Zeppoli's Wine Dinner, April 1st

Zeppoli's Italian Restaurant and Wine Shop holds weekly wine dinners. The wine dinner we went to featured nine Italian wines. I was excited about this tasting and dinner because being an Italian restaurant, I thought it would be interesting to pair Italian food with Italian wine.

The Italian dishes that my meal consisted of were a cheese tray with brie, Gorgonzola, mozzarella, and Swiss cheese, a Mediterranean sauce over fusili pasta, baked shells with marinara, baked shells with meat sauce, and balsamic chicken salad. Our servers for the night were Cody and Matthew. The two of them helped describe the wines and helped us do a blind tasting for three different pairs of wine throughout the tasting.

Eric and I at the wine dinner

We had four white wines with our meal. The first white wine we tasted was a Fossi Bianco White Table White. It was a fairly inexpensive crisp, fruity Italian white priced at $6.99 with an alcohol content of 11.5%. The nose was very sweet and crisp. This wine tasted like a classic white that was zesty and dry, but overall very light. The wine review stated that this wine was "light bodied, green apple, and citrus undertones, crisp clean finish" and I completely agree.

The second and third white wines we tasted were a blind taste taste. I enjoyed tasting blindly because it really helped me concentrate on taste and smells similar to what the wine reviews stated. The second wine was La Fiera 2010 Pinot Grigio Veneto, priced at $7.99 and with 12% alcohol. Made with Pinot Grigio grapes, it tasted lemony and zesty and pairs well with salads, grilled chicken and seafood. The third wine was a Nals Margried 2010 Pinot Grigio Alto Adige, priced at $14.99 and with 13.5% alcohol. It was not as lemony as the second wine and I tasted more fruit flavors like apple and melon as opposed to the second wine.

The fourth and last white wine we tasted was the Lodali 2011 Moscato D'Asti priced at $12.99 and with 5.5% alcohol. Being a dessert wine person, this was my favorite wine of the night. It was carbonated with fresh fruit flavors like berries. The nose smelled of cherries and the flavors that came through were strawberries and peach. This wine was good with the fusili because the wine cut the saltiness of the olives that were in the pasta dish.

SUD 2010 Primitivo Puglia

We tried five red Italian wines that night. The first pair we tasted blindly of the reds was the Luca Primitivo del Salento Puglia, priced at $8.99 and at 13% alcohol, and the SUD 2010 Primitivo Puglia, priced at $11.99 and at 13.25% alcohol. I accurately guessed which wine of the Primitivo grape varietal we tasted first and second. The Luca Primitivo was a non-vintage that was light and not as tannic or spicy as I expected. The SUD Primitivo smelled of cherries and tasted of dark fruit.

The third blind tasting we had were of the Chianti grape varietal. The Morli Neri 2009 Chianti DOCG, priced at $9.99 and at 12.5% alcohol was a traditional Chianti and one that I really enjoyed. It had less wood contact, was medium-bodied, and pairs well with red-sauced based foods like pizza and pasta. The other Chianti we tried was the Bibi Graetz 2010 Casamata Toscana, priced at $12.99 and at 12% alcohol. Casamata means "crazy house" and Toscana means "super Tuscan". This was a 100% Sangiovese pure blend and was very spicy and heavy. It was ok and I preferred the Morli Neri out of the two Chiantis.

The last wine we had of the night was the Lodali 2009 Nebbiolo D' Alba Sant Ambrogio, priced at $17.99 and with 13.5% alcohol. It was the most expensive of the wines we had and was a de-classified Barolo. It was aged 12 months in French and Slovenian oak barrels and 3 months in the bottle. The Lodali is DOCG certified. It was tart and definitely not my favorite. I'm glad I got to try it though so I know that I am not the biggest fan of Barolos.

All the wines we tasted lined up in order!