TN: Monaci Bellucci

Feudo Monaci 2003 Salice Salentino (Apulia) – Thudding, dead and twisted into itself, showing baked fruit, overheated alcohol and a completely absent sense of self. Actively unpleasant. (5/07)

TN: Li vit alone

Li Veli 2003 Salento “Passamante” (Apulia) – Blueberry fruit concentrate. But in a fun way, not in an overdriven all-the-life-sucked-out-of-it modern/internationalized fashion. There’s even a bit of acid, which is striking given the vintage and the other aspects of the wine, and some black streaks of tar sweating in the hot summer sun, but mostly this wine is about the truly exuberant fruit. It’s a single-note wine, but it’s a pure one. (1/07)