Nothing but Praise for Allegrini's Palazzo Della Torre

There was a wedding rental downstairs Saturday night (for those who don't know, Pris and I live in an apartment above a fantastic rental facility in an amazing historic  building here in Brownsville).  It was scheduled from 4 pm to 11 pm, so we needed to get food and settle in early.  I picked up a couple platters from Feldman's with cheeses, cured meats, hummus, and baba ganoush.  We like grazing anyway, and the platters kept well in the fridge without needing to be warmed.  Since we had the food, we just needed a lighter, European wine to go with it.  After a lot of debate we decided on a bottle of Allegrini's 2007 Palazzo Della Torre.  This is one of the wines that was on our wall, and Pris has been wanting to open it since we found it at Central Market in Austin.

The Palazzo is an incredibly good wine that is perfect for summer.  Its lush, fruity, and smooth.  It is made in part with partially dried grapes, and you can definitely pick out the raisin character in the nose.  The wine is smooth on the palate with loads of fruit.  Easy tannins allow for a smooth finish with just a slight mineral bite at the end.

The Italians really know how to do a great easy drinking red wine that pairs superbly with cured meats and cheese.  We worked on this wine last night and today along with prosciutto, lomo, manchego cheese, olives, and the rest listed earlier.  Incredible pairing.  We were looking for a lighter wine to go with the browsing, and this was it.  What's better is that its fairly refreshing for a red wine, which makes it perfect for our slightly warmer Valley climate.  This is a great everyday wine, and an even better summer time wine.

We picked up this bottle at H.E.B. Central Market in Austin.  Pris says they carry it at Feldman's in Brownsville now.  At Central Market it costs $23 a bottle.  For more information on the wine and the vineyard you can go to:  http://www.allegrini.it/allegrini_it/index.cfm?lingua=eng.