Corte Bella Rosso

Over the years, there is a good chance you will have an evolution not only with the wines you enjoy, but with how you view the labels. Often, people new to wine will be drawn to cute or fun labels; an adorable animal, a splash of color, or an amusing saying in a whimsical font. But when your tastes begin to change in regard to the flavor there is a good chance you’ll notice a difference in the labels, too. They will be more subdued, often with just the name of the wine and where it’s from, or perhaps a line drawing of the village it comes from.

Now from that observation I don’t want you to take away that cute animals or bright labels mean a wine will be less tasty. It just means that a Winking Owl Merlot will taste different from a Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Merlot. Yes, there is a price difference, but you can also realize this right away by looking at the labels.

So if you take that information into account it would be easy to misjudge Corte Bella Rosso from Italy, but that just goes to show that the best way to really judge a wine is to taste it! And with Aldi’s great prices it’s a wonderful way to experience many different wines.

From the Label:

ALC 5.5% by Vol.

The grapes for our Corte Bella Rosso are sourced from vineyards in Italy. Delightfully sweet with juicy flavors of strawberry and cherry with well-balanced acidity and a soft, smooth finish. Enjoy with grilled meats, pasta with red sauce, pizza, desserts, or on its own. Best served slightly chilled.

The label. (Click to enlarge.)

After pouring the Corte Bella Rosso, the first thing I notice is that there is quite a bit of fizz to it. I was surprised by this. Fizzy wines are hit or miss for me, so I was excited to see how this wine would taste.

The color is a medium red that gradually shifts to a mocha chocolate cake color. For me, looking at this color would also have me thinking of a wine that one new to wines might not enjoy as much. It is reminiscent of wines with a darker, more bitter taste.

But here is where reading the whole label becomes important. Even with a more plain label and the coloring of a wine, the 5.5% of ALC by Vol. will give you a huge clue that this will be a sweet wine (that and the label does say semi-sweet). When a wine has a lower alcohol by volume number it will always be sweet.

It has a very light smell, not a strong alcohol one, and it’s slightly grapey with a hint of strawberry the longer I sniff it. When I take a sip, the fizziness is not overpowering or unpleasant. The texture feels thicker on my tongue, but this is to be expected with the high sugar content. This is why Moscato will feel a bit thicker than a Riesling. There is a lingering sweetness on the finish with a light taste of strawberries. The more I drink the Corte Bella Rosso the more the grape taste comes through, although it’s not as sweet as grape juice.

The Verdict:

I did judge this wine by the picture on the label. I don’t read anything about the wines first because I want my impression of it to not be influenced by what I read. I didn’t even notice the semi-sweet, I just saw the line drawing and thought I was in for a dryer red. But the Corte Bella Rosso went in the complete opposite direction, and I really enjoyed it. I could see having a glass of this while working on the computer or bringing a bottle over to a friend’s house while we sit on the porch and drink our worries away. Tastings.com gives it 90 points based on taste and price ($7.99) and I completely agree with them.