Metasip

A Wine, Beer, and Spirits Review Site

Italy

Quick Takes: Wine Bee

Metasip Quick Takes

Hey, we’re back with another Quick Take – in this one, we introduce you to Wine Bee, a unique site that takes you all around Italy – twenty wine regions covered by their buyers – to . As with all the Quick Takes so far, this is an Affiliate Link, which means if you take advantage of a deal by clicking on this link, we’ll be compensated. But if we get compensated, we can keep bringing these Metasip reviews to you. And other cool stuff. Time for you to meet Wine Bee!

Quick Take: Wine Bee

WineBee.com is the link, and what we noticed first about the site is the imagery. I love wine, but, to quote Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”

But back to wine for a second or two…

Cavalchina Bardolino DOC

Yum. This guy over here looks like a steal at $16.40 per bottle. I think I want two.

NOTES on this wine: “The grapes used for this Veneto region wine mature late and it is necessary for there to be a good climate at the end of the season to realize the potential of these grapes. When this happens we have one of the most distinguished wines in the Italian panorama: not too deep in color but with an intense bouquet, nuances of cherries and marasca. On the palate it has a persistent peppery, spicy character.

“To ensure these characteristics the grapes are, after destalking and pressing, fermented for 72 hours at 280C then the temperature is lowered to 220C up to the end of the fermentation, to avoid over extraction of tannins. The average maceration is 10 days followed by the malolactic fermentation. The wine is kept for 3 months in stainless steel vats.”

This is one of the…well, it looked like HUNDREDS of wines on the WineBee.com site.

Give it a try, you may like what you taste over there.

Big Asterisk Here: only a few states are on their list – “We provide shipments to the following states: California, Alaska, District of Columbia, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, West Virginia and Wyoming.”

See you next time for another Quick Take.

San Zenone 2013 Montepulciano D’Abruzzo

Another wine from Aldi?

Yes. We went there, again, with a wine from Aldi that, again, is worth every penny. In this case, the San Zenone 2013 Montepulciano D’Abruzzo – that’s a mouthful and we even neglected to identify whose Montepulciano it was in the video below – is worth all 499 pennies.

Here’s a shot of the bottle – which we altered because we like playing around with the photo settings, and also because it’s really tough to see the words “San Zenone” on the top of the bottle.

San Zenone Montepulciano

As is the case with this burgeoning video review industry of ours, you can either read up on what we thought below, or just watch the video. Hardcore fans – the ones following us on Twitter – should do both.

San Zenone Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Review

First up, it’s Italian – this scores points with us. Secondly, it has the “DOC” recognition (though not the cute little sticker, for some reason). Third, it’s from Aldi – so, since we trust the wine buyers there, it’s worth a shot. Right?

Taste

This smells, swishes, and eventually tastes like Italian wine. Big and bold. I’m thinking pasta already. I want to go to Italy right now, people.

But I can’t, so I’ll settle for the fruit and spice in this bad boy Montepulciano.

Profile

12.5% ABV. Imported from Italy. DOC designation.

Value

$4.99 and I’m thinking that Aldi is carving out a tremendous little niche for itself as the value wine people near me. There’s a reason they advertised this last week, getting us ready for the Wednesday arrival; as a result, it was almost gone when I made a return trip. Good thing I bought two.

Metasip Grade: A-

We are a broken record – but it’s tough to beat the Aldi scores when they’re like this one.

Grate Red Toscana Rosso

We should be working for Aldi. Yet another sub-$5 wine, this one a red that you can drink everyday.

Grate Red Toscana Rosso“Product of Italy.” That should tell us a little something about this wine.

But it doesn’t tell us enough – Chianti? Montepulciano? Something else? A blend?

Aldi Strikes Again with an Everyday Red – Grate Red Toscana Rosso

In this particular case, the red wine from Aldi is NOT going to be something you save for that special occasion. In the “everyday wine” category, however, this shines – with the goal (at least for me) of having something that can stand up for a couple days in the bottle, and won’t make you feel insanely guilty if you have to pour the remainder out.

Grate Red Toscana Rosso Review

This is a non-vintage red. (No year.) It IS from Italy, and, if you look in the lower left corner of the photo up there, you’ll see all officially Italian markings on the cork. Adding to the cool factor.

Taste

Can’t pin this down – not a ton of fruit, actually, but the nose is strong and there’s a bit of pepper on the finish. THIS has to be why they say “An Italian wine perfect for anything grilled.”

We had it, night one, with pizza and that was a-okay. (Even if the pizza did not come right off the Weber.)

Profile

Red wine from Italy. ABV 12.5%. If you know the grapes at work here, let us know. Seriously.

Value

Again, where the above-average wine becomes worthy of the grade you’ll see below. Does this stand up to $30 bottles of Cab (like the Simi we reviewed this week)? No.

Is it an absolute steal at $4.99 at our local Aldi? Yes.

Metasip Grade: B+