We all know the typical inexpensive Sangiovese: light, soft, informal, easy to drink. This Bonizio Sangiovese di Maremma is a different animal. Produced by Cecchi, a prominent Tuscan maker of Chianti, this wine is an interesting take on a recent trend to explore wines from some of the less well known areas Italy. Maremma is an area in southern Tuscany and is also the origin of the Morellino di Scansano wine that has achieved some notoriety of late.

This wine exhibits a deep red color with the floral notes on the nose that are typical of many lighter Italian wines. At first taste, this wine is totally zingy, all strawberry, raspberry and spice. Wife characterized it as "hot."

In any case, we sipped it with our dinner then took the dog for a walk. When we got back, the wine seemed to have opened up and mellowed. Now there were significant notes of ripe plums and the finish was longer and drier with the tannins more noticeable. There is a slight earthiness on the finish, a kind of sweet sour note, that Wife certainly didn't care for and that basically left her with a negative opinion on this wine.

We had the rest of the bottle the next day with a simple crispy pizza with three cheeses, herbs and roma tomatoes. The whole sweet and sour thing had disappeared and the wine had mellowed even further. The tannins were softer and the overall impact was simpler and easier yet still pleasant enough.



This wine is fun like most Sangiovese but there is an added complexity and dryness. The wine morphs from spicy to rich as it opens up and has a nice long smooth finish. That slight funkiness that was noticed on the finish, though, may not be to everyone's liking and caused us to reduce our taste score. Still, at $8.99 a bottle it is a decent value and offers a good accompaniment to robust Italian food. Give it a try and see what else the Sangiovese grape can do.

This modest Cab is from California. Made by the folks at Concannon Vineyard, it makes a good everyday quaff.

Wife characterizes the Concannon as a very light Cab, not a lot of complexity but enough going on to make it a good accompaniment to certain meals. For example, we had this wine with a stew made with turkey, sausage, cauliflower and potatoes. The wine had enough body to stand up to the sausage but was soft and fruity enough to match well with the turkey. This might even be ideal with a Thanksgiving dinner.

Anyway, speaking of fruit, the wine shows prominent black cherry (just as the label says). The tannins are subtle and not overwhelming. The wine is soft and well rounded. There is no bitter or overly sweet aftertaste; it's mellow and easy to drink and displays just the slightest hint of oak.

Husband and Wife agree that this wine was better with food than by itself. We also liked it much better after it opened though as the night progressed, the black cherry became a little sweeter.



All in all, this is a modest Cab. It's almost good enough to become your everyday house wine but we have found there are a few other wines at the same price point that deliver superior taste and value. At only $8.99 a bottle, the Concannon is certainly modestly priced and you don't have to be embarrassed to serve it to guests. For the sake of variety, you should definitely give it a try.

Husband is flying solo on this review while Wife is out hanging with her friends. Not only that but me and the boys are eating leftovers tonight.

So our meal included some of the grilled swordfish we had a couple of days ago. We cooked up some orechiette, added some San Marzano tomatoes, garlic and a few fresh shrimps. We cut the swordfish into bite-size pieces, added some fresh mint (still thriving in our garden, even in October) , fresh basil (from the supermarket) and lots of ground black pepper. It was clear a good Italian white was called for.

The Alois Lageder Pinot Blanc was a perfect accompaniment. The nose had notes of pear and apple. On the palate, the pear reappeared and lent a nice round mouthfeel. The finish on this wine was long, rich and fruity with minerals and a bit of lemon and butter creeping in.

The swordfish added heft to what would normally be a very light and zingy dish. The richness of this wine provided just the right counterpoint to the food. As I sipped a glass later on, I was pleased to see that the complexity of the wine held my interest and I was able to focus on the delicate nose and some of the layers of flavors in the finish.



This wine is medium bodied - I would consider it a bit too rich to call it light. Nevertheless, it has enough crispness and acidity to make it a good candidate for seafood and it would go equally well with many chicken dishes and anything with a cream sauce. Typically sold for $12.99 we found it for $10.99 which seems a reasonable price. Well regarded by the Wine Spectator, this wine is worth a try.

Here is an unusual wine from the Barossa Valley in Australia. It is a made from semillon only. Usually we see this grape combined with sauvignon blanc.

In any case, this is a very nice, food friendly wine. Husband got mango/papaya fruit on the nose and Wife got a blast of sweetness. What rescues this wine is the finish. That's where we start to get the notes of mineral and definite lime. Not the rush of lime you get when you bite a fresh lime but the subtler taste of what's left from a fresh-squeezed lime.

We had this wine with grilled swordfish with a baguette and a salsa made of corn, tomato, red onion and zucchini. Despite the fruity notes, the acidity of this wine allowed it act as a good accompaniment.

As the night progressed, this wine got more buttery and less sweet, which in our opinion is a good thing.



This Stanley Lambert Semillon is a pleasant, refreshing wine. It comes on with ripe tropical fruit at first and then segues into lime and minerals. It is crisp and fresh and the touch of butter as the night wears on adds a touch of elegance that is quite welcome. At the store we frequent, this wine is always about $1o so we didn't get it on sale but you might be able to find a better deal.

OK, so Wife is cooking a pasta dish with calamari, sweet peppers, a few flakes of dried chipotle chiles and chunks of lobster. "So what wine are we having with this fine meal?" asks Wife.

"Well, I've got this Montes Chardonnay from Chile," I reply. "Oh, jeez, I'm making lobster" Wife says, "and you've got a wine with a screw top? This better not be a big disappointment."

Luckily for the Husband, the wine was OK, not a triumph but certainly not a disappointment. Wife said it was crisp and spicy with grapy notes on the nose that reminded her of grappa. Husband agreed that the nose was quite fruity but not quite featuring the bite of grappa. We noted that the crispness was a function of how cold the wine was. The warmer it got, the rounder and softer it became and the more the butteriness and vanilla came forward.



On the whole, this wine is all about the fruit. The label talks about tropical fruit and we can see where they're coming from. To its credit, this wine doesn't overdue the oak and butter combination and remains crisp and food friendly. We paid just under $8 for this wine so it definitely falls into the cheap wine category. There are always occasions that call for a modest Chardonnay and this wine nicely fits the bill.

The Atteca Old Vines 2006 is from Spain, a source of so many good value wines. It is made from 100% Garnacha grapes. The vines are approximately 100 years old and the result is a rich, flavorful wine.

We passed a glass around and our boys said it smelled like blackberries, Wife said it had chocolate on the nose and Husband thought it smelled hot, with earth and alcohol. Something wrong with his nose today? Maybe.

Wife is very impressed. She's liking the cherry overtones, dark black cherry overtones. We're both liking the depth, the complexity and the richness. This is a powerful wine. The finish is long, smooth and supple with tannins in just the right proportion. The fruit in this wine is ripe and chewy and, as the boys said, there are definite notes of blackberry as well as the cherry.

We had this wine with pork loin, sweet potatoe french fries and roasted acorn squash basted in apple cider, butter, sage and tarragon. This wine had no problem standing up to the food but didn't overpower it. It was just a pleasure with or without the food.

As the night wore on, the tannins began to recede a bit, leaving the cherry fruit a little more prominent. Nevertheless, the wine remained interesting and we enjoyed every sip.



We really liked this wine and will certainly be buying it again. List price is in the neighborhood of $17, a bit above our limit, but we have seen it on sale for $10.99 several times now. It's rich and fruity, dry and well structured. If you can find it for under $15 it will be well worth your while to pick up a bottle.