2009 Statti Gaglioppo from Calabria Itally

Hello everyone!! we had this wine last night with shepherd's pork chops and Calabrese potato salad. The recipes were both from the region of Calabria. I had planned on having a Salice Salentino with this, but I was shopping at Bob's and noticed this Calabrese wine. I thought, "what could be better?" This was actually an excellent pairing and another example of how beautiful it is to pair the cuisine of an area with a local wine. I knew we would want something with bright acid and soft tannins, because I had read about wines from this region, and because we had none of the heavier elements in this meal to stand up to big tannins. This wine was a bright cherry red with a bit of violet. It had aromas of cherry, raspberry and plum with a little vanilla. On the palate it had a fresh, crisp quality along with the fresh fruit and bit of vanilla. The acidity was not too much, but enough to brighten the wine and carry the fruit to a nice crisp finish. We really enjoyed this wine, especially with this particular meal. It reminded me of a nicely developed beaujoulais, but from Italy. It had that light, fresh quality about it. The body was light to medium. This would be a good summer wine for grilled chicken and salads. I got this at Bob's for $18.