Unique Reds at Sacramone’s

Yesterday I got to visit an Italian restaurant that recently opened on Long Island, called Sacramone’s.  I knew the food would be excellent and of course it was.  But after reading over their wine list, I was really excited to do some sampling.  Sacramone’s wine list includes some “safe” wines, but also offers lots of lesser known Italian wines that pair perfectly with their fantastic dishes.

First was the Zimberno Aglianico Del Vulture Michele Laluce (Basilicata), a fairly deep red wine, smooth with characteristics of dark fruit, earth, and a bit of smokiness, and very food friendly.

The next wine was the Mutro Melissa Rosso Superiore Cantina Val Di Neto (Calabria).  This blend of Gaglioppo and Greco Nero felt slightly lighter in body than the first, and initially bore some resemblance to Carmenere, in that it shows lots of fruit characteristics laced with a bit of bell pepper.  However, the pepper doesn’t get in the way of the other characteristics, allowing the fruit to show.  This is another food friendly wine.

I’m pretty sure my favorite was the next wine - Montefalco Sagrantino Terre de Trinci (Umbria) - it’s a dark red wine with big characteristics of dark fruit, smooth spices, earth, and dry crushed flowers, and a lovely texture.

Before leaving, I also got to try a fascinating red from Sardegna, the Rei Cannonau Di Sardegna Capo Ferrato, a different sort of wine with characteristics of dry fruit, rum, spice, and also a briny characteristic.  It’s probably the best wine from Sardegna that I’ve ever tasted.

Each wine was very unique, expressive of its place of origin, and clearly not at all tampered with by their winemakers.  For me, it’s more fun and more interesting when a wine is allowed to show what makes it different and sets it apart from others.  Too much consistency takes away a wine’s identity, and we’re left with more of the same things we see day in and day out.  But this was not the case with the wines at Sacramone’s - they each have an identity, and it’s very clear that their winemakers took care to protect the identity of the grapes and let the wines speak for themselves.