Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Birthday Chianti: 2007 Gabbiano

For my 40th birthday my four year-old went shopping with my wife and insisted on picking up a bottle of wine "for daddy". Now I suppose I should be a bit concerned that wine was the only gift on her mind when she thought of me, but let's be honest - it was the gift that I wanted (she usually gets me a shirt).

You will, of course, note that the 2007 Gabbiano Chianti had a "pretty horsey" on the label - no Wine Spectator or Parker driving her purchase! Strong herbal and tobacco notes, musky and medicinal aromas, and a lingering nose of wet pottery. Stark, lighter bodied, with tart cherry fruit, this was a crisp and very minerally Chianti that was meant for food. An intriguing, lingering finish, more rustic than polished (and I mean that in a good way).
cork. 13% alcohol
Score: 16.5/20
Price: C$14.65 (SAQ)

9 comments:

Vinogirl said...

Very cute post...your 4 year old has potential as a great winemaker/winewriter/viticulturist
:)

Barry said...

yes..and she thankful left the 'pretty' Aligoté on the shelf..

Estelle Platini said...

Meant for food? Sounds interesting. I'll look for this one.

Edward said...

Joe,

Start to worry when your child's teacher wants a quiet word. . .

Mike said...

haha great post!

Marcus said...

I thought the word verification for my comment was langhe, but I was wrong. It was lanche. Because I failed that one, I got the word cychi. And of course I was tempted to see it as Cecchi but didn't want to fail the test twice.

Anyway what I wanted to say is that little Miss S will soon enough be a wine enthusiast, and she will aspire to be as good a writer as her dad. A post for the time capsule!

Joe said...

Hi Vinogirl - she hates fruit, so I think her interest in wine is a long way off...

Barry, the Burgundians are far to sure of themselves to stick pretty horseys on the label

Hi Estelle, really liked this with our goat cheese pasta. I will probably pick up another bottle.

Hi Ed, no discussions with her teacher yet, but my Fathers' Day cards always feature a wine bottle...

Thanks Mike!

Do you need new glasses, Marcus? As I said to Vinogirl, my youngest needs to overcome her hatred of all fruits before she gets into the vino. She loves broccoli - I wonder if they make wine out of vegetables?

joeshico said...

Gabbiano does make some nice inexpensive wines. Seen it in a few chain restaurants in central New York.
I also like their Pinot Grigio, another good value wine

Joe said...

Joeshico - Thanks for the tip on the Pinot Griggio, and I look forward to the '09 Tour on your blog - Cheers!