Did you ever want to drink a wine with a very low alcohol level? Here’s your chance. Today’s wine is kosher, marketed by the largest kosher wine distributor in the world. It comes from the Asti province of the Piedmont region of northern Italy home to some fabulous wines that, at least usually, aren’t low-alcohol or bargain priced. This wine comes from the Moscato Blanco grape, the most widely planted Muscat in Italy. This is the oldest known grape variety in Piedmont, and perhaps one of the oldest grape varieties in the world. You’ll find this grape in well-known French Muscat de Beaumes de Venise AOC and the quite pricey South African Constantia, both dessert wines.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Bartenura Moscato 2007 5.0 % alcohol about $ 10

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Description : Classic Moscato with aromas of peach, table grape and apricot. Medium sweet with a slight effervescence and a low alcohol. There is a pleasant minerality that gives the wine structure. Soft and pleasing. Enjoy with spicy seafood dishes or serve with fruit custard desserts. Tasting Note : Pale straw yellow color; spicy apple, citrus and light pear aromas; sweet apple and pear flavors with balancing acidity, with peach and litchee notes on the finish.

And now for my review. At the first sips the wine was sweet, and I tasted some honey. Its first pairing was with a commercial barbecued chicken and a side of potatoes roasted in chicken fat and a light, tomatoey sauce. The wine’s acidity picked up with the chicken wings and breast, and the potatoes. The stronger tasting chicken leg choked out the wine. When paired with a mixed tomato salad containing basil the Moscato lost acidity but picked up some fruit. It became too sweet.

The next meal involved ground beef in ground semolina jackets and a sour sauce containing Swiss chard. This is a delicious Middle Eastern specialty known as Kube. The wine had honey and refreshing acidity, but this wasn’t a good way to do sweet and sour. The Moscato’s honey taste picked up with fresh strawberries.

My final meal was composed of a Portobello mushroom omelet accompanied by a spicy salsa containing tomato, onion, green pepper, cilantro and other ingredients. The wine struck me as bold and its honey taste was strong. Interestingly enough the salsa intensified the wine’s sweetness.

I finished this bottle with Matjes herring followed by two local cheeses. The results were basically the same, apples, honey, and light acidity. The herring brought out increased apple taste, and the Swiss cheese intensified the honey. An asiago cheese split the middle.

Final verdict. I will not buy this wine because while above price represents the American market, I had to pay considerably more. But at the American price I would definitely buy it, especially for those times that I want a sweet low-alcohol wine that tastes pretty good.

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This will be our third Greek wine review. The first was a sweet wine from the island of Samos. Then came a red from the island of Crete also made by today’s producer. Now we continue with a white from the Peloponnesian peninsula. This particular wine comes from pink Rhoditis grapes in the foothills near Patras at an elevation of about 650 to 1500 feet (200 to 450 meters). The producer Kourtaki has the largest wine production facility in all Greece, which is not surprising when you consider that it is the largest producer in the country. What may be surprising is that they are the first in Europe to use the patented “Crystal Flow” wine stabilization method. There is a lot happening in the world of wine, and Greece is no exception. By the way, should you so desire they still bottle and sell that classic standby, Retsina. Don’t look for a review of Retsina here. Ever. And yes, I have tasted it.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed Kourtakis Kouros Patras 2008 11.9% alcohol about $ 10 Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials.

“Tasting Note : Straw/lemon yellow color; lanolin, lemon and mineral aroma; crisp apple & lemon flavor; light body; crisp finish. Serving Suggestion : Pasta salad & olive oil dressing; fried seafood” And now for my review.

At the first sips the wine presented refreshing acidity. It was lemony. The initial meal centered on a soy-barbecued chicken breast. The wine showed strong lemon with good acidity. It was tasty. I got the feeling of the Greek seaside. The meal included an old favorite of mine, potatoes roasted in chicken fat. (The Greeks do their roasted potatoes differently.) The wine cut the grease. With a white corn and black bean salsa the wine’s acidity picked up but its fruit descended. With the dessert of fruit juice candy I got the lanolin that I had been promised.

The next meal involved a packaged eggplant rolatini with tomatoes, ricotta and mozzarella cheese that I slathered with grated Parmesan Cheese. This wine presented strong lemon flavor and acidity with a moderate length. Dessert was a high-quality, French lemon pie with a buttery crust. The wine was thin and yet pleasant. The two lemons meshed.

My final meal involved an omelet perked up with garlic powder and crushed chillies. The wine was pleasantly acidic and round with a side of moderately spicy guacamole. The wine became more acidic but remained pleasant and refreshing. This was a summer terrace wine. Before the traditional two cheeses I enjoyed some Matjes herring. The wine became sweet with a delicate lemon flavor. This was a pretty good pairing.

The first cheese was a local Provolone. This relatively flat cheese managed to weaken the wine. With a nutty Swiss, the wine wasn’t very present and not worth wasting on the cheese.

Final verdict. I have no plans to buy this wine again. There is just too much competition out there. But it did come close. Why can’t they do better?

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