2008 Chariot Gypsy

The wine that I'm drinking tonight is for the red fruit lover. This trader joe's gem is a nice blend of some well known grapes, with contribution from Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Petite Syrah and Sangiovese. So without further ado, I am sipping the 2008 Chariot Gypsy, and on the nose I'm picking up rasberry with hints of peppered licorice. Also under the rasberry and peppered licorice, I get some red cherries. With that last whiff, my nose has finally found it's climax, and I allow my mouth to be entertained. When tasting this wine I pick up mineral ladened rasberries and strawberries on the front end that translates all the way throughout the palate, which continues strong on the finish. Along with minerality and rasberry/strawberry, I also pick up some pepper on the mid palate to finish, accompanied by a hint of red cherry. With the varietals in this wine, it would be easy to be goopy and over the top with heavy fruit, but this wine contains the fruit very well, and is well made. Lastly, for those who are not big fans of Zinfandel from Lodi, this wine includes that grape and is not over the top and is very fresh and clean, especially on the finish, so try it, buy it, and leave a comment.

Viitiano 2007 - Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Merlot

To all those new age drinker of Italian wine, who go to their local Raley's and buy the cherry based Chianti's who only carry one note, you may want to skip this entry. I have just tried a gem of an Italian wine that's complexity surprises me, especially for the price of this bottle. With that said, I'm a get right into the bottle I'm drinking tonight, I'm drinking the Vitiano 2007, with is a nice little blend from Italy. The nose of this wine is very interesting to me, it carrries blackberry, a little green herbaceous qualities, some chalkiness and a hint of Black cherry and Cassis. The mouth feel consisted of cherry, cranberry with a hint of Rasberry on the front end of the palate. Some of the initial flavors on the front end, translate to the mid and the finish, for example the berries and cherry in this wine. Also on the back end, there are round dry tannins, which also puts this wine into the category of versatility, for not only can this wine be adored by the wine snobs because of the complexity, this bottle still has the sour cherry component that is a characteristic of most Sangiovese infused wines from Italy. In closing I think that those who love wine, but are not a fan of Chiante, should go and try this wine. On the flipside, I say, if you love those super-tuscans from Italy, you will also enjoy this wine, so try it and leave a comment.