Several months ago, I wrote a review on the Sagrantino di Montefalco Secco 2004 by Cantini Fratelli Pardi. For that remember it, I was happy to find a Sagrantino, but upset because I didn't realize at the time that it was Secco, or dry. So, I wind up finding the rep for the distributor and ordered down several bottles of the Passito; only one showed up and the price was $33. I bit the bullet and bought.

Yesterday, as we were having a 'guys after work drink and gab fest,' I suggested that we go back and open up this wonderful bottle of Opera that I received from Terranova Imports. While we were almost done that, I pulled out this little beauty, and we all love it (we consists of myself, and Chefs Al Paris and Eric Hall).

This wine really deserves a rating of 12; it is full-bodied and contains the lushest amount of dark plums, black currants, and dark cherries. While you can detect the slightest amount of tannins as soon as you taste, this is immediately replaced by the cornucopia of flavors pouring forth.

I can't wait until more people start drinking this wine over here, because then, the price will start to come down.

I don't think that we drink enough [true] Zinfandel. It has gone forgotten amongst the crap of White Zin (I better write and article about this). When I like a nice red that isn't too heavy and has great flavor aspects for just about anything, I can always turn to a bottle of Zinfandel, and this one was no slouch.

Let's get past the deep inky purple color and deal with the flavor which is a nice concentration of dark plum and cherry, with a nice little whisp of smoke at the finish. It's neither too light in body, nor too heavy, being the right weight and viscosity on your tongue that this Goldilocks likes. I would swear that you can get the faintest trait of caramel on the back of this, which makes it quite interesting.

While I originally was going to give it a rating of 8, that last little bit of taste, in addition to the price, made me up it another point. Well done Mountain View!

Okay, this wine is not half bad, but I am not a fan of dry wines. This Merlot has ample berry flavor and a finish that is not a drop-off, but a solid amount of maybe 30% smokyness. Not bad, maybe good for someone that is a fan of dry wines, but not my cup of tea.

Okay, the truth was that I needed a white wine that didn't cost much to get me over until payday, so after about ten minutes, I chose the Misterio. I was honestly thinking of getting an inexpensive 1.5L but then I didn't want to have a serious amount of crappy wine on my hands (one person came through the other day trying to make amends, but brought along a crappy 1.5 liter of Bolla Cab that tasted worse than a purple crayon dipped in water).

I am wondering what this Chardonnay is blended with because for the most part, it is very demure in both flavor and acidity, becoming something akin to a stronger Pinot Gris. However, in that incarnation, it becomes something lovely to behold for just a wine to sit back ad relax with; it's mutability allows it to flow with many different dishes, never impacting the flavor of what you are consuming, but merely quenching your tongue.

Made from the Vermentino grape, and with a mixture of tart acidity and waylaid citrus, this wine is perfect for seafood dishes, and probably not much else. It should be consumed with food and not by itself.

Pair it with some peel and eat shrimp, crab, or lobster, and this baby is gold.