La Mondianese Grignolino d’Asti 2007, Italy

About the Wine: Located on the hills of Castagnole Monferrato in the province of Asti in Piedmont, this wine is made from 100% Grignolino grapes.  The name Grignolino comes from a local dialect that means “many pips” and indeed, this variety has numerous seeds in each berry, which can impart bitter tannins if extra gentle pressing is not practiced.  The grapes are hand-picked to further ensure the quality of the final product.  Grignolino is a late-season ripener with natural tendencies toward high acidity.   The La Mondianese is grown in sandy soil with lots of sunny exposure and the vines produce very few bunches of grapes.  The focus is on quality, not quantity.

The resulting wine is delicate in style.  Instead of hitting you in the face with big aromas and flavors, it gently seduces you.  It has a beautiful light ruby color in the glass and the aromas of red cherry are soft and gentle.  It stretches nicely onto the palate where you get the mouth-watering acidity and mild tannin.

Food Pairings: The level of acidity makes this a great food wine.  I like it with Grilled Swordfish and oven-roasted tomatoes.

Algairen Garnacha 2006, Spain

About the Wine: This wine comes from producer Pablo Almonacid De La Sierra.  The family owned estate was founded in 1760 and emphasizes the use of indigenous varietals and bio-dynamic farming.  Fermentation and aging in 100% stainless steel assures that the subtle fruit flavors are preserved.  The estate is located in the Carinena region in northern Spain and is one of the oldest protected growing areas in Europe.  It sees a Continental climate, long hot summers, to help produce ripe fruit.  The “cierzo” a cold northerly wind, helps to keep the humidity low.  The Garnacha grape, in general, is quite vigorous and has good wind tolerance.

Garnacha is the most widely planted grape in this region and the vines at the Bodega are 80 years old.  Grape vines can grow for over 120 years. After about 20 years vines start to produce smaller crops, and average yields decrease, leading to more concentrated, intense wines.

The nose on this wine shows ripe blackberry and blueberry with notes of cinnamon.  The palate is all red fruits, cherry, strawberry, candied apple, and red plum.  It is smooth and elegant with a clean finish.

Food Pairings: I like this wine with Paella.  Saffron rice, shrimp, clams, and sausage equal a great match with this medium-bodied red.