Langhe Rosso Vajra

Price: $16
Region: Italy
Year: 2007

A very different kind of weekend for sure. It was the first time in quite a while I wasn't stopping at the wine store to pick up my weekly review. The reason being was that we were invited to a "wine tasting" party at a friends house. This particular party was one that was purchased at an auction by some friends of ours to benefit the school our son attends. This is the 2nd one we have attended, and was definitely looking forward to it. The first thing I had to do was get a bottle of wine for the "admission", which will be put together with everyone else's bottle for an auction item at this year's auction. I thought a pretty good idea. So, for my bottle, I purchased a bottle of Ferrari-Carano Tresor, which I would recommend as a special occasion bottle of wine. All in all, it looks like they gather a nice collection for the auction this year. I might even had to bid on it.

Anyway, as I mentioned, we had been to a similar party once or twice before. It is put on by a local wine shop that I wish I had more time to shop at. For lack of a better word, I would say it is a specialty store that focuses European wines from smaller, family owned vineyards who handle the entire wine making process themselves. I have had more than my share of good bottles of wine from this store. The great thing about these parties is that there is always a great variety of wine in terms of varieties and origin. This time we tasted 6 different wines ranging from a sparkling white, up to a very dry Cabernet. There were two that stood out in my mind for sure, and I will definitely head over to this store one day soon, and grab a couple of bottles of each, but for now, I am going to focus on the one that topped the list for me that night.

I'll be the first to admit my ignorance when it comes to the name of the wine above, but even more so regarding the grapes that make up this wine. I wasn't sure what to expect. From the brief notes I took home, in addition to the conversation I had with the gentleman from the store who was pouring the wine, it primarily comes from the Dolcetto grape, but also a contains mixtures of Barbera, Fresia, and Nebbiolo. I'm not going to try and recall too much regarding the site, and smell, but I do recall a very pleasant aroma, that made me want to dig in. The thing that stood out with this wine for me was the taste, and the balance. I tend to gravitate to the grapes I know when purchasing wine, but I should step into the unknown more often, because when sticking with the tried and true, you end up missing little gems like this. It was not overpowering, but had good length, and a unique flavor (at least to me). I will definitely need to buy a bottle or two to get some more accurate notes, but do yourself a favor, and if you can find it, try it.

Rating: 4.0 (A unique winner)