I posted about my first couple wine classes and got lost in a shuffle and wasn’t able to share the next couple.  I am indeed posting about #4 here (will backtrack to 3 eventually).  In class 4, we learned about ‘other’ varietals, spending a lot of time in Italy.  Some good, fun stuff to take home:

-DOC — great wine, DOCG — AWESOME wine, in layman’s terms

-Trebbiano is almost all bulk and per our instructor is boring²

-Barbera is just a fun wine

-Zinfandel producers are renagades

Our tastings for the night:

1) 2012 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio, Dolomiti, Italy, about $20

2) 2008 Serra “Paitin” Barbaresco, Piemonte, Italy, about $40

3) 2010 Vietti Barbera D’Asti, Piemonto, Italy, about $22

4) 2008 Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscant, Italy, about $27

5) 2012 Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi, Marches, Italy, about $13

6) 2010 Masciarelli Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, Abruzzo, Italy, about $14 (this was one of my favorites of the night)

7) 2010 Terredora Dipaolo Aglianico, Campania, Italy, about $18

8) 2005 Lan Rioja Gran Reserva, Rioja Spain, about $25