Wine Club Gift Guide

Italy Wine Reviews

I drank these 4 wines and tasted all spice, bright, cassis, dark red fruit, food friendly, lightly fruity, menthol, orange peel, sour cherry, tobacco. The wines are aged, bright, food friendly, smooth and came from a variety of sources, including wine clubs, wineries, and wine stores.

Wine reviews by: Jessyca Frederick

Barbaresco Lot 181

2021 Ninety Plus Cellars Barbaresco Lot 181

At $28 I’m only a little disappointed. I expected more tannins and body from an Italian red wine, but was an experience worth having at that price.

Tasting notes: sour cherry, all spice, orange peel, menthol

Barbera d’Alba Lot 27

2022 Ninety Plus Cellars Barbera d’Alba Lot 27

This wine reminded me to not be so tied to my earlier impressions of regions and grapes. I really enjoyed this Italian red, which is something I don’t say too often.

Tasting notes: dark red fruit, cassis, tobacco

Scapolo’s Charm

2019 Penrose Hill Firstleaf Scapolo’s Charm

This Sangiovese was slightly sweet and bright, had nice tannins, and savory notes. As $15 red wine goes, I gave this a thumbs up.

Tasting notes: bright, food friendly, lightly fruity, slightly sweet

Amarone Classico della Valpolicella

2017 Zenato Amarone Classico della Valpolicella

This wine was magnificent and has made me completely rethink what I know of Amarone. The critics were mesmerized and so was I.

Tasting notes: cassis, liqueur, cherry, fig, prune

Notice: I hold no formal wine credentials. I am a wine geek who has consumed 1000+ of bottles from 100+ different wine clubs and 1000s more bottles that didn’t come from those wine clubs. I do not accept payment for wine reviews, and I do not accept payments to influence my opinions. I happily accept free wine (and I buy wine).

Why read my wine reviews: Wine taste is subjective. What I like may not be what you like. I try to leave room for you to form your own opinions, so I don’t provide a score or a rating. I do point out wines that are an incredible value or truly not worth the money. I note flaws, wines that don’t have typicity (because this matters if you are buying wine without having tasted it yourself), when wines are out of balance, and when wines lack appropriate body.

I don’t like wasting money (or anything for that matter). I’m careful about where I spend my money and my mindset as a reviewer is to be careful about where you spend yours. I don’t believe a high price tag equals quality and I know for sure there are wines of very good quality that are also a great value.

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