Recommendation: a VERY GOOD Italian Barbara that’s an excellent value.
Winery/Producer: Tenuta L’illuminata; La Morra, Italy.
Grape Variety: Barbera
Geographic Region, Appellation: Barbera d’Alba; Piedmont, Italy
Vintage: 2010
Price: $17.00 (At a wine tasting dinner.)
Purchased From: Di Lisio’s Italian Restaurant, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Paired With: Parmesan chicken, pasta with olive oil, garlic and Parmasan cheese and Caesar style salad.
Tasting:
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He said: Opened 45-minutes before drinking. Clear, ruby color with the same color rim. Strong raspberry, cherry, damp earth and fresh cut pine sawdust aromas. Very smooth juicy mouth-feel; lots of soft, dusty fruity taste that ends long and dry with plenty of acidity. This was so easy drinking…fantastic with the Parmesan chicken & pasta and equally good without food after the dinner. It had a wonderful bouquet, was packed with fruit & wood flavors and ended with a perfect dryness that had very well integrated tannins. I would call this a VERY GOOD Italian Barbara that’s an excellent value.
We recently had this at a wine pairing dinner (see Wine Pairing Dinner: Di Lisio’s Italian Restaurant; Winston-Salem, North Carolina) paired with Tuna Pizzaiola in a light cherry tomato sauce and we both liked it very much, but drinking at home with the Parmesan chicken and pasta, I think it was even a better pairing…and I’ll bet it would be equally delicious with mushrooms. Look for this wine in Italian restaurants on the East and West coast.
She said: Dark ruby red color, slightly opaque, a few slow moving legs believing the 14.5% alcohol content. I don’t have a very good sniffer tonight, but this wine came through with flying colors anyway. I hoped that a good flavor would follow and I was not disappointed. It was a WOW! WOW! in both aroma and flavor with lots of red berry in both. The mouth-feel extends the good vibes with dryness, medium weight, smoothness and just enough grip to the tannins to be interesting. The finish was long, dry and tasty, beckoning you to drink more. This wine was delicious with the dinner and equally so sipping. It was a great buy at $17 and I look forward to buying it again (hint!). A good, easy drinking multipurpose wine.
Alcohol: 14.5%
UPC Code: 8 35821 00835 1
Imported by: Majestic Imports; Santa Rosa, California.
Photo from Tenuta l’illuminata.