Vermentino Goes To The Beach

Like many of the wines sold at Trader Joe's, there is little information available about the 2023 Terre del Casone Vermentino. The label indicates that it was made from grapes grown in coastal Tuscan vineyards. It was bottled by Castellani in Pontedera, near Pisa, and imported in the U.S. by Latitude Wines of Danville, California.

Terre del Casone Vermentino 2023 is a Toscana IGT wine, with alcohol at 12.5% abv and a price tag of only $7 at Trader Joe's. 

This wine is a pale yellow in the glass. Its nose has notes of citrus, peach and pear, but mostly there is a blast of salt sea air in the sniff. There is a very nice salinity on the palate as well, with citrus leading the way as far as flavors go. The acidity is nothing to write home about, but I had mine with some crackers and a homemade raita. It was fine. I would not want to waste crab or lobster on it, though. 

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Monte Antico Toscana 2006

My favorite Italian restaurant in Los Angeles is Il Buco.  It's actually in Beverly Hills, but it's on Robertson, which feels more like L.A. than B.H. to me.  I think an Italian restaurant should always have a good wine list, and Il Buco's menu has plenty of nice choices from Italy as well as California.

It's great to find a restaurant you call your favorite, but it's even better when the personnel at the restaurant make you feel as if you are their favorite customer.  Even if my wife and I haven't been in to dine there in a couple of months, they always remember us and greet us warmly.  The food is delicious, too, so it's rare that we don't see them for longer than a few weeks at a time.

I usually dine fairly light there, so white wine is my usual choice.  This time, I was in the mood for a big rosso.

After a brief scan of the wine list, I settled on the Monte Antico Toscana.  Deeply hued and sporting a big cherry nose, the wine is best described as huge.  Mouth watering tannins - which probably could have settled down a bit more had I a little more time to linger with it - made me wish I had ordered a dish with a big meat sauce, but it paired well with the pizza we had decided upon.  Big berries and plums on the palate and enough acidity to pair it with whatever you'd like make it a great tasting and versatile dinner wine.

The big Tuscan is 75% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.  I understand the grapes come from 25-year-old vines.  2006 is said to be a superb Sangiovese year, and from this wine I'd believe it.  The cost was only $8 per glass.

Il Buco is located at 107 N Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills.