Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Epicuro Nero D'Avola 2010

Epicuro Nero D'Avola 2010($5.99)

Color: Bright garnet
Smell: Raspberry, cinnamon, and blackberries 
Taste: Medium tannins, low acidity, medium alcohol, and dry.

Food Pairings:  Bison, Elk, or Beef Steaks(with hearty dry rub)
                           Aged Wild Game Bird
                           Berry's with Dessert

Summary: Epicuro's 2010 Nero D'Avola Epicuro is astonishingly bold and full of spices & berries. Nero D'Avola's make for silky smooth red house wine. Great paired with hearty winter meals of game or grilled meat in the summer. It astounded me just how good this bottle was. This was a label I've honestly been skeptical of for a while. It's one those wines I kept hearing cheap foodies & hipsters praising for years. Recently while living in Napa for a few months it was recommended to me by a wine steward I have a great deal of respect for. I gave her a sideways look and raised eyebrows "really?" I guess I still need to be a little more open minded to inexpensive wines.

ALSO: Disclaimer
  I forgot to mention in my former post some key information about decanters. If you do purchase a crystal decanter there are a few things I should have mentioned about cleaning and storing. Crystal is made with lead, which not everyone realizes. It is perfectly safe to have around and store wine in. There some steps you need to take though after purchasing and maintaining. Before using you need to clean with hot water and then fill with boiling vinegar. and allow to sit for about a half hour and then rinse with hot water again. This process will remove significant amounts of lead from the interior surface. Also never clean crystal with dish detergent and wash as little as possible or the brilliant shine will dull and a white film will develop. Never store wine in a decanter for more than three weeks or unhealthy levels of lead will seep into the wine, which is easy to recognize by distinct sweet taste. The Roman's actually lined their goblets with lead, because they desired the sweet taste it gave their reds.

1 comment:

  1. So, as I was reading through your blog at the beginning you mentioned what types of stores you would be shopping at to buy your discount wines but in your posts about specific wines you don't include what store you got the wine from and the exact price from the store you got it. We are given only a price range and then have a vague idea of where to shop and try and find it. Most people wouldn't want to drive around for a couple hours to find the store with the wine they are trying to find or even spend a significant amount of time calling stores to see if they carry the wine. It would be appreciated if you could list the store you bought the wine from in your posts.

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