#40- Sangiovese

Blah blah blah. I'm not one to usually paint the Italian as boring but my God this wine is boring. And I have unanimous agreement on this (Kristin even agreed without trying the wine- she remembered drinking this varietal before and thought the exact same thing).

So how long do you write about a plain wine? I'm not sure if we're just red Italian wined out (with the lovely interruption of the NZ white) or if that the Sangiovese is just a really forgettable and neutral wine. I'm running out of descriptors here to basically say "eh- nothing special"

So, the Sangiovese grape is often used as a blend (I'll have to try it and see if I like it better as a blend) and it's very adaptable to many different types of soil conditions and absorbs all sorts of aromas- from fruity flavours like strawberry to a more distinct and oaky taste. Apparently this Sangiovese, from the Torre del Sale Winery in Tuscany (Toscana) is fruity. I didn't taste fruit and neither did anyone else.

I love Tuscany and I loved all the wine I drank in Florence (see my previous post about Italy and Amore) but I'm pretty sure I didn't drink a Sangiovese. The red wines always had a strong and distinct flavour to them. Definitely not this.

So with a flavourless wine, I had to have some spicy food so I made myself some dumplings. I think they're vegetable. Anyway, super easy to make and super delicious. I even whipped out the chopsticks to make it a little more authentic!

I'm not sure but I'm starting to develop a theory about some Italian reds- that they are deliberately plain when drunk alone. The key is to drink the wines with big plates of pasta in front of you. The mix of the tannins and pasta noodles creates some type of magic concoction in your mouth where you can suddenly pull out the subtle flavours and unique properties of the wine. I've made it my  mission to eat pasta with my next red wine from Italy. I'm pretty sure I've got one sitting in my wine cabinet to be drunk before the end of the year.