On Friday night a few weeks back we had a date night dinner at Dante’s. Dante’s is a great new restaurant in Omaha featuring authentic Neapolitan (certified “Vera” – whatever that is) pizza and a few authentic pasta dishes. I could write a whole blog on everything that Dante’s does right and I will, but I digress.
One of the many things that Dante’s does right is wine. That night we tried a wine called Argiolas Perdera. I think it was $38 – pretty inexpensive. I have found it online at about $15. It was a great red! It was big and full flavored. It was like any great table wine that we have tried. The grape is a Monica. Never heard of it. Why? – because it apparently only grows on the island of Sardinia off the west coast of Central Italy.
Argiolas is apparently a very well respected winery in Sardinia known for quality wines. The island also produces two other not very well known grapes, Cannonau (an Italian version of Grenache) and a white wine grape Vermentino. If the Monica grape in the Argiolas Perdera is any indication of Sardinian wines I will have to try the other two.
I am told by people that talk like this that “the nose exudes deep, ripe black and red berry fruits as well as notes of earth and menthol.” It gets fuller and more complex as it sits in the glass.
All I know is that my wife and I both thought it was great. It made me want to start singing Italian songs and get up and play Bocce. If I was into those kinds of things I would rate it in the low 90s. The next day I found it online and I now have some sitting in our cellar.
