenato family estate vineyard is in the area of Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and covers 20 hectares.

“With a ruby red hue, it releases an elegant almond-scented bouquet, classicly Valpolicella; the palate shows dry and full-flavored, with an excellent, velvet-contoured structure. Can be cellared several years.” –Zenato

2009 Zenato Valpolicella Superiore (Valpolicella DOC, Veneto, Italy): 80% Corvina Veronese, 10% Rondinella, and 10% Sangiovese. Deep red in color. Very aromatic with licorice, oak, and black fruit on the nose. Red and black fruits, earth, and licorice come through on the palate. Medium-bodied and crisp with medium tannins, and a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $15; Available elsewhere, $11 to $14

A Wine for Tonight: 2009 Zenato Valpolicella Superiore was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Coming from a line of seven generations of grape growers, Michele Chiarlo founded his namesake winery in 1956. Today, Mr. Chiarlo is a leading figure in the Piedmont wine industry. Michele Chiarlo is definitely a family business with Mr. Chiarlo’s sons, Alberto and Stefano, now playing key roles. Alberto directs marketing and sales while Stefano manages vineyard operations and serves as co-winemaker.

“Ruby red with purple highlights. Elegant with fine intensity, hints of wild berries and mint leaves. Dry, full-fruity and well structured.” –Michele Chiarlo

2008 Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti Le Orme Superiore (Barbera d’Asti DOCG, Piedmont, Italy): Medium-deep ruby red in color. Nice nose with earth and red fruit aromas. Fruit-forward with ripe red fruit, especially cherry and raspberry, earth, and black licorice on the palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity and medium, smooth tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $14.49; Available elsewhere, $12 to $14

A Wine for Tonight: 2008 Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti Le Orme Superiore was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

The Principi di Butera estate is located in the district of Butera in the Province of Caltanissetta and lies within the Riesi DOC in the heart of Sicily. Currently, they have 334 acres under vine in their vineyards. In addition to Nero d’Avola and Insolia, which are indigenous varieties, they also grow Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chardonnay. Antonio Cufari serves as winemaker.

“Dry, well-structured and extremely rounded, it offers very complex fruit flavors on the palate. These are reminiscent of cherries preserved in brandy, mingled with a very appealing spiciness that lingers on the finish.” –Feudo Principi di Butera

2008 Feudo Principi di Butera Nero d’Avola (Sicilia IGT, Italy): Deep, dark red. Aromatic with black fruit and a hint of creosote on the nose. Black plum, black cherry, and licorice come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium, dry tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $14.99; Available elsewhere, $13 to $21

A Wine for Tonight: 2008 Feudo Principi di Butera Nero d’Avola was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

The Rocca di Montemassi Estate is located in the coastal area of Maremma in Tuscany, Italy. Currently, they farm 262 acres of grapes in their estate vineyards. In addition to Sangiovese, which is traditionally grown in the area, they also grow Vermentino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah. Stefano Ferrante serves as winemaker.

“Intense and full, the flavor offers pleasant scents of violets, cherries and wild berries. With a good structure but pleasantly fresh and with a soft and persistent finish. A harmonious wine that accompanies preserved meats of the Tuscan tradition, savory introductory dishes, grilled red meats and moderately aged Pecorini cheeses.” –Rocca di Montemassi

2008 Rocca di Montemassi Le Focaie Sangiovese (Maremma Toscana IGT, Italy): 100% Sangiovese. Deep red in color. Nice nose with black plum, raspberry, and floral aromas. Black plum, raspberry, and smoked meat comes through on the palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a medium to long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $12.99; Available elsewhere, $10 to $12

A Wine for Tonight: 2008 Rocca di Montemassi Le Focaie Sangiovese was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Luce della Vite was a project originally launched by Vittorio Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi. Today, Vittorio’s son Lamberto Frescobaldi serves as winemaker. Located in the viticultural region of Montalcino, the Luce della Vite estate comprises 192 hectares. While their oldest vines were planted in 1977, the majority of the vineyards have been planted since 1997.

Lucente Toscana is a wine that was launched by Luce della Vite in 1998. Recently, we had the opportunity to taste the 2007 Lucente Toscana in a blind samples tasting, which we found to be excellent. It is a Super Tuscan blend of Merlot, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

2007 Marchesi de Frescobaldi Luce della Vite Lucente Toscana (Toscana IGT, Italy): 50% Merlot, 35% Sangiovese, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, dark red in color. Very aromatic with chocolate, black fruits, and oak on the nose. Fruit-forward with black fruits, spice, and chocolate on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $30; Available elsewhere, $20 to $34

Lucente Toscana was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Lunetta, which means “little moon” in Italian, is produced from grapes that are handpicked and vinified at Cavit’s state-of-the-art sparkling wine facility in the northern Italian region of Trentino. Anselmo Martini, one of northern Italy’s top enologists, is the lead winemaker at Cavit.

