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Having recently been on this “good value” wine craze, I picked up a bottle of Fontanafredda Barbera D’alba Briccotondo 2006 (Italy, of course). I’ll confess, I was a total sucker for the “Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2007″ sticker indicating a whopping 90 points. For 12 bones or less I figured it wasn’t the biggest risk I’d taken this week.

My thoughts: First off, Good God, let it breathe! It’s not like it’s big. It just has a lot of alcohol on the nose off the line.

Then it came to me. Rubbing alcohol lightly drizzled over frozen raspberries and wild celery and… hot fudge?

Beautiful color. (Although it was in candle light.) Good acidity. Solid tannins. This is a wine to drink now because I don’t really think that aging will bring it much more depth or complexity. Right now it’s succulent, actually. It’s smooth enough to pair well with my “gourmet veggie” home made pizza or to simply drink on its own. Chocolate-ish, plummy (but not in a bad way), and I still stick with the wild celery… even mid-palate.

During the first glass I definitely disagreed with the 90 points, claiming I’d never give it more than an 88. But after finishing the bottle, hell, I suppose 90 isn’t such a bad number. Still, I think points are completely pointless. I finished the bottle, didn’t I?