Wine of the week: Monte Antico Toscana 2019

This Italian red blend offers quality and value for just $10

This Italian red wine used to show up around Dallas for as little as $5 a bottle, and though it’s not that cheap anymore, it’s still $10 in much of the country.

In other words, just kind of quality cheap wine we have celebrated for almost 17 years on the blog,

This vintage of the Monte Antico Toscana ($10, purchased, 13%) remains an example of the classic, everyday bottle of Italian red wine. About the only thing missing from this sangiovese blend (for those of us of a certain age, of course) is the wicker basket.

Look for sour cherry fruit, but it’s also a bright, almost fresh wine, despite its age, and the tannins are pushed way, way back. This vintage, which is the current one, seems to have a bit more depth than the last one I tasted, which was likely the 2016. There was also a 2018, though I didn’t see it in Dallas.

Highly recommended, and just the thing for takeout pizza when the holiday crush gets overwhelming.

Imported by Empson USA