I mentioned in the Navarro Correas Issue (#2) that I wasn’t
sure if it was the most frequently purchased, but was right near the top. That
would also apply to this one and they’re probably pretty close to neck and
neck. I have definitely bought this wine off-SPA more than any other entry in
the list, though, that much is certain.
For a long time, I wasn’t much of a wine fan and would drink
only French wine. When I started off, it was hard liquor; mostly Seagram’s VO,
only for a long time, then eventually beer and then reluctantly wine. I tried a
couple times to get going on the wine, but those were hard drinkin’ days and
myself and a friend managed to really do a number on ourselves one night. We
both got tremendously sick and I gave all my bottles away and foreswore the
wine for several years. Fast forward to meeting my wife, who wasn’t much a fan of
anything BUT red wine and it came back to the process of building the wine list
I’d always wanted to do, since restricting to one country, regardless of the
country, is mostly folly.
I say mostly, because if that country is Italy, you’re
probably not going to go too far wrong. By having such a narrow view of the
delectable liquid, I deprived myself of many years when I could have been
enjoying bottles from what is now my overall favorite wine region; the southern
part of Italy. This particular one hails from the island of Sicily.
If I had to choose only one wine to drink for the rest of my
life, I would be hard-pressed to do better than this. It is always consistent,
incredibly delicious and smooth, yet has a dry aspect to it that never gets
into astringency. This was a marvel when I found it; full, rich, vibrant, very
fruit forward and almost entirely absent of bite, just nearly pure silkiness.
This, in fact, is nearly exactly what I was looking for as the ultimate for the
under $20 aspect and considering that this, at normal price, is slightly over
half of that price, it really makes it near-incomparable. It is also very
well-stocked and is sort of the standard bearer for the Standard rating.
