On Jan 11, 10:30*am, DaleW > wrote:
> Betsy was taking Dave to airport Mon eve, so I was in charge of
> dinner. Slow cooker with lentils and tomato, trumpet/creminis, salad,
> and garlic bread. I used some of the 2007 Hugel Gewurztraminer (375
> ml) for the mushrooms, and we had as an apertif. Floral, some lichee
> and peach fruit, a little minty note. Decent acidity for Gewurz, not
> exciting but good for a $9 half. B/B-
>
> Dinner wine was the 2000 Calabretta Etna Rosso. At first I'm not a
> fan- there's a pruney note and some oxidation over a base of spicy red
> fruit. I like it better with air, where paradoxily (is that a word?)
> the oxidative notes fade a bit. Medium body, still a fair amount of
> tannin. Earth, spice, citrus zest. Not really what I expected (more
> tannic and rustic than the Biondi Etna I am used to) but nice wine. A
> pretty fair value in mid-$20s. B
>
> Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
> wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
> drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
> promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.*
> *

Interesting notes on the Calabretta Etna Rosso. I find the wines of
Sicily to be somewhat paradoxical. I've found some good examples but
generally I find poor either over-ripe wanna-be California knock-offs
or very rustic, high acid plonk. I've never visited Sicily so I don't
know if this is just what the importers offer us or if it is
indicitive of Sicilian wines in general.