Nice Find

The still life above is my favorite decanter sitting next to what turned out to be a very good wine.  The pitcher is earthenware and is glazed inside and has been in use for almost thirty years now.  My parents used it for ten years and then it moved in with me.  There's been a lot of wine poured into and out of that old jug.  Give it a quick rinse and let it air dry and it's ready to go again.  It's not the fanciest decanter, but it accomplishes its task with a somewhat rustic charm.

The wine was a surprise find today, a 2005 Santini Barbaresco La Loggia.  The surprise was that the wine was only $16. I was a little suspect but bought a bottle to try.

The day was almost perfect here, upper 60 degree range, sunny skies, mild breeze.  Grill weather!  We roasted a whole, free range chicken on the grill and made a small pot of polenta, scented with white truffle oil.  When I lit the charcoal for the grill I opened and decanted the wine so it had nearly two hours time to breathe.

Lots of very tart cherries on the nose mixed with some spice, earth and flowers.    Medium, and true, Nebbiolo color.  The tart cherries were in full force in the taste, along with the earth and spice.  Very acidic wine and lots of gripping tannins on the side of the tongue.  Totally dry finish that had very good length to it.  It really played well with the slightly smoky taste of the chicken and really lit up with the white truffle oil in the polenta.   

As the evening wore on the wine kept getting better. It may have lacked the depth of flavor of some other Barbarescos, but at $16 it was about half of what I'm used to paying.   Nice wine and a great bargain.