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Light Reds for Spring

yevgeniy_shpika/flickr

Lower in alcohol, supple in body, packed with flavor and very food-friendly, light reds are perfect for this time of the year.

Click the links to purchase Al and Hugh's recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits.

The Wines

Price key:  $=less than $20  $$= $20-40   $$$=$40-60  $$$$=above $60

Quality key: * =decent  ** =very good  *** =superb  ****=elite

Bricco dei Tati Dolcetto d'Alba '15** $

(Italian Beujolais?  Great café wine, earthy, peppery, made for antipasto)

Casalini Montepulciano d'Abruzzo '15** 1/2 $  INCREDIBLE VALUE

(Very complex aroma and flavor, smooth, velvety texture)

El Circo Acrobata Garnacha '16**1/2  $  VALUE

(Full garnacha flavor, but light-medium format, very enjoyable)

Caliterra Reserve Carmenere '16  **1/2 $  VERY GOOD VALUE

(From Chile, deep satisfying flavors, mild tannins, versatile)

Al Spoler, well known to WYPR listeners as the wine-loving co-host of "Cellar Notes" has had a long-standing parallel interest in cooking as well. Al has said, the moment he started getting serious about Sunday night dinners was the same moment he started getting serious about wine. Over the years, he has benefited greatly from being a member of the Cork and Fork Society of Baltimore, a gentlemen's dining club that serves black tie meals cooked by the members themselves who are some of Baltimore's most accomplished amateur cooks.
As General Partner of Clipper City Brewing Company, L.P., Hugh J. Sisson is among Baltimore's premier authorities on craft brewing and a former manager of the state's first pub brewery, Sissons, located in Federal Hill. A fifth generation Baltimorean, Hugh has been involved in all aspects of craft brewing.