Happy Easter!
Not a cloud in the sky today and a great day for socially distanced, small family gatherings. So the two of us gathered and enjoyed a roast leg of lamb that would have sufficed had the rest of the clan been with us. Not a problem; I do love a lamb sandwich. Our family gathering, in the style previously mentioned, is planned for tomorrow when the forecast weather includes the words 'sleet', 'snow' & 'cold'. It will be a Bank Holiday Monday after all, so I'll let you know.
It's a red week, as luck would have it, so the lamb was accompanied by:
This comes from Puglia, a region very nearly at the bottom of Italy where with The One and the bonus daughter I enjoyed a holiday a few years ago, staying in a Trullo. These are an unique style of building found only in the region and are sometimes described as being 'beehive' houses. We didn't notice any bees, but the bonus did find a small scorpion inside the mosquito nets around her bed one evening. Much hilarity.
This is not an expensive wine but Puglia doesn't have the cachet of, say, Chianti or Brunello and, therefore, there are bargains to be enjoyed. The first small pour from this bottle was used as sacrament in The One's on-line Easter service. I tasted it and decided that as the lamb would not be ready for several hours I would put to good use the decanting funnel that I was given by some generous friends a little over a year ago to celebrate my most recent birthday ending in a zero. One reason for our family gathering tomorrow is that The One will also celebrate the same significant birthday in a few days time, and I mention it here as to leave it unremarked would be rude. I think the decanting paid off.
The acidity I first tasted seemed more restrained and the more subtle, spice and perhaps hinted tobacco flavours seemed to have stepped forward to be recognised. Auto-suggestion? Possibly. Whether imagined or not, the wine was well received and very much enjoyed.
Puglia is a warm region, with a lot of coastline, and the fruit gets plenty of opportunity to ripen fully. The tannins were not dominant and the 13.5% claimed abv felt about right.
We have had the grape before in January 2014 when it was labelled Uva di Troia on the front label, but referred to as Nero di Troia on the back. Banana, banana (that doesn't really work, but you get the idea). On that occasion it represented only 40% of the blend whereas here it is, as far as I can tell, 100%. Does this make it better or worse? I can't really say as my memory, usually good, is struggling to go back seven years with any real precision. What I can say is that this bottle was £10 cheaper and still enjoyable.
At present it is possible to buy a bottle of Beronia Reserva for £10 and that, as you may know, is a wine that I consider to be a banker. See Week B (2021). It is probably a consequence of my evolving relationship with wine that leads me to think one of these and one Beronia has to be a better deal.
Would I buy again? Probably, but I have a lot of other wines needing to be tried.
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