VintageVino Pink of the Day: Lorenzo Costantini Rosso Lazio IGT Massarosa, 2007

So I really just fell in love with this wine. Our major trade tasting was this week and we had 1,000 wines out to show, but I came back to this as my find of the show. Who would think that a simple, elegant Italian red like this could make such an impact? Well, a lot of people actually - maybe not this particular wine, but the "simple" Italian wines shine every single day - that's why they enjoy the reputation they have - just like the simple but powerfully good Italian cuisine.

Here we have a blend of Cesanese (an indiginous grape grown around the area of Rome/Lazio) 45%, Sangiovese 45%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5% and Montepulciano 5%. Wonderfully fruity, soft attack, but enough acidity to really handle a lot of foods. I might enjoy this with some seafood. To me this wine is a bit less complex than many of the Chianti available today, but in those lines (it is 45% Sangio) and a fine alternative. Fresh and just a pleasure to drink.

As an added bonus this rosso and its sibling Frascati from Lorenzo Costantini are produced from a small family estate (only 5.5ha), which is farmed according to strict organic practices with only some light copper & sulphur (which is allowed under EU organic reg's)being used as needed.

This wine should be retailing for about $10-12 - what a bargain!