A fun final office assignment: Monchiero Carbone Srü 2003

I used to work with a guy named Dan. Dan had what you would call natural talent. He could always surprise you with a great bottle of wine when you'd least expect it. Usually they would be Italian wines, red and dry, and they would often come from the most unlikely of places.

Once, he picked up a nice Amarone that he found curbside on garbage day.

More recently, on the behalf of all my co-workers generously celebrating my final day in the office, he handed me a Roero wine in lovely wooden caddy (I don't think he found either of these in the garbage).

Finding a wine from Roero, an Italian wine region I had never ever heard of, seemed even more bizarre to me than finding a bottle discarded in the street. Finding one named Srü -- a name from a unique Northern Italian dialect -- just blew my mind even more. I promised him that I would report back on this Srü as soon as I uncorked it.

Monchiero Carbone Srü Roero 2003 (click on the bottle's back label below for product details) is made from Nebbiolo grapes harvested in the Piemonte region. Its selling feature is that it doesn't require extended cellaring like a lot of Nebbiolos do. So I didn't waste time in finding the right occasion to open it. When former co-worker Susan invited me to a dinner of delicious braised beef and polenta, I knew that the moment belonged to the Srü. I proudly slapped it on the table.



It went perfectly with Susan's menu. Fruity and with lively acid, it refreshed us with each sip during our meal. Besides Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo is the perfect grape variety for simmered beef dishes.

It was elegant and definitely ready to drink. This red was much more approachable than I was expecting, a real pleasure to drink. And drink we did, using Susan's nearly Barolo-shaped wine glasses. How appropriate!


You might want to decant this wine. I got some bottle schmeg in my glass.


Thanks to everyone who contributed to such a wonderful discovery of a gift! (And Susan, next time it's my turn.)


Find out more on this interesting wine region called Roero.

Canale, Italia. 14%.

A wine almost as divine as Santangelo: Triacca Sassella Valtellina Superiore 2002

Yesterday, I mentioned how dismal the food options were during my week of watching tennis at the Roger's Cup in Montreal. Fast food and catering in a can is how I would summarize eating on the site at Jarry Park. I didn't broach the drink situation though, other than to explain that you really needed to pick your poison and bring it in through the front gates yourself. Here's why...

CLEAR BEER

To be entirely fair, the beverages on the tournament grounds seemed to be a bit better than the food. I did have a Sleeman, which was okay at $5.50, though I made a poor choice in opting for the light-as-tap-water Sleeman's Clear Ale. As for the wine, I recognized a few reliable and modest wines in the SAQ tent. The problem was that their prices were anything but humble.

WINES, PRICED TO THE NINES

Take for example, the rosé Domaine de Gournier. This 2005 Cévennes was my delicious pink standby all summer long. It wouldn't fare well with me over the tournament though. The cost of a glorified thimble-full of the stuff was exactly half the price it would cost me to buy an entire bottle at the shop across the street. There were a couple of reds and a couple of whites available as well but they were either New World or Bordeaux, essentially ruling out anything that I would typically choose for a picnic lunch.

So I hustled in a Triacca Valtellina Superiore Sassella 2002. Sassellas are from Lombardy with minimum 90% Nebbiolo. Coming out of such an off year and from a relatively low pricepoint, I expected it to be less than dense. It was. I'd call it a medium-bodied red, with lots of tobacco and underbrush, some well ripened fruit and a dry finish. Not very profound but very quaffable. Being quite less than weighty, the wine was suitable for an Italian sausage and rotini lunch in the sun. And it flowed at the right time: in preparation for Italian Mara Santangelo's second round tie with Swiss Martina Hingis.



I saw Mara Santangelo win her first match the day prior. She is a deliberate and pensive player unlike any other, at least on the women's tour (but reminiscent of Davide Sanguinetti on the ATP tour). Santangelo has an unusual style, hitting very flat off both sides. Her shots seem to be effortlessly put back into play because she doesn't add topspin to the ball.

It's a bit dream-like really, and with her good anticipation she never seems to run, never seems to break much of a sweat. She strikes the ball well in front of her body, especially on her backhand shot, which makes her grip look a bit odd. But the angles that are opened by this are nothing to laugh at, as victim Sybille Bammer of Austria eventually found out. Hingis in the next round was a bit too tricky to overcome. But I do have to say that other than champion Ivanovic, Santangelo was the only Montreal opponent with a real chance to beat the Swiss star, having taken a three-game lead in the second set after a first-set loss in a tiebreak.

As it turns out, Mara Santangelo is resident of Cavalese in Trento, which is situated in the same northern and mountainous region at the top of the boot as Lombardy. I imagine her enjoying her own stash of good regional Italian wine after matches on the road and then fine espresso in the morning before practice. Brava, Mara!

And this just in... Mara Santangelo beat regular Top Ten'er Anastasia Myskina last night in the warm-up tourney for the US Open so she must be doing something right to turn on her game at just the opportune moment.

Casa Vinicola Triacca, Villa di Tirano, Lombardia, Italia. 13%