Saturday we are tasting our way around Veneto in the northeast of Italy at the foothills of the alps that produces a wide variety of wines.
2015 Inama Soave $14
2016 Maculan Rosato $15
2013 Tenuta Sant Antonio Monti Garbi Ripasso $15
2014 Maculan Brentino  $15
2012 Tedeschi, San Rocco Ripasso $23

Sunday we’ll be tasting two more wines from Italy.  A fresh white from the Friuli and a bold Super Tuscan from, well, Tuscany.

2015 Ronco dei Tassi Cormons, Fruilano $17
Tocai Friulano, also known as Sauvignonasse is a grape variety most famous for its role in the white wines of Friuli, in northeastern Italy. The wines are lively and fruit-driven with notes of citrus and almond, and often a touch of minerality. Medium intensity and structure that give a bouquet of anise, peach and yogurt and that mouth affects for long persistence.

2012 Poggio Bonelli Castelnuovo Berardenga, Poggiassai  $30
75% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon
Full-bodied and intense, with a complex fruity and spicy bouquet with notes of ripe red fruit and pepper; soft, soothing, balanced. The wine is aged for 16-18 months in barrique. It racked up 94pts from  Wine Spectator and got Tre Beccheri from Gambero Rosso. Come see if it lives up to all the praise.

Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5.