To Drink: $5 Wine, Vol. 2, Villa Cerrina, Italian Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Let me be Francis (like being frank, but fancy) with you, for a moment. I know not of Italian wines. I see them on menus, and think, "STAY AWAY" for I can't even begin to guess what any of the words mean. THAT STOPS NOW.

the 2013 Montepulciano d'Abruzo from Villa Cerrina.

So, I guess one thing I do know, loosely speaking, is that Montepulciano (or as I wrongly said last night, "Montepuchi") is, like, a well known grape. Or is it a region? Or is it both? So, actually I know nothing.

But, guess what? My good friend (I've read his column twice) Dr. Vinny from Wine Spectator has THIS (also below) to say about Montepulciano:

This gets confusing pretty quickly. Montepulciano is a town in southern Tuscany, which gives its name to a Tuscan red wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. It’s made primarily from the Sangiovese grape, and many are high quality and fairly expensive...

Montepulciano is also the name of a grape, one that’s different from Sangiovese. It’s grown in the Abruzzo region of Italy, where it makes a wine called Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. This hearty red is more of a value wine...

So, I feel better about myself because I was befuddled and even this fancy wine doctor admits to the whole thing being confusing. Before getting too confused between these two things, let's stop and consider my mission. I'm tasting $5 wines, so, I think we can pretty safely say we're talking about the Montepulciano GRAPE grown in Abruzzo and NOT the fancy Tuscan wine that is nobile or probably noble in the english words. (I pick up languages really quickly.) [Ed Note: The wine label also says Abruzzo; but my research happened when I wasn't looking at the bottle.]

there are bumble bees on that carafe!

First Lesson: NOBILE = $$$$$$$$$$$$, Abruzzo = $ (ROUGHLY speaking.)

Jancis Robinson was a real helper when it came to my learning about malbec, but she's letting me down a little bit this time.

She describes Montepulcianio as an: Italian vine that will ripen only in the southern half of the country to produce good-value, full-bodied, juicy wines, especially in the Abruzzi.

I got slightly confused by Jancis saying Abruzzi and so when I Googled Abruzzi I was led to the AbruzzO page on Wikipedia (this is a very scholarly essay). This ends up being just the ticket! Because the "O" matches the label AND the map on the back of the $5 wine bottle shows the same picture.

 

This region is said to be very green, some might say verdant and enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Ok, I'm done with that now.

For comparison's sake, the NOBLE Montepulciano from the Sangiovese grape is grown in Tuscany, which is on the OTHER coast and more northern. I do not know much about Italy. So this is also geography101. We are now finished discussing nobility.

 

So, my Abruzzo friend, what else can we expect from you? Here are a bunch of adjectives I have found from wine websites:

• Clean, rich, modern-styled reds as they move away from the area's trend of cheap and rustic wines (wine spectator) 
• Jancis said juicy. (which excites me, because I think juicy wine sounds great.)
• Plump & juicy, also good grape for making cheap wine (into wine dot com)
• Crisp and fresh, dry and acidic, redolent of plums and cherries and very, very good with food (wine lovers page dot com) 

QUESTION: If I go to Italy, could I visit this vineyard? Googling it is a little shady. AND, if it's $5 and it's been shipped from Italy, how much does it cost in Italy? 25 cents? Or are Italians like: GROSS. So many side notes.

The last bullet actually refers to THE wine we will be tasting. If you were to Google it, and please don't right now because I'm still talking to you, this wine is making some top 10 lists for cheap wine and also is a favorite in the Trader Joe's community. OMG MY EXPECTATIONS are rising.

Final note before we begin tasting. A lot of these websites are saying that the Abruzzo region produces good, sturdy, grapes cheaply. And that those characteristics reflect the people and culture of the region. This is largely offensive to me because people are different from grapes in so many ways. And also, to insinuate that all the people in the Abruzzo region are good, sturdy, and cheap is rude. Finally, this reminds me of when people go to a country (especially lesser developed or ones that have gone through great strife [think Cambodia]) for 5 days and come back saying about all the people, "THE PEOPLE! What they've been through! But they're so happy." Just, come on. Let's get nuanced up in hur.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh STEREOTYPES!*

I need a glass of wine.

Oskar likes wine on a Friday, too.

Speaking of wine on a Friday. It's now Sunday. That's because we were without the webz all Thursday night until Saturday afternoon! Life without the webz is weird. Sometimes we said, "Oksar! Do a dance!" Then, nothing happened.

BUT THE WINE, how did it taste?

To begin with, there wasn't much to speak of by way of scent. There was a slight fruit smell but nothing I can put my finger on. However, in comparison to last week's alcohol twinged leather, I wasn't too upset.

It was light on the tongue with soft edges. There was a twinge of red fruit flavor, a slight acidity, and when I swished it around my mouth (like a REAL wine taster), I definitely got some cherry. It was light and soft and subtle. It was definitely dry. Easy to drink & pretty enjoyable. Fruitish & acidic; it was a nice accompaniment to the frozen Trader Joe's Chinese food we were trying. (BY THE WAY, the orange chicken with vegetable fried rice is a great under $10 meal.)

Final thoughts:

• Was it true to its grape? It was not plump nor juicy. But I think the round edges I was talking about are illustrative of its table wine status.
• Would I drink it again? Oh sure.
• Would I bring it to a party? Ya. Maybe with a chunk of soft goat cheese. Oh! I bet it would be good in sangria.
• Anything to remember? Next time, eat with an Abruzzo regional dish. I don't even know what that means... YET! ALSO. Based on the description of Montepulciano, I would like to try it in a different form, i.e. a $10 bottle. MAYBE at an Italian restaurant.

Whitney's Wine Score (1-42): 30 (Sure. Ya. I can drink that again. Soonish, even.)

The Meaning of the Points:

1-10: Hellllllllllllllll no.

11-19: I mean, no thank you. But. Eh.

20-27: Fine. That was fine. Fair enough.

28-34: Sure. Ya. I can drink that again. Soonish, even.

35-40: Oh! How delightful. Yes, please, again!

40-42: Amazeballs. Completely lovely. Excellent. Can I have another bottle, now?

*(This is insider baseball. Judge John Hodgman makes a podcast and gives advice to people. One time, because he hates sports, he said AAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sports! I feel the same way about sports, so sometimes i say it. And this time I said it about something else I don't like. It felt right.)