Gimme the Greencap

Lisa's gone nuts over a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo she found in the Small Vineyards section at Hy-Vee Liquors. I'm not going to quarrel with her; it doesn't have the funky sweatsocks association that most of the Italian reds we like do, but it's smooth and a steal at $12. It's the 2005 Barba Colle Morino.

I would have liked it even more if my first taste of it hadn't followed the newest Seghesio Zin, the 2005 Prati -- a four-vineyard combo from a wine family that has processed grapes in the Alexander Valley for nearly a century. This wine is considerably more, $26 WITHOUT the shipping charge, which one has to pay since one cannot buy this baby on the shelf anywhere. Nope, it's reserved for the Seghesio wine club whores. Thank God Lisa is one. She has me wheedle special orders out of the Seghesio tasting room, which is usually a breeze with my skills at flattering prose combined with her. . . credit card. Which the folks at Zin Heaven (that's Seghesio) know intimately.

I'd like to compare the Prati Greencap Zin with the everyday Seghesio bluecap that is widely available -- side by side, to see if the $10 zin-difference is worth it. And since Lisa left a Cortina Zin here (another only-for-the-wine-club-whores Seghesio offering), I'd be even happier to have a blowout evening with a blind tasting of all three. But Andie ain't drinking right now, and no one else loves the Zins like we do, and I can't keep up with Lisa consumption-wise, and it will take more than two of us to dent and rate these lovelies.

Maybe I'll call Kim Tappan. She's always very helpful.