“Enticing aromas of apple and peach give way to a palate that is refreshing, and harmonious, with crisp fruit flavors and a clean finish. Lunetta Prosecco is delightful as an aperitif or enjoyed with antipasti, hors d’oeuvres, sushi, shellfish and seafood.” –The Cavit Collection

NV Lunetta Prosecco Brut (Trentino, Italy): Italian sparkling wine. Very pale straw yellow. Small, fairly fast bead of bubbles. Aromatic with white peach and apple on the nose; more apple, white peach, and a hint of lemon on the palate. Dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $9.99; Available elsewhere, $10 to $13

A Wine for Tonight: NV Lunetta Prosecco Brut was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

I’ve told this story before when writing about a previous vintage of this wine, but it’s a good one so I hope you won’t mind if I tell it again. Our first experience with Nivole came by accident. We were dining at one of the premier steakhouses here in Seattle on a special occasion when the server accidentally spilled a bottle of red wine at our table, splattering everywhere, including all over my husband’s pants. After apologizing profusely to Colby, replacing the wine with a fresh bottle, offering to pay for cleaning the pants, and comping us on the meal, the manager had a bottle of Nivole sent to our table as a dessert wine. It hit the spot then and has continued to hit the spot for us since that time.

Coming from a line of seven generations of grape growers, Michele Chiarlo founded his namesake winery in 1956. Today, Mr. Chiarlo is a leading figure in the Piedmont wine industry. Michele Chiarlo is definitely a family business with Mr. Chiarlo’s sons, Alberto and Stefano, now playing key roles. Alberto directs marketing and sales while Stefano manages vineyard operations and serves as co-winemaker.

The name Nivole, which means “clouds” in the Piedmontese dialect, fits the wine’s light, elegant quality. We’ve tasted and reviewed four different vintages of Nivole, the 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. We’ve given each an excellent quality rating of 4 stars (out of 5). So even if you can’t find the 2008 where you live, I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase whichever vintage is available.

2008 Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d’Asti (Piedmont, Italy): Pale, greenish straw yellow semi-sparkling wine. Beautiful nose with fresh, sweet aromas of honey, peach, and dried apricot. More honey, peach, and dried apricot as well as Asian pear come through on the palate. Sweet but not sickeningly sweet. Very crisp and refreshing. Well-balanced with a long finish. The perfect dessert wine (with or without any dessert).
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Esquin (Seattle, Washington), $12.99 [375ml], Available elsewhere, $10 to $16

A Wine for Tonight: 2008 Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d’Asti was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

The menu for this pairing consisted of a tomato/cucumber marinated salad, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, and sautéed mustard greens. As with most of our challenging wine pairing dinners, I consulted What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page to determine what wines to pair with the meal.

Since fried chicken is typically an inexpensive meal, I wanted to find wines that would be in the $10 or under price range. We decided on the 2010 Nobilo Regional Collection Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and the NV Lunetta Prosecco Brut sparkling wine from Italy. Both wines were very good; however, the unanimous choice for the better pairing was the Sauvignon Blanc. The acidity in the Sauvignon Blanc worked especially well with the acidity in the marinated salad and with the fat in the fried chicken.

We’d love for you to share in the comments what wine you would have paired with this meal. And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for challenging wine pairings for us to try in the future.

Bon Appétit!

2010 Nobilo Regional Collection Sauvignon Blanc  (Marlborough, New Zealand): Pale, greenish straw yellow. Very aromatic with grapefruit, pear, and grassy aromas. Grapefruit, grass, and lime come through on the palate. Dry and light to medium-bodied with very tart acidity. Well-balanced with a long finish. Very crisp and refreshing.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $9.99; Available elsewhere, $9 to $15

NV Lunetta Prosecco Brut (Trentino, Italy): Italian sparkling wine. Very pale straw yellow. Small, fairly fast bead of bubbles. Aromatic with white peach and apple on the nose; more apple, white peach, and a hint of lemon on the palate. Dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $9.99; Available elsewhere, $10 to $13

Challenging Wine Pairing: Fried Chicken was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Castello di Gabbiano, located in Tuscany, Italy, sits atop a hilly estate among the vineyards. The Castello dates back to 1124 when construction began. The original owners, the Bardis, sold it to the Soderini family in 1408. The current owners, the Arcaini family, purchased Castello di Gabbiano in 1981 and have completely restored it. All Castello di Gabbiano wines feature a distinctive Cavaliere (a knight on horseback bearing a winged helmet, standard, and shield) on their labels.

