Winecast

Today's show is a special edition for Wine Blogging Wednesday #7 whose theme is, "Obscure Red Grape Varieties". Thanks to Andrew Barrow of Spittoon for inviting me to participate as the first podcaster to join the fun of WBW! I had to stoop down quite a bit at some wine stores here in Minneapolis as I looked for varietals I had never heard of, let alone tried. I ended up picking 4 wines for tasting, all for $8 USD or less. Unfortunately, one of the wines was disqualified as it was a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvugnon and Merlot; my full tasting notes of that wine are posted here. What was great about this theme was it forced me to look for things I normally pass by at the wine store and I would have otherwise never found any of these interesting wines: - Castellani, Negroamaro, Puglia, Italy 2003 ($6) - Deep garnet, dusty berry nose, simple, peppery berry flavors somewhat like Dolchetto, good rustic finish with moderate tannins, nice pizza or pasta wine, very good value, plastic cork! Score: 8/10 -