So, this little wine store opened up about two blocks from my house. Normally I would have been super excited, but this store specializes in value wine. Meaning they sell cheap plonk, with almost all wine is priced under $10. The cool thing is, they will open any bottle they sell for you to taste. About a month ago, I went in and they opened 30 bottles of wine for me to taste before I found and bough 3 bottles of this wine.

I don't know much about Montepulciano (except I do own 3 bottles of Di Majo Norante Don Luigi) and I especially don't know anything about this value producer, Imperio. For $6.50 I was impressed with the raspberry, earth, and mushroomy aroma. It's a mostly ruby red in color but does have some deep purple. A good sign for a Monte. There's quite a bit of jammy raspberr fruit, oak, and earthiness to this. Not to mention acidity and dryness. A great match with Tomato-based pastas. This is not a wine that will knock my socks off normally, but at $6.50, it fits into my daily agenda. 85/86