I can still remember the Chianti my parents drank. You know the one, it came in the fiasco, the straw covered bottles some of you may remember. You don’t see them on retailer’s shelves very often these days, though they do still exist. I know because I once had a customer inquire about them and I found out from my distributor you can still get them, though they are mainly sold to restaurants these days.

On its own, Chianti is much too astringent for my tastes. The magic happens when you pair it with food, especially spaghetti with meatballs. Every time I poured an Italian wine at a tasting, the results were always disappointing. If I were to do it all over again, I’d have made sure to have some cheese pizza served, which is also an excellent choice for Italian wine. The high acid and sometimes fuzzy tannins get erased by the fat in the cheese and / or meat, allowing for the dark sour cherry flavor to shine through. For those who are accustomed to only drinking wines from the New World (USA, South America, Australia), Italian wines can be a shock to the palate, especially the reds. You must pair them with food, though I have enjoyed a nice glass of Brunello that had been open for 24 hours. It was awesome.

This particular bottle will run you about $15.99 and is available at Bottoms Up Beverages in Johns Creek and perhaps Whole Foods, though there it will likely run 2 or 3 dollars more. The 2006 is an older vintage and you are most likely to find 2007, which is actually a better year for Chianti in general. Querceto is one of my favorite producers overall for Chianti, from their basic bottling to the Riserva. I think they always deliver a great product and make solid wines in varying vintage conditions. I think this is the 3rd different vintage of this particular wine I’ve had and never has it disappointed me.

2006 Querceto Chianti Classico

It has a classic perfume, blending dried flowers, sour cherry and a touch of earth. Once I started drinking it, the flavors that shined through were black cherry, spice, vanilla and some leathery elements. I know, chewing on leather isn’t exactly an appetizing thought, but this (and others) wine always has an element of leather in the aromas and flavors I personally find very appealing. Your tastes may vary and obviously, so will your perceptions.

Overall, I’d place this wine in the above average grouping, delivering aromas and flavors typical for the region and in a nice package well suited for any Italian food, be it a simple cheese pizza or something a bit more labor intensive like lasagna. I wouldn’t drink this by itself and if you do, you won’t be happy. The combination of high acidity and tannins will just pucker the mouth.

Haiku
Cherry flower dust
Bound in vanilla leather
Bring on the pasta

I’m very new to wine blogging. It is a hobby that gives me great pleasure and sanity while I search for full time employment. In the past few weeks, I’ve found out a lot more about the blogosphere and discovered some local talent I’d not known about before. Pretty soon, a lot more people will be introduced to a fellow Atlantan and the biggest wine blogger in the region. Hardy Wallace of Dirty South Wine has won the A Really Goode Job contest and will be moving out to Sonoma next month. There, he will live on the Murphy Goode property and act as a social media maven for their wines and the wine country life. He’ll make some nice jack, get a free place to stay and will publish media in every format known, including blogs, twitter, vlogs (video blog) and whatever else he comes up with.

I just wanted to say congratulations to him and wish him luck as he steps forward on a life affirming journey that will lead him to even more interesting places than he probably even realizes. I’m sure he’s basking in the warm glow of success, having chased a dream with full force and catching that dream.

Hold on tight and don’t let the sunshine burn you up!

Atlanta is stamping its impression all over the food and wine world these days. First we had Jamika make the Final Four of Food Network’s Next Food Network Star reality show and starting in August, we’ll be watching 3 (out of a total of 17 contestants) Atlanta chefs vie for the title of Top Chef. Exciting stuff in a time when we all need a little more inspiration to chase dreams.

Oh yes, the chefs are:

1. Kevin Gillespie
2. Eli Kirshtein
3. Hector Santiago

Best of luck to all of them…if one wins, it will be a mandatory for them and Hardy to do some sort of event together…once / if he returns from wine country.

Cheers,
Atlanta Wine Guy