Happy Hour: La Fiera

Again, with these kinda brutal weeks. Is Mercury in retrograde or something?

Joking. Not joking. Totally kidding. But really. What. Is. The. Deal.

I feel I’ve earned a glass or three of the 2011 La Fiera Montepulciano D’Abruzzo. You have, too.

Bonus: You get to look at my Junior League cookbooks.

So, it’s my impression that Abruzzo, a region of Italy, is known for producing cheap wines. The quality has dramatically improved over the last ten years, but the prices remain the same, so “d’Abruzzo” is a good code word for “not at all bad for rock-bottom prices.” For $7.50, I walked out of my new favorite wineshop, Greenhaus, with a new lease on life. It does every last thing you want your table wine to do:

1. It goes great with food.
2. It is tasty.
3. You are excited to drink it.
4. If you hate it, it was only a couple bucks because it’s just Tuesday and it’s not like your boss is coming over for dinner or something.

Check, check, check, and check. This is a light-bodied, warm, fruity, big wine that doesn’t waste a lot of time with subtly. The sour cherries are right out there in front, and you know what? I like that. This isn’t the fanciest wine, but it’s the best thing ever for a weeknight dinner.

And you can drink the whole bottle and be out less than the cost of a draft beer at some of the nicer places.