WINE OF THE WEEK:
Falesco Vitiano deserves another rave review
This is the third time I've reviewed Falesco Vitiano in the past seven years. It is a great wine for less than $10, and would hold its own when tasted blind against anything Italian less than $40.
This wine is made in Lazio, just 35 miles from Rome, in the central part of Italy, and the man behind it is Ricardo Cotarella, one of the greatest winemakers in the country.
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The U.S. importers have not gotten greedy and that is why we can still find it at such a reasonable price. This wine should be one of the favored everyday drinking wines.
In the glass, this Falesco Vitiano is a dark-purplish crimson red with a slightly fuchsia-colored rim -- which is a testament to its relatively young age -- and high viscosity.
On the nose, there are massive amounts of black fruit, especially black cherries, blueberry jam, raspberry coulis, some licorice and intense notes of crushed black currant, with phenolic references and cedar box underlying.
In the mouth, there is serious upfront black fruit with cherry, brambleberry, sweet cranberry crush, raspberry jam and a multitude of flavors held together by great concentration and superb structure.
There is a multidimensional midpalate, which reveals more clean fruit and then a wonderful long finish permeated by supple yet solid tannins and good extraction.
This wine is excellent when opened one hour before drinking, and perfect with some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese either by itself or made into crostinis. Drink it now through 2007.
