Rodano’s Poggialupi Toscana 2010

So sometimes when you have a plan and you have to drop that plan and go to another plan, or a plan B, it can be a really good thing. Case in point: Saturday night. "Big Daddy" and I planned on a trip down to the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa. You know, have some BBQ beef sandwiches, roasted corn on the cob, ice cream, a few cold beers and check out the exhibits.

 As we drove down the freeway we saw the lighted freeway signs telling the "fair goer's" which exit to take. Not us though, oh no, we know the back route in.  As we passed the hundreds of cars waiting to exit, I smiled and thought...ha ha ha no waiting for me.! Then as we drove thinking we missed all the traffic, it happened, GRIDLOCK!  The secret back route was no longer a secret! We then decided, let's just call Miss Debi and meet at her place and determine where we could go to dinner.

Not far from her place was Il Dolce. "Big Daddy" checked Yelp and it looked good! So after a cocktail to settle our nerves at Miss Debi's, we ventured to Il Dolce. Be sure to check them out at: http://www.ildolceoc.com/


What a GREAT place! The service was AWESOME! We ordered the calamari to start and it was just so tasty. We each had different pizza's and shared. The pepperoni was very tasty. The wild mushroom, so yummy (that was Miss Debi's response) and the Quattro Formaggi, rich and satisfying. The fresh bread and atmosphere made for an enjoyable evening.

We decided to have a nice Sangiovese with our dinner. From the wine list, we selected Rodano’s Poggialupi.

The wine was a GREAT choice. The nose was really fresh and brought to mind fresh strawberry and raspberry. When you taste the wine, it has a cheery and plum taste as well as a nice hint of licorice. It has a really wonderful finish, bold yet sweet. There is a complexity in the taste, but in a very good way! Just a hint of oak in the finish as well.

In looking up the wine to see where it was from, here is what I found:

"Rodano’s Poggialupi is made up of grapes sourced from the Chianti Classico Region but don’t let that fool you into believing this is just another Sangiovese. With a little help from Merlot (about 10% actually) this Tuscan easily earns its Super Tuscan status for half the price of comparable juice."

The wine not only tastes like it should cost twice the $15 it asks, it even shows the maturity and grace of a wine that would cost more than double that!

This wine definitely MADE "The Pig Jump Over the Moon"!

Try it and let me know what you think. Great price and a great wine