Good Cheap Wine Guide

Feudo Zirtari Sicilian Rosso 2004 $7.99

RATING: Serve to friends!

What I thought: I love Italian wines. Why? Less substance than affection probably. I used to travel to Italy twice a year on business (that does jade me a bit) and remembered trying wines from each little roadside Trattoria that the owners would describe as their house wine. (I know this is a Sicily wine and not Tuscany but still…cut me some slack…I’m being nostalgic.) The agent that traveled with me usually turned up his nose and complained about the jug pitcher served wine but I kind of dug it. Just like trying beer microbreweries here. You take your chances. Just the same this wine would have felt right poured from a pitcher sitting on an outside table by the roadside and tasted even better. Sure light Italian table wines go against my “reds should have character” mantra but you know what, I still liked it. Let’s do it again and serve with friends. If they turn up their nose I’ll call it my “house wine”.

from: http://quaffability.com/?p=87

What others say: “My experience with Sicilian wines has been, like the wines themselves, light but always very enjoyable. That stopped with this wine, which starts with a reasonably pleasant nose of leafy fruit, leading to simple fruit flavors in the mouth. Before the finish kicks in, some bitterness — maybe even volatile acidity? — kicks in, and then the flavors turn to shoe leather and dirt. The finish is astringent like an unripe persimmon, and the fruit drops away. Just Plain Nasty. Down the drain. Price: $5.99 Score: 0%”

Wow, that was a tough review. I bet this guy wouldn’t agree with me on best pizza either! 

Cheers from the Wine Oaf!