Simon from Larchmont Wine & Spirits comes to the rescue, giving us temporary relief from the slight blogger’s block we’ve been experiencing this week. This wine sounds delicious. Think we’ll go pick up a bottle right now to go with our dinner tonight. See ya later! (Oh, it’s $15.99 and call Simon to order at 323-856-8699…)

Simon says:

Another fantastic summer-friendly wine gets the nod this month. At first glance you may wonder why a sparkling red should receive such a designation, but this luscious, yet dry Lambrusco is a wonderful companion to almost any picnic/barbeque fare or pastas one can imagine. Salumi, prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano, burgers, tagliatelle alla bolognese etc. all seem so much more delicious while you slurp down some of this refreshing, frothy red.*

It’s low in alchohol, really only slightly sparkling, so definitely not to be feared…

Once a wine regarded with what might be charitably characterized as disdain, Lambrusco is occasionally sublime when in the hands of the right producer. The Lini family from the Po Valley in Emilia Romagna in north central Italy has been fashioning wines from this area since 1910, and their experience shows here. The wine is stuffed with ripe fruit, has ample bright acidity which lends the wine its refreshing character and is just simply delicious.

*Remember, for best results, Chill this down…

We’ve had the 2004 Castellare Chianti Classico on our minds ever since tasting it at the Winebow trade tasting of their Italian portfolio. We were impressed by the wine, as was our tasting partner for the day. You can read our write-up here, and our tasting partner’s here.

Finally, last week, we got it in stock and went to enter it into inventory this weekend. As a matter of course, we decided to look up the scores in the wine trades. Yes, we actually buy wine because we like it, before we’ve even checked out the Speculator and such. And perhaps that’s a good thing, because who knows if we would have brought it in had we seen the 78 points it received from the Wine Spectator’s James Suckling, with the following notes: Read more…