Fiat Vino

My first Barolo. I was expecting greatness and was a bit underwhelmed. I was thrown off a bit by a little mold on the cork, but I don't think it was a bad bottle (although it seemed to fade rather quickly). Reminded me of a more refined Chianti Classico. Not as full bodied as I expected. Good but not great. Not sure I'd get it again.

A Rhone valley syrah. A jammy sweet black fruit nose with some spice. Unmistakably syrah. It is full bodied, dry, balanced, not overly tannic. As big as it smells it is rather restrained in the mouth. Surprised it is only 13% ABV. Had with take out Turkish food - spicy lamb doner wrap with hummus and eggplant - just what the winemaker must have had in mind. Really good and relatively cheap (the takeout and the wine).

A grand cru classe which apparently is good but from a not so good vintage. Mainly merlot. Tasty!

I remember as good and worth getting again.

Cool label. Great wine. Leathery. Nice full body. Not sure how classico's get that nice raisin smell and taste, maybe some overripe fruit in the mix? A bit on the pricey side (£20) for a chianti but great and much more that a table wine.

Catching up a bit on some wines we drank while Amy's mom visited. Most expensive bottle we bought @ £38. I was expecting more and others Burgundy's have been better (and cheaper).

Really nice kiwi Pinot. Very elegant, nice bright fruit. I've been trying to drink old world wines including a lot of burgundies but this has been the best Pinot of 2012 without a doubt. No idea how much it was but it's brilliant. Seek this one out.

A bit difficult for me to decipher European labels... But after a but of research I figured out this is from the Saint Joseph region in northern Rhone made by J. Boutin from a small Syrah vineyard called Parcelle de Jean. Deep purple, sweet blackberry, slight pepper, some sort of tree/earth thing going on. Nice on the palate but a bit tannic and acidic on the finish. Very tasty but a wee young. £19 from odd bins. Described by the clerk as brooding and perfect for the arse freezing night that it is tonight.

Ok, this is papawow's bud DR. I've moved to London and plan to sample as many old world wines as my budget will allow and report them here. First is a Barbera D'Asti which apparently (thanks Wikipedia) is a young Barbera with similar characteristics to a Beaujolais Nouveau - basically a young fruity table wine made with Babera grapes. Not sure the producer, maybe you can see on the label, served its purpose as an accompaniment to pasta bolognese at an Italian chain... but at about £15, better is out there.