Hello Mystery Wine..

So here it is, my sweetie peaches. The last of the Cambridge 5. I tucked it into the fridge tonight before leaving on a 5 hour outing to an laser tag/arcade/glow in the dark mini golf/money-hoovering gameland in Barrie, complete with a car full of boys (it's my son's 10th birthday today). I thought to myself, "Self, you may need a glass of wine when this was all over." Truth be told, the boys were all very good--excited and silly, but good--however I still earned that glass of wine at the end. And why shouldn't I have a toast? My boy is 10! I've been a mother for ten years! This is something to celebrate, non?

This last of the 5 was a bit of a mystery. The name: Il Coroncino Fattoria 2007. Not a word of English on the label. 100% Italian. No matter, I jumped in and this is what I found: lovely golden yellow colour; an acidity that snakes right up your nose; aromas of apple, apricot, nectarine and lime. Taste was wah-hoo! Racy, acidic, limey, slightly bitter but not in a totally unpleasant way. I figured right away it wanted something fatty to go with it, so I rummaged through the fridge for a piece of cheese and ahhh..that's much nicer. It was, for me, the Corona of wines. I so wish to enjoy this wine on a hot day at the beach, preferably in Capri, where it is served to me by a handsome shirtless man named Marcello.

Still, the grape was a question mark, so I had to dig a little further. What the hell grape is this? Turns out, it's Verdicchio; an Italian variety that has a classic bitter almond taste. Okay, now I know what bitter almonds taste like.

Now that the 5 are gone--le sigh--I'll have to turn my attentions elsewhere. I'm very much hoping to sniff out another lovely, delicate Pinot Noir, as I had in the Belle Pente Yamhill-Carlton 2007. I called the CBC yesterday when their visiting wine expert, Konrad Ejbich, was answering listener's wine questions. I explained to Konrad my Pinot Noir conumdrum--mainly I'm having a damned hard time finding one I like--and he recommended the Long Dog Winery's Otto. So, methinks a roadtrip is in my future. I've been in touch with Victoria at Long Dog, and she promises barrel tastings of their 2008 and 2009 vintages! Squeeee! I've never been to a barrel tasting!! Oh I'm wiggly to go!!

Another promising thing on the horizon is my sister goes to San Francisco in October. She very generously offered to share accommodations if I wanted to tag along; alas economics stand in my way. But, knowing her wily ways, I have no doubt she will procure a few bottles and sneak them across the border. And whilst in Californ-i-eh, she is more than welcome to guest blog as she tastes her way through bottles of grape and sunshine.

My boy is in bed, my girl is sleeping over at Grandma's, and my husband waits patiently for me while I finish up here. I'll get him to take his shirt off and serve me another glass of that wine. I just hope he doesn't mind if I call him Marcello.

Ciao!

B.