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Sunday, February 16, 2020

Del Dotto Piazza Petit Verdot 2014

Del Dotto Piazza Petit Verdot 2014 with Suparossa Italian Dinner

To celebrate Linda's birthday, and with the boys, sons and son-in-law away for the weekend skiing and boarding in the Rockies, the daughters and grandkids brought Saturday night dinner over, carry out from nearby Suparossa Italian restaurant at Seven Bridges in Woodridge.

Our Italian cuisine dinner consisted of veal picotta, rigatoni with vodka creme sauce, Italian meatballs and eggplant parmiagana and linguine with shrimp and broccoli. Afterward, of course, we had chocolate birthday cake.

To accompany dinner, I pulled from the cellar this Del Dotto Piazza Petit Verdot. We discovered, tasted and acquired this wine during our visit to the winery and as part of the Del Dotto Piazza DELICACIES Food and Wine Experience, which was definitely one of the highlights of our Napa trip.

Normally with a hearty Italian meal we open or serve Del Dotto Piazza Sangiovese, our go-to wine for such occasions and one of our favorites. We're starting to run low on our inventory holdings of the Sangiovese, so I tried this other label. It was equally fitting and spectacular for the occasion.


Del Dotto Piazza Napa Valley Petit Verdot 2014

Of course, Petit Verdot is one of the Bordeaux varietals, appellation authorized for inclusion in the blend. Most often, Petit Verdot is the fourth varietal in the mix, subordinant to the primary Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and the secondary Cabernet Franc.

Petit Verdot is added to a red blend for structure, backbone and colour, to round out, augment and enhance the profile of the blend. Standing alone, without the core Cabernet, and the softening roundness of Merlot, and the hint of tangy spice added by Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot comes across as huge, bold, muscular and forward, perhaps awkward or obtuse and overpowering to some.

Indeed, those are the characteristics I love in a wine and while lacking polish and balance of the harmony of the overall blend, its a wonderful wine with bold and full flavored food such as tonight. I wish I had ordered more and will savor what we have, and miss it when it is gone. I'll be looking to top up our holdings of this label.

Dark blackish garnet colored, full bodied, reasonably balanced, firm forward concentrated black berry and black currant fruits, with notes of licorice, spice and hints of mocha and subtle pepper spice with bold but approachable lingering tannins.

RM 92-93 points.

We also acquired some of the 2015 vintage of this label which I took to a gala tasting of which I blogged about last winter in this posting:

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/12/gala-holiday-dinner-features-napa-cab.html

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2757017

https://www.deldottovineyards.com/visit/piazza
 

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