Taurino's Salice Salentino product is very consistent, but I like the
Notarpnaro much better.

Cantele? Who knows? Not all producers are top-rate.

DaleW wrote:
> My turn to make dinner last night, but I was too tired to go back ojut
> to the store. A rummage through the fridge led to a pasta with a
> ricotta, spinach, parmesan and bacon sauce. Betsy threw together a
> green salad with mango and peppers. I opened a bottle of 1999 Cantele
> Salice Salentino Riserva. Label says it's 85% Negroamaro grapes and 15%
> Malvasia. Rather ripe dark fruit, decent acidity, some slightly drying
> tannins. Some light pleasant aromas of vanilla oak and roadtar. Not a
> bad wine for the price, and I've touted it in past vintages as a QPR
> favorite. But this doesn't excite me. Part of the problem is probably
> the match - an unoaked white would have been a better match. Yet a sip
> well after dinner still left me unexcited, and more than half the
> bottle remained. 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.