Originally published on April 25, 2009.
….”drank” isn’t the correct term. In the state of New York, you can’t legally drink in a wine store because the specific license only allows for the sale of wine to be consumed off the premises. This is the origin of the fancy, industry term “off-premise account” which is the opposite of an “on-premise account” where you can only sell wine to be consumed (are you ready for it….) on the premises. The non-fancy industry terms for on-premise accounts are “bar” and “restaurant”.
So no one was drinking. But there was some tasting going on, as there always is on Saturday afternoons and evenings.
Today’s selection was our newest Soave, the Il Selese from I Stefanini, a small family winery in the Veneto region of Italy. We’ve been stocking the line since Dominico Selections began importing it less than 6 months ago. When Terry first pulled it out of his bag, I had no intention of stocking it. The Soave region has a bit of a bad rap due to the many bottles of plonky, utterly forgettable wine it produces and I didn’t really expect this to be much of an exception.
Surprise! The wines were really good.
So good, I bought several cases of the Monte de Toni, the winery’s mid-priced offering. It was winter at that point, and that particular wine had a wonderful hazelnut/almond note and a rich texture that was a good match for cold winter days. It was $16.99 which is a nice price for people willing to take a chance on something a little different.
But now it’s getting warmer, so I decided to swap in the Il Selese, the winery’s entry-level offering. It’s perfect for summer with lovely, pure, juicy, almost nectarine-like fruit notes and just a touch of the nuttiness you find in the Monte de Toni. And at $12.99, it’s particularly easy to love.
So back to the tasting (not drinking!) The wine was indeed a perfect match for today’s bright, sunny weather. If you always like your wines bone crushingly dry, extremely minerally or lemon-rind citrusy, this probably isn’t the wine for you. But if you’re up for a bottle that pairs sunny, happy fruit with a little extra nutty complexity all wrapped up in a very easy-drinking package, the Il Selese is worth a try – and of course, it’s available at Frankly Wines!