A Wine Lover's Weekly Guide To $10 Wines - A Verdicchio In A Distinctive Bottle

-- End Ad Box --->some extent. Later on the wine bounced back in
The wine reviewed below comes from Thethe sense that it once again became excessively
Marches, the Italian region whose residentsharsh.
consume the most wine per capita in all Italy.The second meal included a omelet with
Furthermore, this is The Marches best knownhomemade pesto. The Verdicchio was light and
wine. Don't jump to conclusions, read our review.fruity, that's grapefruit. It showed good acidity
The bottle is distinctive; I'm talking about its designwhen consumed with a garden-fresh style
that dates back to 1954. That was the year thetomato. For dessert I enjoyed some French-style
Cleveland Indians winner of a record 111 gameshigh quality lemon pie with a buttery crust. The
lost the World Series to the New York Giants inwine's acidity increased and it picked up some
four straight thanks in large part to Willy Mayssweetness.
historic catch, in effect robbing Vic Wertz of aThe final meal was a boxed Eggplant Parmesan
home run. Was anyone in New York celebratingslathered with grated parmesan cheese. The wine
with Verdicchio way back then? This wine doesbecame somewhat thin but its acidity did balance
come in a sparkling version but you don't findthe tomatoes in the sauce.
much of it in North America today, andBefore the cheese pairings I tasted this drink with
presumably even less in the mid-1950s. Let's seeMatjes herring. It was fairly weak but did present
if you want to celebrate with this white wine; therefreshing acidity. Next was the Gouda cheese.
second most exported Italian white after Soave.The wine perked up in flavor and length but was
(You may want to check out our recent Soavestill fairly mild. Then I went to a Swiss cheese; it's
review.)a different Swiss than in the past and does not
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that wecarry the term Emmenthaler but only Swiss.
taste and review are purchased at the full retailPerhaps because this Swiss cheese was not as
price.forceful as the previous examples, the wine
Wine Reviewed Fazi Battaglia Verdicchio (deicontinued to pick up strength and now qualifies as
Castelli di Jesi) 2008 12.0% alcohol about $9.50round.
Let's start with the marketing materials. TastingFinal verdict. No dice. I am told that producers,
Note: Pale lemon yellow with green tint; greenperhaps other producers, are making changes
apple and mineral aroma and taste; slight spritz,such as temperature controlled stainless steel
light body clean, slightly tart grapefruit finish.fermentation and reducing the grape volume per
Serving Suggestion: Serve chilled as an aperitif oracre to produce a more distinctive Verdicchio than
with fresh oysters. And now for my review.in bygone years. I drank the old Verdicchio and
With the first sips the wine was harshly acidic andthe new one. I don't remember any differences.
short. The initial meal consisted of zucchini stuffedThis is a forgettable wine. Unlike the 1954 World
with rice and ground beef cooked on a bed ofSeries, especially if you come from Cleveland,
potatoes. The meal softened the wine's acidity toOhio.