Wednesday is the day that most major metro newspapers publish their culinary sections. The Wednesday Wrap is a round-up of this week’s wine notes.  

That’s Italian!
The Patrick Comiskey of the LA Times takes us on a trip to Tuscany, there to sample Chianti’s cousins: Montalcino, Montepulciano, and the little known Carmignano. All three are derived mainly from Sangiovese, that ancient and hearty grape whose name means “blood of Jove.” The paper also offers a list of top Tuscan tastes lead by the 2005 Pinino Rosso di Montalcino “Clan Destino” (32 big ones). I’m sure it’s clan-destined to be a favorite.

For its Wine of the Week, however, the Times goes French, picking the 2005 Domaine Gardiés vieilles vignes ($28), saying the Languedoc blend of Carignan, Mourvedre and Grenache is “ripe, luscious and wild tasting.” We have never tasted a wild tasting wine. Clearly, that will have to change. 

Wild at Heart
Speaking of France, the NY Times‘ Eric Asimov takes us to rustic Cornas in the Northern Rhone, there to sample Syrahs that are “not so much rustic as wild, with captivating aromas of flowers and fruits, olives and bacon and herbs.” Again with the wild. Was there a memo going around I didn’t get?

For reasons known only to its publishers and The Lord, The Miami Herald publishes its Wednesday food culinary section on Thursday, which make absolutely no sense. The Oenophiliac, J.M. Garcia III, offers this round up from last week’s wine notes:

The Herald’s Fred Tasker, commenting on how we  in south Florida are spared that whole autumnal thing, looks for light, low-alcohol wines to carry us through until, say, November. (He seems especially bullish on Rieslings this week.)
 
Here are his three “Highly Recommended” picks:
 
2006 Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Blanc: “Rich and crisp with honey and Granny Smith” notes. $17
2006 Simi Roséto: “Fresh, tart strawberry flavors; light body, crisp and dry.” $15
2006 Columbia Crest “Two Vines” Gewurtztraminer: “Crisp and lightly sweet, with spicy lychee flavors.” (OK, Mattis, I know what juniper tastes like, but not lychee. I guess we’re even.)