Don’t be a dweeb.

I will allow those to be the opening words for my first blog post since arriving back in South Carolina! Yes, that happened. It happened so fast that the memory of the 5 day cross country drive feels extremely foggy, only three weeks later. But yes, I did it, I am back, and I’m excited to say that I’m now working with Advintage Distributing. It’s been a wild first few weeks, but suffice to say I’m loving it.

Which means that I can now commence telling you about all the cool wine I’ll be selling all over Cola! I’m kicking off my “back to Columbia” blogging day with the ultimate testament to why I love wine, why I love writing about wine and why I love selling it. This wine needs me to sell it to you, just a little. Because it’s kind of a weirdo. And maybe you recall that I excel at weirdos. But it’s a brilliant little weirdo! So don’t be a dweeb, and try it! Did you know that tomorrow is Easter? I say that tongue in cheek, because I actually forgot it was Easter until roughly Wednesday. My point is, this is a great little Easter wine. What is it?

Matteo Correggia “Anthos” Dry Brachetto from Italy’s Piemonte region, Roero specifically. Are you not familiar with Brachetto? This is a really cool place to start. Brachetto is typically made into a sweet, slightly sparkling wine (Brachetto d’Acqui). The Roero area struggles to compete with it’s nearby famous and very spendy neighbors, Barolo and Barbaresco. I find this a really exciting area to look for unusual values- this wine is case in point.

Made in a dry style, this wine captures the transparency of what is a very light, pure, highly aromatic little grape. The initial aromas are some of the more exciting I’ve stuck my nose in lately: reminiscent of a Beaujolais, it’s all about plump red berry fruit, potpourri, red twizzlers, violets, rhubarb and a nice string of interesting spice to weave it all together. This wine has very little tannin, but that touch of spice and a bit of sparkly minerality give the fruit something to hang their hat on. Without them, this would probably be like drinking boozy Kool-Aid. Which might not be the worst thing, but it would remind me of being 19 at a house party. Oye vey.

 

Suggestion, and pretty please take it: chill this wine. It will help pronounce the flavors, and make it that much more quaffable. The low tannin and hint of spice make this wine ideal for charcuterie. I can see it going well with ham as well- again, great for Easter, and ham is not the easiest thing to pair with wine, IMO.

I’m leaving out the best part! This wine is $12.99. Absolutely ridiculous value, and great for entertaining a crowd. You can find it at Bottles– you know, that new place that you might not have been to yet. Great selection, great people.

Chill it and kill it, y’all. That’s all you gotta do. Happy Easter!