Take a deep sniff of a wine you like. Then sip and sense more aromas through your palate. This is how we enjoy wine. But I’ll bet you’ve never thought of this: Are you taking one deep breath or a series of short breaths … or both? Are you smelling with both nostrils?
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Bonpas 2019 Grande Réserve des Challières Ventoux offers the characteristic aromas and flavors of the Southern Rhône and Provence in its mix of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre grapes plus a splash of Carignan. Ripe raspberries show up first in the aroma, but juicy black plums are there too, with notes of freshly ground black pepper showing as the wine opens up in the glass.
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Oddly, Wine.Searcher.com shows only Canadian vendors for Bonpas Grande Réserve des Challières Ventoux.
If the Ventoux Grande Reserve de Challieres is hard to find, check Wine’Searcher for the similar Cotes du Rhone Reserve de Bonpas.
Follow this Wine-Searcher link to find listings for dozens of other wines from Ventoux. Read article.
“One of my favorite wines!” My friend Meghan Levins, a local chef, jumped happily into the discussion when I posted a photo of today’s featured wine, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, on social media. “Even the cheap stuff is awesome!”
“Exactly,” I posted back. “I’ve never seen a pricey one.”
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Bennati Castellano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a good, food-friendly Italian red, a bit on the rustic side, as is typical of the affordable wines of this region. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Dark reddish-purple in the glass, it offers pleasant dark cherry-berry aromas. Flavors follow the nose with blackberries and tart cherries shaped by pleasant mouth-watering acidity.
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You may have a hard time finding the Castellano label. Importer Emanuele Magnani tells me it was originally designed for sale to a group of restaurants, but now is available in limited quantities in a few states. However, it’s very similar to Bennati’s Ca Brigiano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which you’ll find at this Wine-Searcher link.
You can also browse this extensive list of other wines from Casa Vinicola Bennati on Wine-Searcher.com.
Finally, you can follow this Wine-Searcher link to look for scores of other wines of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, virtuallly all of them affordable and worth it. Read article.
Here in the Ohio Valley, summer isn’t showing any signs of leaving us. But we’ve got nothing on the West Coast wine country, through California and on up to the Pacific Northwest, where record temperatures have roasted the region and summer wildfires are burning again.
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Bonterra Zinfandel, a good-value California Zin made with certified organic grapes, offers an appealing introduction to Zinfandel at a rational price. Characteristic Zin raspberries and strawberries, blueberry and black plum add a heady overtone of strawberry liqueur on the nose, with plums and blueberries evident in the flavor with food-friendly acidity and a light buzz of tannins. Sturdy 15.3% alcohol is worth noting, but to the wine’s credit, it handles the high alcohol well.
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Check prices and find vendors for Bonterra California Zinfandel on Wine-Searcher.com.
Follow this Wine-Searcher link to find listings for dozens of other Bonterra wines with vendor and price information. Read article.
Even wine lovers who prefer red wine exclusively sometimes search for a lighter one during the hot days of summer. One possibility to fill this void is the lighter cousin of Valpolicella, Bardolino. Neil Duarte’s column this month gives pointers about enjoying this wine from the western part of the Veneto. Read article.
I come back to the wines of Mas de Gourgonnier every couple of years, it seems, and that’s not surprising: I love this excellent organic wine from Les Baux de Provence. I grabbed the rosé just in time for this heat wave.
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An excellent Provence blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre with a glug of Cabernet Sauvignon, this organically grown rosé is a pretty, rosy pink. Delicious red-berry aromas of raspberries and strawberries invite a taste. Red berries and zippy lemon-lime flavors add brisk acidity and intriguing rainwater-over-rocks minerality. Berries and citrus join in a long finish.
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Check prices and find vendors for Mas de Gourgonnier Rosé on Wine-Searcher.com.
Follow this Wine-Searcher link to browse Wine-Searcher’s listings for all the wines produced by Mas de Gourgonnier.
Learn about Les Baux de Provence and browse listings for the region’s wines at this Wine-Searcher link. Read article.
Say the word “Cabernet,” and most wine lovers will assume you’re talking about Cabernet Sauvignon. But if you find yourself sampling delicious red wines in parts of Northern Italy or the Loire valley in France, “Cabernet” is likely to point to Cabernet Franc.
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