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More wines available from Garofoli
750ml
Bottle:
$12.99
Rosato (pink) wines are an Italian specialty, and Montepulciano is considered one of the best Italian
grape varieties...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.47
$13.86
Color: Lively ruby red.
Bouquet: Fruity of good intensity with notes of ripe plums.
Flavor: Sapid, dry and vinous....
750ml
Bottle:
$26.94
A lovely, graceful white, with succulent acidity enlivening notes of ripe pear, anise, crushed almond and hints of...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.93
Color: Straw yellow with reflections tending to greenish.
Bouquet: Fruity with subtle notes of hawthorn and almonds...
More Details
Winery
Garofoli
Vintage: 2008
2008 saw very high yields across wineries in much of the southern hemisphere, as a result of highly favorable climatic conditions. Although in many areas, these high yields brought with them something of a drop in overall quality, this could not be said for South Australia's wines, which were reportedly excellent. Indeed, the 2008 Shiraz harvest in South Australia is said to be one of the most successful in recent decades, and western Australia's Chardonnays are set to be ones to watch out for. New Zealand's Pinot Noir harvest was also very good, with wineries in Martinborough reportedly very excited about this particular grape and the characteristics it revealed this year.
Pinot Noir also grew very well in the United States, and was probably the most successful grape varietal to come out of California in 2008, with Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley delivering fantastic results from this grape. Elsewhere in United States, Washington State and Oregon had highly successful harvests in 2008 despite some early worries about frost.
However, it was France who had the best of the weather and growing conditions in 2008, and this year was one of the great vintages for Champagne, the Médoc in Bordeaux, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, with Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes leading the way. Italy, too, shared many of these ideal conditions, with the wineries in Tuscany claiming that their Chianti Classicos of 2008 will be ones to collect, and Piedmont's Barberesco and Barolo wines will be recognized as amongst the finest of the past decade.
Varietal: Champagne Blend
The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn't unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as 'blanc de blanc', meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or 'blanc de noir', which is made solely with Pinot Noir.
Region: Marche
On the eastern side of central Italy, close to the Adriatic coast, we find the stunning wine region of Marche, a region associated with wines of character and distinction, and renowned for being one of the oldest and most influential wine regions in the country. Indeed, Marche has been an important home of quality wine production for almost three thousand years, and has been used for vineyard cultivation by everyone from the Romans to the Pheonicians, the Greeks and the Lombards. As such, this is a region with a strong and proud traditional identity and heritage, and over its sixty thousand acres, we find many of Italy's finest red and white wines. Marche is primarily considered a white wine region, most closely associated with Trebbiano and Verdicchio grapes. However, the red wine industry in Marche is strong, and features many of Italy's most interesting and characterful red wines, made with beautiful native grape varietals.
Country: Italy
It isn't difficult to understand why Italy is famed not just for the quality of its wines, but also for the vast variety and range of characteristics found in the wines there. The terrain of the country varies wildly, from the lush rolling green hills and valley of Tuscany, to the sun drenched rocky coasts of Sicily, the mountainous and alpine regions of the north, and the marshy lowlands of the east. Italy really does have a little bit of everything. Combine this huge range of landscapes with an almost perfect climate for grape cultivation, and you have a country seemingly designed for viticultural excellence. The results speak for themselves, and it is clear to see that wine has become an inseparable part of Italian culture as a result of its abundance and brilliance. Each village, city and region has a local wine perfectly matched with the cuisine of the area, and not an evening passes without the vast majority of Italian families raising a glass of locally sourced wine with pride and pleasure.