Bucket List: Go to Tuscany, Italy.

My dream is to go to Tuscany with Darin and drink the wine of the country (a lot of it). I love Italian wines (but not in a snobbish kind of way). I especially enjoy wines from the Tuscany region. The grapes grown in the beautiful Tuscan terroir (okay, that was totally snobbish…I could just say dirt…but why) are amazing. As I make my road map of places I’ll drink, one place I would visit would be the Tenuta di Arceno estate (and drink today’s wine pick) PrimaVoce (pronounced: prima-voy-chay). It is a great Italian wine for the money.

PrimaVoce, Arceno Toscana 2005.

After sharing this bottle with friends, I had to look it up and find out more about this fantastic bottle. The wine came as a recommendation so I had no clue what I was drinking (shame on me, I should have done my homework and savored the glass). PrimaVoce is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet, Cabernet Fran, and Syrah. It was named for the leading voice in an opera. It is a smooth Merlot blended in a powerhouse Cabernet Sauvignon region. I taste plums and vanilla. The wine maker will tell you that you also should taste a hint of ginger, white chocolate, and cherries.

Whether you taste them or not, who cares. It’s a very good bottle for just over $20 (I bought it for $21 but then 2 weeks later I found it on sale for $18). Enjoy.