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Great Value, 90pt Red from Italy's Heel



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Cantele Salice Salentino Riserva 2013

Rated 90 Points by the Wine Advocate

A Great Everyday Value Red

If you look at a map of Italy and picture it as a boot, the Apulia, or Puglia, region makes up the heel. A beautiful landscape, with a gorgeous coastline and cliffs, Baroque architecture, and of course wine. Salice Salentino is the name of one of the region's DOC winegrowing areas. A flat area, located between the Adriatic and Ionian seas, Salice Salentino is mostly known for their red wine, which is made from a grape called Negroamaro. Negroamaro is indigenous to the region and has been cultivated there since the sixth century BC. A Riserva wine, like the Cantele that we are featuring today, must be aged for a minimum of 2 years, 6 months of which must be in oak casks. 

Cantele winery was founded in the 1990s, but the family has a long history in the wine business. Although living in northern Italy at the time, the proprietor, Gianni, who is Grandfather to the current generation running the winery, was a wine broker, purchasing bulk wine from the Puglia region, and selling it in the north. After bringing his wife to Puglia on one of his trips, the two fell in love with the region and decided to move all the way to the south. In the 90's, with imports of Italian wine to markets like the United States on the rise, Gianni decided to purchase vineyards of his own and to begin making wines along with his two sons. In 2003, the family opened up a state of the art winery (check out their website, it is a gorgeous building), and tends both to the vines that they own, and many hectares of vineyards that are owned by others, but that are managed under long term contracts by Cantele.

The Wine Advocate review, which you can read below is pretty fantastic for a $10.99 bottle of wine. I've honestly read shorter reviews for pricier wines with higher ratings! So, I couldn't wait to try this wine myself. I was definitely impressed with the quality of wine for the price, and my first thought was that this will become many people's house wine because you could easily drink this every day, and it is versatile enough to enjoy with an array of different meals, as well as drinking well by itself. The term "pizza wine" doesn't quite do this wine justice, but not only would you not feel bad about opening up this wine with some take out, but it will also complement your meal nicely. 

Rated 90 Points by the Wine Advocate - "The Cantele 2013 Salice Salentino Riserva shows a greater level of depth and finesse compared to many of its peers. The wine is packed tight with blackberry fruit, with Maraschino cherry, plum and prune in abundance. The wine is chewy and rich for sure, but it also provides an authentic and generous portrait of a red wine from Puglia. A spicy beef or lamb dish would make the perfect pairing partner."

Cheers!

Tracy Maxon

tracy@varmax.com

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Varmax Liquor Pantry Case Discounts:

10% Discount on 12+ Bottles of 750ml Still Wine Mix & Match

10% Discount on 12+ Bottles of 750ml Sparkling Wine Mix & Match

Discounts do not combine. Sparkling & Still wines do not mix & match together. 

Wines marked as no further discount do not apply

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