This week we flip the script from the last reviews. A young crisp white from the old world and a mature red from the new world. Something old and something new.

2016 Brandini Arneis

Score: 6/10

Brandini is young when it comes to the wine world, 24 years. Located in the northern Italian region of Piedmont their focus is on organic wines and a young, talented workers.

This wine was a result of a friend wanting to pick a wine for me to review. This is an Arneis grape, which is a first for me. This little grape from Langhe had a strong scent of green apple and pear right off the nose with a hint of wet stone. The palette offered more of the same, fresh and crisp fruit.

Overall the wine was pleasant but unremarkable, could probably sit in the bottle for another 6 months if you wanted but it’s perfectly fine to drink now. I’d pair this with seafood or a white wine sauce.  At a price point of around $20 bucks I’d call it a buy and keep until warmer months.

Winery: Pirtle

Vintage: 2016

Region: Langhe, Italy

Alcohol: 12.5%

Style: Dry

Color: Light Straw

Nose: Green Apple, Pear, Wet Stone

Palette: Green Apple, Pear, Wet Stone

Finish: Clean

Acidity: High

Aging: No more than 6 months

Price Point: $17-20

1997 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Score: 8/10

Beaulieu Vineyard, BV for short, is one of the old men of Napa and has continuously produced wine since 1900. One of the few wineries to survive the depression it grew from a little 4 acre winery to becoming one of Napa’s big four during the 1960s. The vineyard is now 1,100 acres and is a common fixture in many grocery stores.

There’s always something fun about drinking a wine that’s old enough to drink itself. This is from the collection of a wine mentor of mine who blind tastes you with a wine and wants you to tell him about it, which I learned long ago does not mean guessing what the wine is.

This Cab is from Rutherford, a district in Napa. The color was a deep red with a distinct lighter ring around the rim, a sign that what you’re drinking has some age. Off the nose was an odd petrol scent that quickly faded revealing a wonderful bouquet of dark berry and strawberries. The palette offered that same fruit with a complex flavor of leather and oak with a pretty spice filled finish.

This wine drank beautifully, it’s heavy tannins and it being a Napa Cab the likely reason for its longevity. This would go beautifully with a steak dinner or a rich chocolate cake. While it would likely be very difficult to find I’d definitely buy some more.

Winery: Beaulieu Vineyard

Vintage: 1997

Region: Rutherford, California

Months in Barrel: 16

Alcohol: 14%

Style: Dry

Color: Deep Red, Lighter Rim

Nose: Stawberry, Dark Berry

Palette: Tart Strawberry, Dark Berry, Leather

Finish: Oak, Spice

Tannin: Heavy

Aging: Can keep 5-10 years more, drinks now

Price Point: $30-45

Conclusions: The Arneis is a great companion if you want a wine that enhances the conversation over dinner and the Cab is fantastic if you want the conversation and dinner to enhance it. That seems to be a theme with these reviews, wines that are higher up the rankings are generally not the sort I’d bring to a dinner party. There’s an important reason for this, I don’t usually go to parties that have a great amount of wine nerds in attendance and it tends to bore and/or people when you describe the taste of rock in your wine.