Country: ItalyThoughts: As we've gone over several times in the past, eastern Pennsylvania - my homeland, but really it applies to the whole of Pennsylvania - is not, nor has it ever been, wine country. I should have realized this when I tried this latest drink. I was out a Christmas party for my dad's side of the family; we held the function at a little bar/restaurant situated along one of the roads that leads into town. Yuengling was on tap, of course, but they also had Warsteiner and an Italian beer, so maybe it was worth a chance. As it turned out, the chance paid off only in being able to add another wine to the blog. Certainly, not all of the problems with the Folonari were directly the wine's fault; it came straight out of the fridge where it was quite cold, negating any nose it might have otherwise had. The subpar taste, however, is the wine's fault, and we take great issue with that. There were hits and (mostly) misses of the telltale fruit, but the best way I can describe is the difference between television on an old, black-and-white set and color television. Even a run-of-the-mill TV produces a superb picture these days, but the Folonari left me feeling like I was trying, and failing, to adjust the rabbit ears on a B&W set. There was a shell of fruitiness there, like maybe it had once been there and evaporated. Even the finish was rough, an unhappy ending to an unhappy drink. If a standard pinot is a lush rainforest, this was barren wasteland. It survives the ignominy of an "F" grade only because I was able to soldier through the glass.
Do-over? Uh, no
Final Grade: D-
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