A recommendation from my friends at Social Wines.  This Sangue di Guida red sparkling number caught me a little off guard.  This wine is actually D.O.C.  – for you guys who don’t know what this means… it is good!  It is the guarantee of origination and history.  This wine is a blend of Barbera, Croatina, Uva Rara and Ughetta Vespolina – not really varietals I am familiar with, except Barbera so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

The Sangue di Guida is a deep dark ruby red in color with a fizz that stops soon after you pour.  No aroma to speak of except a little sour cherry and a bit of pepper spice.  Powerfully sweet on the palate and almost chewy – a complete surprise to me.  I expected dryness and less fruit, however there were distinct tastes of strawberries, sweet black fruits and with just a tickle of fizz.  The sweetness lingers on the tongue and tantalizes it in an attempt to make you like this wine.  I actually was not sure I did, so tried another sip.  The second taste was slightly better.  There was nothing I didn’t like about this sparking red, but I wasn’t sure I loved it.   As you know, I am a professional (wino) so I needed to absolutely make sure I didn’t love it.  A few more sips and I really started to enjoy the sweetness and mild sparkle… a lot.

I was actually tasting this wine to see if I wanted it as a wine to start a dinner party with, however, now I think about it, it would be a great wine to end the evening.  It’s like a rich but lighter port with a bit of fun.   I really started to enjoy it.

Isn’t it funny how something you initially are not sure of, you learn to like a lot and I did.  Maybe I need to apply this logic to dating :).   Or perhaps not, too much sweetness might just be too much… at least all of the time.

This wine is delicious chilled and I am now a fan.  Check out the guys at Social Wines for other great recommendations.  This one, I thank them for as I really would not have picked it.

My rating . . .