Each Friday, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious, top-value 'Everyday Italian Wine' for you to enjoy at home - or on your Abruzzo vacation !

Rosato del Salento. Villa Mottura. 2007
There's only one major thing wrong with this wine - the time of year I decided to try it. It's the kind of wine that just screams for a baking hot summer's day - not one in which the leaves are beginning to turn colour and there's a tang of autumn in the air.

Great pity, because it's a decent bottle. I'll admit to a pang of uncertainty when I saw it in the glass.  I think 'lurid pink' would be a good description. But get beyond that and actually taste it and you'll get a good jolt of high summer in the form of ripest strawberries and redcurrants with an unmistakable - and actually pretty nice - underlying hint of candyfloss (yes, really) which brings out the dryness and knocks just a chip off the fruit acidity. 

This drinks just fine on its own; would be good with poached salmon; better with trout and almonds, panfried in a little butter; best with deep-fried squid in batter and a big bowl of garlic mayo.

Garlic - and most fried food too for that matter - can kill many wines better than this stone-dead. But this Rosato del Salento has the edge and the robustness to stand up for itself. Give it a try and see what you think. But memo to self: No more pinks until next summer. 

At A Glance…

• This week's featured wine: Rosato del Salento
• Vintage: 2007
• Producer: Villa Mottura
• Designation: IGT
• Grape: Negroamaro and Malvasia
• Strength: 12%
• Closure: Artificial cork
• This bottle cost: €2.99

Villa Mottura
Based in Puglia, deep in the heart of Italy 'heel', Villa Mottura is one of the region's oldest and most respected cantine, founded over 80 years ago. Rosato DOC from similar negroamaro and malvasia blends feature on its list, but because this wine comes from outside the recognised DOC area - and consequently only qualifyiing for IGT status - you're getting something of a bargain - virtually the same wine for about half the price. Villa Mottura makes traditional Puglia wines - and it makes them well. Their hefty 14% Primitivo di Manduria is always a good bet.

Click on the pictures above for larger images - and if you like Italian wine, why not check out last week's review - a fine Chianti Classico - and bookmark this site for future weekly posts. 

Next Week: Morellino di Scansano. The newest of Tuscany's DOCG red wines from the Maremma coastal region. It's such a well-kept  secret, this is a wine you might not have tried yet, but you'll enjoy drinking it at home - and on your Villasfor2 Abruzzo vacation.

Abruzzo vacation, Everyday Italian Wine, Villa Mottura, Villasfor2

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 3:39 am and is filed under David's 'Everyday Italian Wine', Eating and Drinking, Vineyards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.