Winery	Rendino
Region	Puglia, Italy
Vintage	2002
Type	Red
Grape Varietals	Negroamaro
Retail Price	$92
Rating	9/10

Speaking about Italian wine... it always reminds me of Chianti, just like how how Bordeaux is to French wine or in...ahem...gourmet term, pizza is kinly associated to Italy. Though I had tasted a few brilliant Barolo and Brunello wines, they typcially fell out of favour because it is either too expensive or the tasting experiences left me wanting for a good reliable bottle of Australian red that is less spicy, more mellowed and rounder finishing without needing to waste a quarter of my life away waiting for it to mature.

It is really not so much that Italian wines are inferior - they are really fantastic.  But to find something good and at a reasonable price seems a bit of an uphill task in our Singapore market. Unfortunately, that had also kept my hunting radar off to other regions. 

Popularity, awareness and acceptance may play a part in terms of pricing. Since we are more exposed and attuned to cheaper Australian, American and French alternatives which are sold en mass in supermarkets, pricing the wines at competitve level is made possible due to the economy of scales. Walk around and you'll noticed that only 1 or 2 racks are dedicated to Italian, while in some places, it doesn't even exist.

Last Thrusday, our wine drinking fever hits again. Peppered with some adventerous spirit, my wine khakis decided to explore new drinking venues. While driving through Stamford road, we chanced upon Cellier Rouge (the old MPH building along Stamford road) and felt we should give it a try.

Cellier Rouge is a wine retail shop per se but have some nice cozy seat if you wish to drink-in. They stock up a good range of medium to highly priced wines. Look closer and you may discover some cult wines as well. The ambient is excellent with dimly litted orange shade lamps and light classical and new age music playing at the background. Should you be looking for a drinking venue to impress your date, this is the place. Fret not if wine is an alien stuff to you because the Sommelier could recommend something great within your $budget$.

We selected the La Corte Negroamaro 2002 from Italy. Negroamaro is a wine variety native to Southern Italy and grown exclusively in Puglia only and the La Corte wine is produced 100% entirely from Megroamaro grape.This wine is IGT, not DOCG, but comes at a price of $92. Yeap, of course our adventerous streak brought us to try this wine plus the sommelier gave a very convincing recommendation, as he was telling us that this wine is reaching cult status.

Honestly we were not disappointed. The full bodied wine is  very much feminine and oriental in style with complex structure and silky smooth texture. The tanin is round and well balanced while the acidity is pretty much hidden. After allowing the wine to breath for half an hour, the full characteristics begin to reveal. Very rich flavour of perfume and berries was initially detected followed by hint of peppery note on the palate that develops into tingle of zestiness. If a flower is to be associated to the perfume scent, Jasmine flower would be aptly appropriate. The most exciting aspect is that the finishing produces an intensely rich after taste of red dates similiar to the instant red date tea from 'Super' brand.

On the whole, this wine is fantastic. I dare say that so far this is one of the best wine I have ever had. However the steep price tag would definitely keep me away. However, if you have been drinking table wines all the while, I would highly recommend you to try La Corte Negroamaro at least once to pamper yourself.

Tasting Notes:

• Full bodied, very much feminine and oriental in style with complex structure and silky smooth texture. The tanin is round and well balanced while the acidity is pretty much hidden. Very rich flavour of floral and berries was initially detected followed by hint of peppery note on the palate that develops into tingle of zestiness. The finishing produces an intensely rich flavour of red dates.

Food Pairing:

• Rich and cheesy pizza or Pasta. For the not so faint hearted, try it with fried black bean beef Kway Teow in Geyland Lor 9 or the convention fried kway Teow.    

Drinkability:

• What are you waiting for? Drink it now!!

Available At:

• Cellier Rouge