Tenuta Garetto, Grignolino d’Asti DOC (Piedmont, Italy) 2018

 If you love super-ripe, whopping wines like Aussie Shiraz or Argentine Malbec, you should just keep walking past this wine.  However, if you love light, fresh wines like Pinot Noir but need a change of pace, take a walk on the wild side…straight to this Grignolino.  It is no deeper in color than a simple Bourgogne Rouge that never saw the inside of a barrel, yet appearances can be deceiving, as this has significant acidity and tannin, but also plenty of flavor to counterbalance those structural elements.  That balance isn’t evident immediately, as the wine seems just a bit awkward and tart when first opened, but with aeration, it achieves an inner harmony that becomes ever more impressive over the course of an entire evening.  The fruit recalls pie cherries and red raspberries, and would be a perfect partner on a warm summer night for staple foods such as salmon or roast chicken.