Farnito Camponibbio 2007 (Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon)

A Super Tuscan style wine. The color is opaque, dark ruby red with purple rims. The first nose is extroverted, it has baked fruits then blueberry, raspberry, fruit jam and slightly blood come to the scene. An almost perfection in balance at the palate, it is like chewing a bunch of dark forest berries in the mouth. Extremely fruity palate is a great fun with a medium to full body. The fruity final is quite long. Tannins are significant but integrated. A very easy, pleasurable drinking with a nice and surprising satisfaction of velvety texture. A wine of moment, not necessarily something to eat together, this wine might be enjoyed just reading a book together or consumed enjoying the night with a special person. Non-spicy cold cuts like Prosc.Parma might be a pair if needed. Decent price/quality ratio. 92/100  28,50€/75cl/February 2014

Château Sénilhac 2009, France (CaS 55%, Merlot 40%, CaF 5%, Alcl 14%)

Purple in the rims through ruby in the mid. Transparent. First nose vanillin, milk; the fruity structure is upfront, sour cherry and blackberry are dominants. Still sour cherry in the mouth, also blueberry. Tannins are very strong but they do not disturb so much, integrated. It is a bit felt as diluted but still good balance is found. This medium bodied claret has a warm moderate-long final with an alcohol feeling. Elegant, velvety drinking while it is possible to get dried orange peels in time with little bit tomato touches and almond. Acidity is satisfying. Relatively good balanced, matching with light dishes, even matching with fatty fish dishes cooked with cream if it is a bit cooled. With fatty cheeses it would be fine too but heavy meat stews can crash it down. Party-picnic bottle as long as nice to drink at home too. Not a deep wine, not a very serious wine but still it has a character. Unfortunately a bit diluted. 86/100 Price: 14,76€/75cl/March 2013

Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Chile ( CabS 90% Merlot 10%, Alchl 14.5%)

Color is homogenous claret. Leather is strong in the first nose, and then it gives out some citrus touches, that would sound untypical for a red. In time fresh greens like parsley and mint becomes intense as it is aged 12 months in new and used French barrels. The wine is medium bodied and I am very surprised how it is labeled as “Extra Full-Bodied” on Alko website. Then I realized a difference between what I bought and what is presented on the website (You will read down here very soon). Tannins create a certain dryness on the tongue. Animal touches are there and also it is a bit rustic wine. The tannins are likely abducting the fruit and harming the balance. It´s dry final has a moderate length. A good table wine it is which could be better in time with the softening of tannins.

The awards of the previous vintages and the reputation of the producer, as well as the price growing like a sweet fat baby on parallel to these issues, makes it interesting and you become expectant, then you buy it, then you see it is a good wine, it is a very good wine, but not as surprising as you expected. Quite much “not fitting” all those notes described on sites which are selling the wine.

So, about the website I told up there in the note; when u search the wine on Alko website right now in January 2013, you will realize that the info on the site belongs to 2009 recolte. Also, alcohol is specified as 14.5% on the bottle even though it is 14.3% on producer´s website.

Even it is called “Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon” it also has a 10 percent of Merlot. But still a good wine to understand the tannic structure of CabS. It is better to decant minimum 15-20 minutes and I think it will fit well with casserole dishes or barbecued meats with fatty-spicy sauces. Harsh tannins would oppose cheese negatively, I think. As one of the mistakes in wine-food pairing, people drink strong tannic red wines with cheese types with their sourish-bitter mimics on their “getting-ugly” faces, with fake words “oohh, immh very nice ,oohh delicious” which first of all they do not believe. So this is not a wine to drink with cheese. Okay, this is a topic for another article so I stop to make more longer this overextended tasting note. Apologies. 84/100 Price: 17.89€/75cl/January 2013