Castello Di Verduno – once reviewed by Food & Wine as one of the must visit spots in the Piedmont region.

100% Nebbiolo. Pomegranate hue, nose of new leather. Powerful with full fruit, mouth-filling fruit and round. 550 cases

What I think: I’ll be honest, I was looking for an Italian wine I hadn’t had much of (Nebbiolo) and this label sold me.  Its classic, interesting, simple, and Italian all at the same time.  I also turns out that the actual wine was just as interesting but decidedly unlike the Italian wines I usually drink. Unlike my usual Italian go-to-Chianti, the wine has a really surprisingly light, but beautiful, ruby red hue in the glass, with an amber halo.  I hate describing wines as floral, or even fruity, because, well, it just sounds too fruity.  But, this wine really does smell like a bunch of red roses, and goes down with heavy tannins surrounded by a tart sweetness that leaves your mouth a bit dry.  It went perfectly with flank steak over a salad, but I can see it complementing many a meal with red meat to pork to pizza or pasta.