Recently I visited Wine By The Bay with a friend to take part in a wine tasting featuring Southern Italian wines.  Wine By the Bay is a quaint wine shop located on Biscayne Blvd with a view of Biscayne Bay.  Stefano Campanini, the wine shop’s proprietor, welcomes all his guests like visitors to his home.  He is friendly, a little flirty, and very gracious (he even let me plug in my phone to charge during event).  His passion for life and wine (and champagne) is contagious!

Our tasting was led by employees/wine experts Laura and Stephen (with commentary by Stefano throughout) who were thorough, knowledgeable, and entertaining.  They explained how southern Italian wines differed from the more popular northern Italian wines because of the climate and how they are now becoming more respected for their smaller wineries and specialized wines.

To open our palates we started with a wonderful Grillo from Sicilia by Feudo Maccari ($16.95).  The only white we tried, it has a bright yellow gold color and lots of body with a wonderful floral bouquet with notes of peach, citrus, and almond.  Light and crisp!

Then we went to the reds, here is my breakdown and thoughts on what we tried –

Feudo Maccari Nero D’Avola (Sicily, Italy) $16.95

Light red, almost transparent in color with medium body.  Earthly, smoky cherry notes with a slight cognac scent and dry finish.  Great pairing with grilled meats and BBQ.  I really liked the deep, rich flavor of this one.

Cantina Del Taburno Aglianico Taburno Fidelis (Cantina del Taburno, Sicily, Italy) $19.95

Dark red with light body and notes of mocha, cherry.  Very dry finish with firm tannins and high acidity.

Montessu, Isola dei Nuraghi (Sardinia, Italy) $26.95

Dark rich red with full body.  Notes of cocoa and dark berries and slight hint of brandy flavor.  Excellent for decanter as opening up the wine enriches the taste and feel of the wine.  Great pairing for lamb for pork dishes.  It was one of my faves!

Rosso del Ducca Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Abruzzi, Italy) $34.95

Zesty red with strong notes of spice, cherry, oak with high acidity.  The flavor is big in your mouth and ends smooth and dry.  Stefano brought out a tray of smoked beef brasiola for us to try with the wine.  The fattiness of the meat opened up the flavor of the wine and made it less dry.

Un Litro by Costa Toscano (Tuscany) $25.95

Bright and fruit flavored it is a 60%/40% mix of Grenache and Mourvedre grapes.  It has light, floral notes with a light body and a sweet lasting flavor.  My favorite of the night!

Girolamo Russo San Lorenzo Etna Rosso (Sicily, Italy)  $54.95

We referred to this wine as the “super model” of wines because it was featured on the cover of last Spring’s Wine Enthusiast magazine and received a great write-up.  “Girolamo Russo has crafted a gorgeous wine with impressive elegance and complexity. Aromas recall ripe fruit, dark vanilla bean, smoked bacon fat and a touch of cedar wood. The wine’s texture is smooth and fine and it leaves a lasting impression of forest berry fruit on the finale.” Wine Enthusiast, 93 Points.  It was our finale wine and while it is hailed as delicate and unique, I thought it was just ok.

To end the night, Stefano brought out a chocolate cake in celebration of one of the guest’s (and regular customer’s) birthday and we all sang happy birthday and ate cake.  They also let us have a serving of whatever wine we liked the best, so I had a bit more of the Un Litro and then we took our tipsy selves up the street for dinner grateful to have a wonderful wine bar right in the neighborhood.