2008, a penny short
Samuel Checker
See, we were invited to a neighborhood NYE party last night, and
although I had already picked out a sparkling wine to bring at the
last minute I went to look for a red to bring as well. I grabbed out
of my rack an Italian blend that, for whatever reason, I had never
seen fit to try before. It was the Banfi Centine, which reliable
sources tell me is a Sangiovese / Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot blend.
$9.49 at the West Chester wine store way back in 2006.
I figured hey, if you can't experiment on the neighbors, then who? And
the great thing about New Year's Eve is that whatever doesn't get
consumed at the start of the night pretty much is guaranteed to be
gone by the end. So we uncorked it and were pleasantly surprised. It
had good body with none of the roughness that I usually think of with
Italian wine, nice cherry flavors and went well with the wide range of
appetizers people had brought.
Needless to say, this 2004 vintage is long gone from the state stores,
and other online sources as well. I can, however, find the 2005 on the
LCB site and on my next trip I will try to find a couple of bottles to
see if they got another good year out of it.
Happy New Year everyone, and wishing you health and happiness for 2008