weekend wine: 2009 feudi di san gregorio

i am a wine fan.  i started out loving white wine - mostly chards and sauvignon blancs - thanks to my mom.  she is always on the hunt for that ellusive bottle that has all the right elements - great on the palate, great price and, yes, great label.  (come on, you know you pick them by the label, too!)

since those early days of wine exploration, i've tried to expand my palate a bit more.  trying dry rosés and eventually making my way into reds.  still, despite my passion and eagerness to learn about it, i'm a wine novice.  so, obviously i was excited when gary vaynerchuk, straight-talking wine guru, offered some bloggers the opportunity to share some select bottles from his exclusive newsletter, the daily grape.  very cool.  (his name sound familiar?  he is also the author of crush it! which gives fantastic insight into how to create a successful brand using social media.)

meet gary. 

so, mavens, here is gary's selection.  and don't worry, he actually knows what he's talking about.  he doesn't just go by the label : )

2009 feudi di san gregorio

in gary's words: "stop drinking the same old pinot grigio! there are so many other tremendous white wines coming out of italy, and the quality has never been better than it is today. what italy excels with most are its indigenous grapes, and this is a primetime example. fiano di avellino, from campania along the front 'ankle' of italy's boot, brings some sick (in a good way) aromatics and a juicy flavor profile. downright beautiful... we're talking mila kunis beautiful. this is a prime starting point for expanding your palate outside of your everyday santa margherita pinot grigio."

gary's tasting note from the daily grape: "beautiful and elegant orange-driven citrus fruits on the nose. wow, this is really orangey! there's also little hints of white peach. and boy, this explodes on the mouth. makes me wish that i was at a seafood or sushi restaurant right now. i really enjoy the lemongrass-meets-lime flavor up front, with an explosion of passion fruit on the mid-palate, finishing extremely smooth. this is very interesting, really solid white wine. i like it a lot!"

gary's score:  90 points
price: ~$17 msrp
grape: 100% fiano


(cailen's comments:  i don't know about you, but i think i might need a bottle of this tonight...or now.  now would work, too.)

happy weekend to all!