I actually had this
Italian red wine about a week ago, but the
E2 lag multiplied by the
combined effects of my
rural,
hick ISP and my
sturdy but slow
486 have severely
curtailed my noding activities. Anyway...
I'm becoming a big fan of this relatively light bodied, flavorful variety of wine. Sadly, my state only allows liquor stores to carry two brands of it (which is kinda strange, as I live in the supposedly 'Live Free or Die" state of New Hampshire). So when I finally saw the 1997 Càntele arrive on the shelf (I've already tried the 1995), I put down the $10 and opened it eagerly.
This is a good, light red wine. And I mean that both in the context of body and color: compared with most other red wines, it's got a very pale color...it kind of reminded me of cranberry juice. The aroma was warm with hints of something flowery, and a sip brought lots of spicy flavors and that little smack of acidity you get with some Italian wines. There were some tannins, helping lend the wine a long (if low level) finish.
It did, however, make me rethink the bottles of 1997 Taurino Salice Salentino Rosso Riserva I have (well, had--we drank some over the weekend--though I had intended to replace them) in my wine cellar. The 1995 Càntele was weak and a little oxidized after six years in the bottle, and I had thought to hang onto the 1997 Taurino until about 2002...but will it be dead by then? I still think I'm going to go ahead and buy a few more bottles of the 1997 Taurino, since it's a slightly heavier wine, a little more oaky. it just goes to show that different wineries can approach the same wine in different ways--Càntele clearly makes their wine with youth in mind.
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