La Vendetta Langhe Barbera Nebbiolo 2007 (Piedmont, Italy)
13.5%, Screwcap, $19
Source: Sample
www.fourthwavewine.com.au

I opened this up alongside a brace of five wines under $25 and I think this was one of the wines I’d most like to drink. Looked a bit pointy on the first day, but 24 hours in the bottle did it wonders. Smart packaging too.

It’s typically light in colour, with a nose of red cherry, a waft of volatility and some spicy cherry, overlaid with some meaty earthiness. It’s a pretty simple, black fruited, earthen and straight forward nose in truth. But the attraction here lies not on the nose but on the palate. Or, more specifically, the proper ‘Piedmont action’ grainy tannins, which turn the shape of it from a sort of lightly caramelised and rustic meaty thing into something properly quaffable.

Good drinking, with the tannins a real winner. Score doesn’t quite do the drinkability justice perhaps, but that’s largely due to the fact that it’s still an intrinsically simple wine. Still, plenty to like here. 16.3/87