2006 Toscana Rosso

Still more cold weather here and more snow on the way.  At least today was sunny.  The sunshine gave me a break from "cabin fever" so I visited four different wine shops today.  That's always a sure fire cure for the winter doldrums.

Pictured here was was one of today's finds, a 2006 Mazzoni  Toscana Rosso that was on sale for $16.  The cork came out of this wine for dinner this evening.  Dinner was a braised pork shoulder with some Italian spicing, some steamed and then stir fried broccoli with pine nuts, garlic and Pecorino romano cheese and a small salad.

The wine is 72% Sangiovese and 28% Merlot.  The nose held all kinds of dry tart cherries thanks to the Sangiovese, but there were some darker berries underneath thanks to the Merlot.  The cherries were foremost in the taste and their was a good dose of Tuscan earth.  The Merlot seemed to kick in at the end and add a little depth to this wine.  Great acid and enough tannin to clear the palate finished off the wine.  Nicely balanced at 13% alcohol and a good buy at the sale price, though it might have been a stretch at the suggested price of $24. 

I'm still working on a little bit of the wine with a Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar from Vermont.  Nice cheese.