So I had this wine while I was dining at Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood, Texas. The grapes are from Tuscany and the wine is made exclusively for the restaurant--or the chain, I guess. Apparently the Mandola family has several restaurants throughout Texas and Florida.
The food was really good. The wine was too, but since the restaurant is located on the Duchman Family vineyard, I was hoping to try some of their wine, but that was a no-go.
Anyway, this is the first time in a while that I've had an Italian wine. When I was growing up, my family had the traditional straw-covered bottle of chianti on the table almost every night, so this felt about right.
The wine was a dark garnet color, very intense. The nose was full of violet, blackberry and pine forest notes. The taste was nothing like the reviews. It was not especially dry, nor was it sweet. It was just a nicely balanced, red table wine. It went beautifully with the mezzaluna I ordered. There were notes of dark cherry and hints of leather on the finish. Very enjoyable.
For more about wine, check out the POUR DECISIONS series! Releasing this month!
Meet the Martinelli sisters: Rosa, Bianca and Allegra. These partners in wine have just inherited a once-storied winery in the heart of Napa Valley. They’re living the dream, right?
Not so fast! Because, as it turns out, not everybody is happy for them. And that includes their Uncle Geno who’d assumed the property would come to him.
There are hoops to jump through, barrels to get over, and a mountain of regulations they'll have to scale. But these sisters are crushing it—and we don’t just mean the grapes. They’re making wine, falling in love, and working together to restore their inheritance to its former glory, one pour decision at a time.
