INSIDER'S PICK: 2015 GENERAZIONE GALLICI REFOSCO/MERLOT VENEZIA-GIULIA $15.99

Hope everyone in Central Virginia are safe and sound after last week's Snow-mageddon. To coax you out of your ice-covered driveways and past the concrete-hard snow drifts at every corner, we wanted to give you something unique and compelling to sample. This is definitely that wine, something most people wouldn't think of unless and until they had a chance to sample it, and afterwards it becomes part of their weekly rotation. Friuli is the Easternmost portion of the Veneto, right up against the Slovenian border. White wines are still best known here, but there is a surprisingly strong reputation for the red wines here as well. One of the larger and flatter portions of the region is called Grave, referring to the gravelly soils, and it has a similar success with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon as the more famous Graves region in Bordeaux (also named for its gravelly soils). Refosco is the wild card in this mix, a very local grape that has more fame from some recioto-style sweeter wines but has the stuff to make some chewy tannic dry wines in their youth. The extra bottle age here is essential and well appreciated, making for a surprising and well evolved value. A nice dark color with hints of brick colors at the edges, the nose is exactly what you want to get in a wine with some age. Underbrush and red fruit skins, old leather, nothing jammy. The palate has loads of life to it, with the dusty tannins still pulling through on the finish to leave a long mature finish. Depending on your tastes you may prefer the juicy side of youth, but there is no better picture than this of the improvements a bit of time will do for a wine that needs it. ​

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