Wine is one of the great pleasures of being human and I Iove experimenting and finding new varietals to taste. Recently I’ve been trying quite a few Malbecs from Argentina and the Ruca Malen Malbec is a fine example at just under $20.00. Further, I’ve been looking to find nice values from Italy (Barolo will break the bank) and have recently pointed readers to Aglianico and, now, Morellino di Scansano. Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich recently purchased some land in Toscana and have been producing a nice varietal at under $14.00 (I Perazzi Morellino di Scansano La Mozza). Here’s a snippet from Wikipedia on Morellino:
Morellino di Scansano does not need to age in wood and can be released in the January after harvest, meaning that it can be found on the shelf with less than 8 months of life, thus an amazingly fresh and crisp wine.
It is only in the past twenty years that vintners have begun to harness the potential of this coastal terroir, other areas that are very similar in terms of their microclimate such as Bolgheri are already world famous. This means that consumers can get some great value wines of a tremendous quality. Fattoria di Magliano, Castello Romitorio, and Fattoria dei Barbi have been writing the history of this young denomination, which is still lacking a definite identity but in general is a fresh elegant, high-quality wine
