Author: Renee Witthoff

Origin:  Portugal

Grape: A blend of Touriga Nacional and Camarate (Camarate is relatively new)

Body: Medium

Year: 2013

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price point: $12

Year Reviewed: 2018

I have enjoyed this wine previously and keep coming back to it.  It has now even been rated 91 points from Wine Enthusiast.  On the eyes this is a clear medium ruby colored wine.  With such a clean and pronounced intensity of fruit, vegetals, earth, black currant and a bit of herbal smell on the nose, this wine give you a multitude of aromas to try to decipher.  On the palate, this wine is dry, medium-high acidity, and medium tannins.  With this full body, silky mix and interesting flavors of fresh fruits such as cherry, black currant, raspberry and cranberry and then some vanilla, you also experience a long finish.  My rating is simply “outstanding.”  Try this lovely wine from Portugal, that won’t break your budget and seems like it should go for around $19.00 a bottle.

From Oddbins.com….”Camarate is a red wine grape originating from Bairrada in Portugal. This grape produces soft, subtle low acid wines which are great as a blending element with other varieties.”

Origin:  Piedmont region, Langhe sub-region, Italy

Grape:  100% Nebbiolo

Body: Medium

Year: 2014

Alcohol: 14%

Price point: $25.00

Was at a nice wine bar in Roselle, IL and wanted a great wine to complement Polenta with a mushroom sauce, so tried this Nebbiolo.  Perbacco means “goodness”  for Italians, and this Nebbiolo was a perfect complement to my food.  This wine is clear medium ruby.  On the nose, it is clean with aromas of vegetals, cloves, a bit medicinal and smells of tomatoes, mushroom and earth.  The quality was very good and there was a fair amount of tannins without a lot of acidity.

The next day the aromas on the nose were not so pronounced and did not have as much interest as the day I opened the bottle.  Compared to other Nebbiolos I have rated, this one was just average.

Origin: Southern France

Grape: 100% Cabernet Franc

Body: Medium

Year: 2016

Alcohol: 13%

Price point: $8  (guys, this is a steal for this wine)

Year Reviewed: 2018

Here we have a clean deep reddish purple wine that on the nose is clean with a fresh fruit and floral finish. I get some fresh meadow smells from it also.    On the palate this so well-blended wine just blows me away with its velvety richness.  It comes off a bit dry with medium acidity, and higher tannins.  A medium bodied wine with a long finish that gives you red berry fruit, a hint of vanilla and some minerality.  The quality of this wine for the price is simply outstanding.  Some of these grapes come from vineyards dated back from the 6^th century.  Cab Franc lovers—-you must try this exceptional wine!!!

Origin: Piedmont, Italy

Grape: Barbera

Body: Medium

Year: 2013

Alcohol: 14%

Price point: $10

Year Reviewed: 2018

The above wine was a great price point so I thought I would give it a try. Barbera d’Asti’s are one of the most famous wines from Italy’s Piedmont region.  It appeared as a clear medium ruby.  On the nose it was clean, medium with interesting smells of baked cherry, cranberry, kirsch, vegetal, wet leaves and a bit of forest floor.  On the palate this wine had lower acidity, lower tannins, and light to medium body.  It was off dry and I definitely tasted that tart black cherry, vegetal and mushroom tastes.  It finishes with a medium finish and a bit of medicinal flavors that linger.  Acceptable quality for the price.