I have been meaning to pick a bottle of Nero since watching a show where they made a red sauce using some Nero in it. The recipe looked amazing, which inspired me to check this grape out. The NH Liquor store in W. Lebanon has 3 different wineries to choose from; they range in price from $7.99 to $13.99.
I decided to try the Stemmari ($7.99) and Villa Pozzi ($9.99) both have screwtop enclosures. But don't be put off by this, the modern Stelvin enclosure works great for wines meant to be consumed within a couple of years of being released.
I've noticed more of the wines in the $7 to $15 dollar range with the screwtop enclosure in recent years; this is in response to the fact that demand for cork has outstripped supply. The bark of the Cork trees can only be harvested every 7 years, and there are only so many trees....
At first, the Stemmari has some red fruit, tobacco leaf notes, a bit of freshness in the nose. The palate has semi-tart strawberry, cranberry, red plum? with good acidity that cleanses the palate.
After 45 minutes the nose takes on cherry, strawberry, almost black plum notes, the palate has developed more of a full mouth feel with a nice blend of matching flavors of the nose. This has developed nicely since opening, it finishes pleasantly tart with lingering red fruit notes.
I made some bruschetta using Pricehopper's Central Market tomato topping, and put some freshly grated Parmigiano cheese on top. The Nero paired nicely with this, and would likely go well with a number of foods... in my opinion this is a nice change of pace from Chianti, and at a good price.
On sale now at NH Liquor outlets for $7.99, and probably a few other retail outlets as well.
Cheers! Next up, the Villa Pozzi....
Ed
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