Another exceptional Italian

 Today took us to a red from the very northern reaches of Italy - the Alto Adige.  This is the 2017 Putzenhof Bozner Leiten - made from mostly schiava, with about 15% of pinot Nero and lagrein mixed in.  It's about $17-18, and it is better than most wines 3X the price.  I have a bias toward mountain wines - a remarkable mix of intense mineral and sometimes fairly ripe fruit mixed with bracing acidity.  This has all that - on steroids.   It uniquely traverses the happy, cheerful side with a really serious depth and complexity. Nose a great mix of strawberry, sour cherry, hints of cranberry and raspberry.  Quite mineral heavy, and tons of floral notes - rose, lavender, violets.  Palate has ample acidity lifting the fruit, which is underpinned by solid minerality. Finish very long indeed.  This is the kind of wine I really enjoy drinking. Plenty complex, plenty serious, yet it's not heavy and plodding.  It is exceptional at the table with steak (our dinner), but would be good with most beef or pork or duck or even chicken.  The acidity refreshes after the fat and proteins of the steak, the fruit complementing the deep umami of the steak and mushrooms and favas, playing off the slightly bittersweet asparagus.  

Pink can be serious

 Pink, or rose, wines can get a bad rap as a poolside quaffers worth very little attention or effort.  yet the best manage to cross those boundaries very well - still fun, but serious and worthy of contemplation.  Tonight's wine was one such example.  Castellaro's 2018 Rosa Caolina is dominated by the Corinto Nero grape, grown on volcanic soils on the tiny island of Lipari, which is between Sicily and the Italian mainland.  The wine has a slightly frizzante style - akin to Txakoli wines. It has a fascinating nose of wild berries and brambles, green apple, seawater and hot rocks, and a certain warm spice note of cinnamon or nutmeg.  The palate is similar, with intense acidity keeping it very fresh, even though it's nearly 3 (old by many people's standards for rose).  Good at the table, good as an aperitif, and it really straddles the fun and serious divide exceptionally well.