Locations Wine: I Is For Italy

Locations is an experiment of place for winemaker Dave Phinney, of Orin Swift fame. It's his attempt at making wine a country-wide effort, although I don't really agree with the philosophy of blending wine across a nation. Specific locations are important because of what they are, where they are, why they are. Can't deny.

These wines are labeled only with a big letter or two, depicting the place of origin - F for France, P for Portugal, I for Italy, TX for Texas. Yes, he sources grapes from Texas. Locations I is an Italian red wine bottled at the company’s headquarters in Spain.

Phinney notes that he had 2,000 indigenous grapes from which to choose in Italy, but he whittled it down to four. The non-vintage wine is made from Nero D'Avola and Negroamaro grapes from Puglia, Barbera from Piedmont, and a bit of Tuscan Sangiovese. Alcohol sits at a big 14.5% abv and it retails for about $18.

He describes what each of those varieties does. "Powerful and rich fruit from Puglia (Torricella and Manduria) serves as the base with a lively vein of acidity from Barbera (Alba) that stabilizes things in just the right way." Aging takes ten months in a barrel before bottling.

This dark Italian has black cherry and raspberry on the nose, with a solid grounding in soil. Spices and herbs decorate the aroma profile, with allspice and anise predominant. On the palate, it's a bold showing of dark fruit and currant accompanied by a savory, black olive edge. Those savory notes last long into the generous finish.


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