Sunday, July 8, 2012

Apollonio 2001 Valle Cupa Salento Rosso (Italy)

After a weekend of drinking beer spent with my in-laws I was glad to see a bottle of wine waiting for me upon my return home.  This is a wine I had taken out a few days previously but never got around to drinking - a 50 / 50 blend of Primitivo and Negroamaro aged 12 months in barrel then an additional 12 months in bottle (or that is what I understood from the back label and my rusty almost non-existent Italian).  At first it smelled kinda hot, looking at the alcohol content I am not surprised as 14.5% jumped right at me, it also tasted rather warm but there was a spice on the front palate amongst the heat that told me that a little time was needed for it to come around.  Dried plum, spiced -raspberry, licorice, all-spice and black pepper were all found on the nose; while white pepper, licorice and dried red fruit dominated the palate.  The wine smoothed out after 45 minutes and was supple and easy to drink, but still with dried fruit, spice and pepper ... around the hour mark it developed a hint of bitter cocoa on the finish.  Nice wine for its age.


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