Notes: Jim Moore makes wines under this label and, as Italian sounding as the label is, it just means "the blends of James" in Italian, and he uses Italian grapes, but he is in Napa Valley in California (he previously worked at Mondavi and Bonny Doon). I picked this wine up because I had his Il Gufo rosato at RAP last summer and liked it a lot. ("Il Gufo" is Italian for "owl", and, as you can see, there is an owl on the label.) 758 cases of this were made, and, as is fairly common with Barbera, it is a blend of only 90 percent Barbera with 10 percent Nebbiolo tossed in, something I think you can tell mostly in the finish.
Ruby red in the glass, pretty youthful-looking with a slightly pink rim. The nose is very woody and smells of tobacco, spice, and loads of black fruit, along with hot summer bramble and a little raspberry. It's slightly hot on the nose. In the mouth it's very fruit-forward, with lots of jammy blackberry and black plum, followed by a slightly woody finish that has a trace element of blunted bitterness. It leaves your gums tingling and your mouth watering (gotta love those acids!), and sticks around for a nice long time. It's not an overly complex or fancy wine, but is fun. This would be great if you were having pasta or pizza or even hanging out and grilling burgers.
Cost: about ten bucks
Overall: B. It's not complex, but tasty and fun, and I would keep a case of something like this around for guilt-free drinking.
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