Wine Review #2 - 2008 Rocca delle Macie from Chianti

Here we are, Red Wine review #1!  This is a wine we purchased at the 2011 Port of Wines Festival here in Halifax.  Full disclosure, at the time we found this to be an extremely complex Italian red but that was about 50 wines into the show so our judgement may have been somewhat "clouded" at that point.  So, it was nice to approach this wine with a clear head.

We did not give this wine a lot of time to open up.  We decanted it but were into the first glass not 10 minutes later.  The wine did need a bit of time to really get going and we should have opened it a good hour before drinking.  However, once we were on glass number two we could really pick up some of the notes of a Chianti Classico.  The Sangiovese grape is paired with Merlot in this wine and it shows right away in the glass.  The wine is lighter than a Cabernet yet darker than a Pinot Noir which places it right smack dab in the middle as a medium coloured wine.

The true area of note for this wine is the nose.  This wine smells fantastic!  It is a complex nose that has spicy/clove/cedar notes.  It really smells more expensive than it is ($21.98).  It really does stand out when it first hits the glass.

It also tastes very good.  We found it to be a medium bodied wine which we would expect from Chianti.  But, it was a well balanced and smooth wine as well.  It did not start too tannic or hot and it did not finish too quickly.  It had a plumy and jammy mouth-feel that would almost convince you that is was Shiraz if it were not for the fact there was little residual sugar in the taste.  Overall when combined with the above average nose it is a great wine, but at $22, that is exactly what we would expect it to be.  So, here is the scorecard:

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Ruby Red to Cranberry Juice in colour	4.0
Smell (0-5)	Complex smell with Cloves, Spice, and Wood being the biggest parts of the nose, along with Nutmeg and Jammy components	4.5
Taste (0-10)	Well-Balanced Medium bodied wine with a Smooth finish. Definite plum/dark fruit notes.	8.5
	Total:	17.0 / 20  (85%)

Overall, this was a really great wine. A little on the pricey side for a Wednesday night, but well worth it. Our tired palates at the wine show weren't all that far off. Damn we're good!

This wine looks to be a fairly widely available wine, so if you have the chance give it a try.

Keep on drinking!

Cheers,

Chris & Shannon