Italy Week

Good afternoon, stay-at-home w(h)iners!

This week, we took on a couple of Italian wines, and here's how it went:



And now that you've laughed at with us, here's the full evaluation!


Valpolicella Ripasso; Solane Santi; 2010

We started the night off with a dry red wine that, despite the $17 price tag, I was honestly not too sure about.

Starting off with the aromas of the wine, a grape scent first overwhelmed us. After a little persistence, oak soon became the dominant aroma, with a dash of pepper, and maybe a little almond. Our two sweet-lovers found an acetone, alcoholic smell, while the two dry girls discovered a hint of plum.

 Upon first taste, oak was the dominating flavor, hinting at notes of pepper in the beginning, and trailing off to a subtle sweetness at the finish. The taste was bold, strong, and very dry. To us dry-lovers, it was perfect.

We found the aromas and tastes to have a balance and a lovely harmony, with the very barest hint of complexity, and completeness, rounding out to finish nicely. With an appealing label design, and a $17 price tag, we ended up with two "Mehs" (from our sweet girls), and two claiming it to be the "Best [wine] ever!"

Bottom Line: Would we recommend this wine? YES! Even our not-so-dry ladies agreed that this would be a good wine for a dry person.


Gavi; Principessa Gavia; 2012

Valpolicella Ripasso is a tough act to follow, but the dry, white wine we found in Gavi certainly didn't have too tough a time winning us over. Well, half of us. Again.

As we first stuck our noses in our glasses, we were overpowered by the scent of concord grapes. After much sniffing, and a lot of talking, we came to find a slight honey aroma mixing itself into the bouquet. But, after a few more minutes of deliberation, there was nothing left to be found.

And so we moved on to taste, where we found again grapes and honey. Despite the best work of the tannins (the dry feeling in your mouth), there was a slight sweetness to the wine that, surprisingly, balanced quite well with the overall dryness of the wine. We labeled the taste, ultimately, as "clean." A perfect descriptor for what was happening in our mouths throughout the tasting.

We found a balance and harmony, again, with the Gavi, but couldn't really classify it as either complex or complete. Ultimately, we ended with two, "Yums" and two "Mehs" (again, from our sweet-lovers). With a nice-looking label, and a $15 price tag, we then asked the big question.

Bottom Line: Would we recommend this wine? Yes. It's a very nice, dry wine, with a fair price tag, and a good quality. What's not to like?


And so ends Italy Week with the W(h)ining Army Wives. We hope you discovered some new wines to try out, and that you had fun laughing with us! Until next time!