Flight Savor Fare

Normally, I would write a few lines about these Italian wines — “fruity and light, pair well with informal food from pizza to roast beef sandwiches” and then link to the rest of the article. The Wall St. Journal, however, does not allow access unless you are a paid subscriber, a paid on-line subscriber at that. Rupert Murdoch, the extremely new owner of the WSJ, says he plans to change that. In the meantime, here’s what the Journal columnists Dorothy J. GAiter and John Brecher said on January 18 about Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wines:

These are the kinds of wines to keep around at all times simply to pop open and enjoy when you get home from work.

Valle Reale “Vigne Nove” 2005 - Very good, $9.95 Best of Tasting

Filled with fruit (it’s unoaked) and remarkable for its balanced minerality, especially on the finish, which makes this taste far classier than others.

Castellana (Cantina Miglianico) 2006 - Very good, $5.99 Best Value

Dark, earthy and herbal. It reminded us of a ripe tomato because of its fleshiness and acidity. Quite food-friendly and nicely dry. Very pleasant.

Citra 2006 - Good, very good $4.85

Very soft, with light, easy, raspberry fruit and enough stuff underneath that you know you’re drinking real wine. Nice with Italian food. Also a favorite in an earlier tasting of jug reds.

Farnese 2005 (Farneto Valley) Good/ very good $7.99

Plummy and soft as a feather, with some blueberries and plenty of charm. Very, very easy to drink.

Il Conte 2006 - Good/very good $6.49

Fresh and fruit, with some raspberry tastes and a simple, drink-me-now focus.

Rubiro (Villa Cervia) 2004 - Good/very good $11.00

Controversial. Clean and crisp, with some earthiness, and bursting with such strong tastes of ripe blueberries that Dottie likened to a fruit wine, which she found charming and John found too unusual.

Please send us your comments if you try these wines!