Tag Archives: barbera

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Tifosi Red Wine

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Happy summer, readers! And Happy World Cup Season! ⚽ It’s a beautiful season for the “beautiful game,” and I’m looking forward to relaxed days and delicious wines. 😎

Wow. My last post was April Fool’s Day, and boy was I the fool in thinking I could still post a bunch during a very busy sports season for the kids (ever the optimist am I). 🤪

This post almost didn’t happen. Not because I didn’t want it to, but because this wine had been unavailable for a while, and while it’s fun for me to write about wine, I doubt it’s fun for you to hear about a great wine and then not be able to get your hands on it (although, sadly, that’s just one of the realistic hazards of the wine blogging trade).

I had my tasting notes jotted down in my notebook, my photo stored on my computer, and then I learned that this wine was no longer available. So for several years, this information sat idly in the background, twiddling its thumbs, until I learned that Evoke Winery had released a new vintage of this wine. Jubilation and confetti! 🎉

I have enjoyed and reviewed several of Evoke Winery’s wines over the years (links at bottom of post), and I love both their fun-loving and sassy vibe and their very delicious, high quality wines. The Tifosi Red Wine is, perhaps, one of my top favorites of theirs.

(What on earth does tifosi mean, you ask? It is Italian for “superfans.”)

This wine is absolutely of the moment, and is the perfect gift for the soccer fans/tifosi in your life (and is anyone NOT a soccer fan right now?), or for anyone who loves the Italian grape varieties Sangiovese and Barbera. Putting these two grapes together is a brilliant and practical combination that works incredibly well – teamwork makes the dream work. Sangiovese and Barbera are rarely, if ever, blended together in Italy, as they are each prominent grapes that fly solo or are blended with other traditional grapes in their respective regions. But in America? Anything goes!

Evoke Winery Tifosi Red Wine

Super wine for super fans!

Evoke Winery Tifosi Red Wine
Columbia Valley 2018 (vintage I originally had)

  • 50% Barbera | 50% Sangiovese
  • 14.5% ABV
  • $48/bottle
  • Medium garnet color
  • Deft and lovely aromatics: dark cherry, currant, plum, rose, baking spices, cured meats and red pepper hunkering in the background
  • Powerful, center stage acidity
  • Touch of fruit/sweetness to let you know this is from the Columbia Valley, not Italy
  • Buff tannins, but not too coarse
  • Mouthwatering, elongated finish
  • Proud partner of tomato-sauced dishes
  • From the tasting notes: “evokes notes of blackberry, cherry cola, and next level fans members.”

This is such a lovely wine. It keeps coming up with new things to say with every sip.

Try Evoke Winery’s Tifosi Red Wine, and be sure to grab extra bottles before it runs out! Or you may very well have to wait another four years for the next vintage. 😭

Show of hands: who’s had this wine? What are you drinking during the World Cup? Comment below!

See my reviews of other Evoke Winery wines (also known previously as Naked Winery):
Blush wine: At First Blush: Evoke Winery Heralds First Day of Spring
Barbera: Oh! Baby: A Sexy Valentine Vino
Chardonnay: Ode to An Old Soul: Vintage Tastes in Vino

Oh! Baby: A Sexy Valentine Vino

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Happy Valentine’s Day, lovely readers! Today, it’s all about pretty flowers, teddy bears, cute cards, candy hearts, and sticky sugar-coated sentimentality all around. La la la!

But it’s also a day (and night) for naughty lingerie, sensuous chocolates, alluring red roses, and one of the greatest aphrodisiacs of all, red wine! (Sorry, white wine, you’re far too tame for a night like tonight).

Oh! Orgasmic Barbera is exotic and erotic, and just what the Love Doctor ordered.

Oh! my, what a big red you are. Photo courtesy Naked Winery.

Oh! my, what a big red you are. Photo courtesy Naked Winery.

This is a deep, dark, hefty, serious, muscular wine you pull out Valentine’s night to drink alongside a perfectly seasoned and cooked steak. It might not all get consumed in one sitting, if you know what I mean (wink wink).

This is another wine my husband and I tried in Hood River, OR at Naked Winery. It’s a pricey bottle, but it’s worth it. See my other post on Virgin Chardonnay for one of their whites. Sorry, the wine is only figuratively orgasmic.

The folks at Naked Winery have fun. “This dry Italian wine greets you with aromas of toasted brown sugar and finishes dry with hints of cherry sweet tarts. Aged for 15 months in new American Oak barrels, this wine will lie down for you and wait until you are ready to uncork its full potential. Aromatic mixed berry fruit with underlying toast and roasted fennel on the nose.”

This wine also exhibits “full ripeness, concentrated flavors and balance.”

It’s a strong wine that’s remarkably tart and sour, so if you like a wine with that flavor profile this is definitely for you. Because it’s still quite tart while drinking, it’s one that will benefit from a few more years of cellaring (the 2010 can be aged now through 2019).

Still, it’s a sumptuous red wine that is up to the task of making your Valentine’s Day most memorable and fun.

How about you? Are you enjoying a nice wine tonight?