2001 Illuminati, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Riparosso

[Drew]

Went furniture shopping with Eileen yesterday and as 4:30 rolled around and we both hadn't eaten anything for the day we decided on an early meal. Slipped into a Carrabbas Grill and ordered the above wine, pairing it with Grilled pork chop marsala for me and veal marsala for her...perfect match. 100% Montepulciano, Medium plum/garnet colour. Fruit forward nose with plum, cherry and meaty aromas. Very round and velvety on the palate with plum, dried cherry, chocolate and gamy flavours. Very good balance with soft tannins on the suprisingly long finish. This is a large production wine with moderate complexity and a good value me thinks. Restaurant price was $27 and a search on Google for retail showed an average of $14. BTW the veal and pork were amazing for the price ($14 & $16). 13.5%Alc/vol.

Drew