This is my first experience tasting Pelaverga Verduno, courtesy of Will Prouty at South Park Seafood, located on the other side of the park, down the street from home.  I only know about the wine because I diligently cataloged the specs of the DOC on a Master Sommelier flashcard. Pelaverga is the grape.  The DOC is for red wine production only, is located in Piedmont, and shares the northern half of the Barolo DOCG, including the communes of Roddi, Verduno, and the renowned La Morra.

The color is light ruby with a medium-minus concentration and high viscosity. The nose is contemplative of raspberry, tart red cherry, white pepper, cedar, prosciutto and gravel. The palate is not contemplative, but rather fun, which is what you’d expect from a wine released a couple or so months ago: juicy, yet focused with light tannins, medium-plus acid, and 14% abv.  If you took Côtes-du-Rhône and made it leaner and fresher, you’d have this wine. Thank you Will Prouty for turning me on to this, a real treat and a reminder: it is more enjoyable to drink the wine than to flip the flashcard about it.

Mr. Prouty also poured me a taste of this Uruguayan Tannat, Bouza from Montevideo. Nice. If I had to describe Will, I’d say his esoteric palate is more than balanced by his completely unpretentious service.  He just wants you to try some cool new product. I heard he owns a wine shop, too. I can’t wait to visit it.

With Higgins across the street, South Park across the park and Kask a few blocks away, someone better offer me a job before I blow through our savings! View my résumé.

Anthony Garcia
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