“The 2007 Chianti Classico DOCG is a lovely complex wine – ruby red in color with hints of dark cherry on the nose. The palate is fresh with flavors of plum, violets and juicy cherries which are supported by fine and supple tannins that round out the mouthfeel. The finish is persistent and shows characteristic fresh acidity.” –Giancarlo Roman, winemaker

2007 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico (Chianti Classico DOCG, Italy): Predominately Sangiovese. Medium-deep ruby red in color. Very aromatic with strawberry, raspberry, cherry, and spice coming through on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity, smooth tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $11.99; Available elsewhere, $11 to $14

A Wine for Tonight: 2007 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Last week, we met and explored Italian Pinot Grigio. Pinot Grigio, known as Pinot Gris in some parts of the world, is a very popular quaffing wine. In most cases, it is light, simple, refreshing, and pairs well with a variety of foods, which gives it broad consumer appeal. Pinot Grigio is a genetic mutation of Pinot Noir. It is traditionally fermented in stainless steel to preserve its fruit and freshness. Pinot Grigio has really made a name for itself in the northeast of Italy in Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

We tasted seven bottles of Italian Pinot Grigio, and the consensus favorite was the 2008 Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio. Livio Felluga, the man, is considered the patriarch of viticulture and winemaking in the Friuli region of Italy. Founded in the 1950’s, the Livio Felluga estate covers more than 160 hectares. The Livio Felluga bottle features a distinctive map label that Livio Felluga himself created in 1956 to portray his love of the land.

Well, this was a first. As you’ll notice in the tasting notes below, we had three bottles of the exact same wine, the 2008 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, which is actually not that surprising considering that it is the most popular Italian Pinot Grigio sold in the United States. While the rankings were close, no one identified them as being the same wine. In fact, as you’ll see from the notes, they all tasted slightly different. Even after we unveiled them and re-tasted the three wines, we all thought that they tasted different. Even so, they were all good. Just one of the many things that keeps the world of wine interesting.

From 1st to last in the group consensus rankings:

2008 Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio (Colli Orientali del Friuli, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy): Pale, greenish straw yellow in color. Very aromatic with white peach, nuts, and floral notes on the nose. Apple, peach, and almonds come through on the palate. Dry and medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of five)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fine Wine & Cigars (Redmond, Washington), $24; Available elsewhere, $19 to $33

2008 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy): Pale, greenish straw yellow. Very aromatic with lime, Granny Smith apple, and grapefruit aromas. More citrus, apple, and pear flavors on the palate. Dry, medium-bodied, crisp and refreshing with a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of five)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Thriftway (Seattle, Washington), $25; Available elsewhere, $16 to $23

2008 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy): Pale straw yellow. Aromatic with lime, lemon, and apple on the nose; honey and some minerality on the palate. Dry, light to medium-bodied and viscous with crisp acidity and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of five)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $23; Available elsewhere, $16 to $23

2008 Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio (Alto Adige, Italy): Pale yellow in color. Aromatic with nuts, lemon, and minerality on the nose. Apple and pear flavors dominate the palate. Dry and light to medium-bodied with lively acidity and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of five)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $13.50; Available elsewhere, $11 to $18

2008 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy): Pale yellow. Aromatic with tropical fruits, particularly pineapple, on the nose; citrus, lemon peel, and a hint of minerality on the palate. Dry, light to medium-bodied, crisp and refreshing with a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of five)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Whole Foods (Seattle, Washington), $20; Available elsewhere, $16 to $23

2008 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio (Alto Adige, Italy): Pale, greenish straw yellow in color. Nose is a bit tight at first, and then some pear and apple aromas come through. More pear and nuts on the palate. Dry and light-bodied with lively acidity and a medium finish. A bit watery and plain.
Quality: 3 stars (out of five)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $15; Available elsewhere, $12 to $18

2009 Tramin Pinot Grigio (Alto Adige, Italy): Pale, greenish straw yellow in color. Fizzy citrus notes on the nose; apple, citrus and tropical fruits on the palate. Dry, light-bodied and tart with a long, bitter finish. Tastes carbonated. Not pleasant.
Quality: 2.5 stars (out of five)
QPR: NR (not recommended)
Where to buy: Whole Foods (Seattle, Washington), $16; Available elsewhere, $11 to $14

Tasting Group: Italian Pinot Grigio was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.