I have been on an Italian wine kick recently, and Trader Joe’s has a fantasic selection of good but inexpensive wines. In my latest haul, I picked up a 2007 Arcante for $14.99 – I’d been looking for a balanced Super Tuscan, so I was pleased to have found this wine.
Super Tuscans are wines that do not follow traditional Italian wine laws of what grapes can be grown and how they can be blended. Because of this, they were given their own DOC classificaion back in 1992: Indicazione Geografica Tipica or IGT. Generally, they use Sangiovese as the base grape but blend it with French grapes such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon to provide body, dark fruit flavors and aromas, and tannins.
The Arcante uses Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot in almost equal proportions. This made for a wonderfully balanced wine with subtle licorice, leather, and dark cherry aromas on the nose. It had good acidity and a medium body for those who don’t like to “chew” their wine. I was a bit surprised that the wine itself did not taste very fruit foward given the nose, but was not by any means disappointed.
I’d recommend having this wine with grilled steak and cheesy pasta noodles, or on its own with dark chocolate.
