Tag Archives: Purato

Mini-reviews 94: Les Dauphins, Purato, Smith & Hook, Rodney Strong

red wine reviewsReviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. This month, four red wines you probably don’t want to buy.

• Les Dauphins Reserve Rouge 2015 ($10, sample, 14%): French grocery store-style red blend from the Rhone that is inoffensive — some red fruit and not annoying. But it doesn’t offer much to recommend it other than that.

• Purato Nero d’Avola Organico 2014 ($5, purchased, 13.5%): This Sicilian red offers $5 worth of value – a very, very simple wine with nero d’avola’s plum fruit. Too much acidity throws the balance off, but at this price that’s not necessarily a problem.

• Smith & Hook Proprietary Red Wine Blend 2013 ($19, sample, 14.5%) Not quite as over the top as I expected, with some sweet fruit (blueberry?) but also a decent amount of structure. This doesn’t mean it’s worth $19, though.

• Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 2014 ($20, sample, 13.5%): Disappointing, with what tastes like residual sugar, too much sweet fruit, and very little else. This is nothing more than just another grocery store wine, and I expect more from Rodney Strong for $20 than a smooth red wine.

Wine of the week: Purato Catarratto Pinot Grigio 2010

PURATO-CAT-PG-2013-okOne day, no doubt, the Wine Curmudgeon will stop writing about Sicilian wine in gushing, rapturous tones. I just hope it doesn’t happen anytime soon.

The Purato ($7, purchased, 12.5%) is a white blend from Sicily that, once again, offers everything a great cheap wine should. It’s interesting, which means it does more than just shove fruit in your face. It provides ridiculous value, even when it’s not a previous vintage (as this is). And it’s a delight to drink, which means the bottle is empty and an hour has gone by before you realize what has happened, and you’re wondering why you didn’t buy more of this when you had the chance.

Catarratto is a grape native to Sicily that has traditionally been used to make marsala, a sweet dessert wine. It’s increasingly being used to make table wines as part of Sicily’s wine renaissance, and blending it with pinot grigio is just another of those things the Sicilians have done that has turned out better than anyone could have imagined.

Look for lots of white pepper and a little pinot grigio fruit (maybe a lemon drop that isn’t sweet?), and without any of the bitterness or boredom that is the hallmark of too many Italian pinot grigios. This is a seafood or roast chicken wine, or even something to drink when you want a glass of wine and you don’t want to be bothered by any wine foolishness. Highly recommended, and if this isn’t in the 2014 $10 Hall of Fame, I should skip doing it.