Poggio Morino - Morellino Di Scansano

Price: $15.00
Region: Tuscany
Year: 2006

The weather has definitely been a bit crazy around here lately. Lots and lots of snow. I haven't had the chance to run out and pick out a new bottle of wine, but luckily I still had a couple left over from our recent wine tasting. This bottle was another one our friends bought for us that we tasted that night. Now, given that it was the first Italian wine I've had in a little while, and the fact we get a lot of take-out from a nice Italian Cafe that is close by, you would think that would be what I had with this bottle, but it just didn't work out that way. Instead, we stopped by our favorite burger joint for some good old hamburgers and fries. Sometimes the food-wine pairing just doesn't work out, but that definitely isn't going to stop me from opening a bottle of wine. Regardless of the food, I was hoping for a nice smooth wine for a Friday night.

I took a quick look at the label to see if I recognized the predominate grape that is used for this wine, but I didn't. Sometimes that makes it a bit more interesting and forces more of an open mind. When I poured my first glass, I noticed the wine had good clarity, with a hint of ruby to it. It kind of flashed red a bit as I poured it into my glass. I tried something a bit different when going to smell the wine. I read recently that I was doing it all wrong, which really isn't much of a surprise. Instead of a prolonged sniff, I read that you should take a series of shorter sniffs, kind of like a hunting dog. That seems to make sense to me, so I gave it a try. My impression was that it definitely intensified the smell, but that didn't necessarily help me in identifying smells that some people seem much better at picking up than me. It did have a pleasant smell, and I would say somewhat earthy. It kind of reminded me a little bit of a Shiraz. With no preconceived notions at this point, I gave it a taste. It actually tasted much like it smelled, with a hint of earthiness to it. The taste hit the back of the tongue, but didn't fade away immediately. it was a little different, but I very much enjoyed it as a change of pace from my normal reds. I would say overall it is a good medium-bodied red, that would go well with pasta, even though I enjoyed it with hamburgers.

Rating: 3.5 (A solid Italian wine)