Now, I speak Italian almost as well as I speak French, so I’m making no guesses as to what “Allegrini” means. I’ve looked it up and cross-referenced it with its Latin etymology. So, I can confidently report that “Allegrini” translates in English to “Don’t be an idiot: Buy lots of this wine. Ciao bella.” Ah, the Italians do have a way with words, don’t they?

The nose of this deep, dark red is full of black cherry, a little blackberry, sweet oak and enough earth to keep a mole happy.

The palate is more of the same. Black cherry, some dark, chalky plum and tons of minerals. The tannins are huge and beg you to hold onto this bottle of red for a couple years.

If you can’t do that, decant it and at least be patient enough to wait 30 minutes before digging into it. Use the time to study a foreign language.

Cheers,
TSW

* - Chimp Wine is a WoW designation signifying a no-brainer, must-buy wine (as in, "You'd have to be a chimp not to buy this wine.").

My ability to speak French is rivaled only by my ability to breathe under water, and I recently embarrassed myself royally at a party as I took a stab at what the name of a Rhone winery might mean.

I was being asked questions about wine (as does happen from time to time at parties) and was loving it. Basically, I was holding court, with wine-isms and opinions spewing out of my face like a fire hose gushing syrah. I think this state is also known as being a bit of an ass.

I was then knocked down from my high vine when a partygoer, enviously fluent (or fluent enough) in French, informed me that I was dead wrong in my translation of the label. If sheep can slink, I sheepishly slinked through the rest of the festivities.

It was ugly.