Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month.
? Castello Banfi Centine 2011 ($11. sample, 14%): Consistent, professionally-made Super Tuscan-style red blend that combines traditional Italian flavors with New World fruit. Won’t win any awards, but won’t disappoint, either.
? Paso a Paso Verdejo 2011 ($8, purchased, 13.5%): Still decent $8 white wine from Spain with sour lemon fruit, but not as nicely done as the 2010. It’s not as fresh, and is a little thinner, especially in the middle.
? Ferrari Brut NV ($25, sample, 12.5%): Italian sparkler made with Methode Champenoise ? tight bubbles, quality apple and lemon fruit, and a clean finish. But it inhabits that middle ground between cava and cremant and Champagne, so not the value of the former and not the quality of the latter.
? Livio Felluga Friulano 2011 ($30, sample, 13.5%): Very nicely done Italian white made with the little-known friulano grape, with subtle flavors of lime and green apple and a nutty finish. Still young, but price is problematic.
The Wine Curmudgeon needed two wines to go with the paella he was making (and which didn't turn out well at all, a story for another time). I knew which red I wanted, and which will show up here as a wine of the week one of these days. I wasn't sure about the white; all I knew was that I wanted something that I had not tried before and that it should cost $10.