after dinner sneeze

t says:  Ok – so from the last post, you know that I sought out some wine from the PLCB based on a pretty strongly-worded review.  Well, this past Friday, I put that wine to the test:

what a Snooki-shaped bottle! (before the weight loss)

What I didn’t mention previously about my purchase is that the bottle is a pretty silly shape.  It’s short and stout.  It won’t fit in any wine cellar/refrigerator that I’ve seen, including the one that I own.  And it’s not particularly pretty when lying down next to other bottles.  Actually, it’s not pretty in any orientation.  All in all, pretty silly if you ask me – but what do I know?

So I got to decanting the wine for a half hour or so and eventually poured it into the glass.  I reviewed The Wine School’s note:
“Luxurious, like a velvet cushion of dark sweet fruit. The only fault is its perfection –round, sexy, slick perfection– which takes away some of the pleasure of drinking a Umbrian wine.”

I braced for “perfection”.

I didn’t find it …

2009 Falesco Tellus (Umbria, Italy, $13.99 at PLCB).  Sweet-smelling dark fruits on the nose, like blackberries.  On the palate, there’s some initial pleasant fruit but a surprising lack of the spice or pepper that I normally think of when I think “shiraz” (I guess I’m used to Australian Shirazes).  There’s a medium body.  The finish is kind of short – shorter than I’d expect from a shiraz.  However, it’s also silky-smooth, with only trace tannic bite and only a tidbit of alcoholic heat.  It’s a dry wine, but it goes down really easily.  As far as flavors are concerned, it’s a little one-dimensional. a’s review was similar to mine: “A ‘berry-e’ nose, good fruit up front, not much on the back. Certainly NOT perfection, unless ‘perfect’ means ‘enjoyable’.”

In my mind, the Tellus lost in a head-to-head against a Cali Cab (PLCB Product Code: 000514628) that I had also pulled out that night – one that I had purchased for $10 in NJ.  a disagreed, though, feeling that the Tellus was more interesting of a wine with a fuller, more inviting body.  I felt the opposite.  Knowing that a can handle some criticism, I told him he was “wrong”.  He informed me I was misinformed and requested that I re-taste the Tellus to ensure we were tasting the same wine.  I did.  Nope – it was the same Tellus, so I wasn’t budging.  I suspect it’s because he has higher expectations from a California Cabernet Sauvignon than an Italian Shiraz.  Despite not agreeing after a few more seconds of debate, it didn’t come to fisticuffs, as we agreed that no matter which way we sliced it, this wine is definitely not “perfect” in any aspect: bottle shape, nose, flavor, finish, etc.

In summary: It’s smooth and pleasant and it won’t disappoint anyone at a party … well … unless they’re expecting “perfection”.