I think I misstated things in the Wine Blogging Wednesday post below. See, when I spent my honeymoon in Tuscany, I drank just as many two-Euro carafes of restaurant house wine, as I did bottles of Brunello. Actually, far more. And my hubby and I truly enjoyed these unnamed, bargain wines.

Feeling guilty for not having really participated in the monthly wine meme, I rectified matters on Friday evening, by ordering a bottle of the 2006 Casanova di Neri Rosso di Casanova di Neri (formerly their Rosso di Montalcino) with dinner at Osteria La Buca. This is the perfect wine representing an in-between point from the far extremes of the two-Euro carafes and the pricier Brunellos.

On the list at La Buca, the wine cost about $60, which is not totally unreasonable (but perhaps begins to push the outer limits of fairness; more reasonable is the $90 for a bottle of the Casanova di Neri 2003 Brunello, but I decided that wine just wouldn’t be ready to drink at this point). At retail, the Rosso appears to be available for the $20 to $30 range.

More important, the wine was just lovely to drink. Very tight upon opening, it took merely twenty minutes to start showing all the red cherry, a good deal of smoke and a bit of scorched/tarry earth that I associate with Tuscan reds. Mouth watering acidity made this a great match with food. I could drink this wine all the time.

On a side note, you should all go check out Osteria La Buca for the food and atmosphere — as well as the great service of newly installed Sommelier Alessia Botturi. She has imported several of the wines on the list herself, including a sparkling Pinot Nero we can’t wait to sample.