Type: Dry Red
Made with: Cannonau, Montepulciano, carignano (see below)
Plays well with: Strong cheeses, roasted meats, good BBQ
Having found our notes on the Sardinian wines we tasted, we continue with the Oje, from Nuovi Poderi Cantina – a really nice, rich red which we thoroughly enjoyed.
The Oje is a blend of 90 percent cannonau (better known in the U.S. as grenache), with that last 10 percent coming from carignano (carignane, one of the nicer OBG grapes) and Montepulciano (which is technically a place name, but for some reason is listed on the label as a grape name – go figure).
The color was dark. Really dark, almost black. There is a grapey sort of aroma but Mike also caught some black fruit, like blackberry. The tannins were up front, which can be a sign of a young wine that isn’t quite ready. The weight in the mouth is medium – not rich and heavy, but not watery and thin either. The taste at the end is black cherry without any kind of sweetness, and some acids at the back of the palate.
A wine this young may have seen time in a new barrel – hence the tannins. But the upside is that it can go for some time with proper storage. Grenache (or cannonau, in this case), by itself, is not normally a long aged wine. Still, thanks to that 10 percent of carignane/cargnano and whatever the Montepuluciano is, this one could do a few years in the bottle. That is, if you can find it or something like it.