Hi Reader,
For my first WINE TASTING (wooooooo) I chose to go with a sweet red wine named Terra, a Sangue di Giuda, out of Vitea Winery.
This wine tasting occurred in the middle of my dinner, consisting of a sandwich (nut bread with turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce, and dijon mustard) and a smoothie (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, banana, peanut. butter, chocolate protein powder, and water).
This food would have impacted the beginning of the wine tasting, possibly swaying my initial tastes towards the dark fruits found in the smoothie. Thus, I rinsed my mouth with water before I tasted the bottle below.
Name: Vitea "Terra"
Variety: Sangue di Giuda (45% Croatina, 45% Barbera, 5% Ughetta, 5% Uva Rara from a different Sangue di Guida)
Country: Italy
Region: Montú Beccaria, a commune in the province of Pavia in the Region Burgundy
Vintage: 2020
Price: $13
From the Winery (Vitea):
Terra is a naturally sparkling wine with an intense crimson-red color. Full bodied and vinous, with notes of violets together with raspberry and blueberry jams, this wine is smooth and fragrant, delicate and fresh. It is best enjoyed while the wine is young. One thing to note is that this wine is Naturally Effervescent!
It is well combined with all kinds of desserts, fruit tarts, and fine pastries.
As Sangue di Giuda is not found in Wine Folly, I searched up what wines are similar to this unique dessert wine. I was pointed to the wine type Lambrusco as a similar cousin.
From Wine Folly (Lambrusco p. 122-123):
Meaning "wild grape", this light red is from a family of eight closely related grapes native to Italy. The wines are typically sparkling and range from dry to sweet. It has hints of strawberry, blackberry, rhubarb, hibiscus, and potting soil. A relatively inexpensive and young wine. Amabile and Dolce are two words to describe the high sweetness level found in the sweet side of the wine. It is a great pairing dessert, particularly with milk chocolate. Some other hints you may find include blueberry, berry sauce, red currant, raspberry, orange blossom, oregano, and creme fraiche.
My Review of Terra:
After struggling with the cork, the wine popped open with a hint of carbonation on the ear. This carbonation was seen on the pour, bubbling lightly but the bubbles recede after 2-3 seconds in the glass as seen in the picture above. The wine appeared as a dark and deep purple, gathering a red color when held to the light.
On the nose, I first got dark fruits, blackberries and overripe strawberries. Going back to the nose, cherries were the next fruit I got. I could also tell how sweet the wine was to be on the tongue just from the scent!
From the tongue, you get hit very hard with cherries and the sweetness in the thin glass seen above. When poured into the metal wine tumbler below, I continued to taste cherries but raspberries snuck through. The tastes hit on the back middle and sides of the tongue. When drank quickly, the carbonation hits on the front end of the tongue and provides a nice sensation.
From the days of listening to my mother talk about wine, I tried to find a dark chocolate square to pair this wine with. I found this Ghiradelli 86% Intense Dark Cacao (seen below) in my brother's stash of chocolate. When the two were paired together, blueberry notes were brought out of the wine. I really really enjoyed this pairing and I think that adding the chocolate improves the taste of the wine.
In comparison with Vitea, I did taste the raspberry and blueberry; however, the blueberry came to me at a later time.
Final Remarks:
One cool thing to note is that Sangue di Giuda stands for Jadas' Blood for the color and legend surrounding it. This is a wine I hope to come back to later in the semester and properly pair it with different desserts. I think that this wine is generally simple, with minimal secondary layers found for the average wine drinker. I would recommend this wine to those that are sitting down with something chocolate based and want to add a fruit element to it. I would also recommend this wine to new wine drinkers as it is sweet and easy to drink.
Until the next drink,
JC
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