Perfect Wines for Summer Entertaining

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Castello Monaci Piluna Primitivo 2006 (Italy), $13

The Castello Monaci Piluna 2006 is a silky-smooth full-bodied well-balanced 100 percent primitivo from Puglia, Italy. Castello Monaci Piluna 2006 is a complete wine, by which I mean you can serve it with a meal from soup to nuts: It favors a black cherry and spice bouquet and full flavors of black fruit and toasted vanilla with a lingering finish redolent of licorice and rosehips. It would partner well with a light or fulsome (depends on the season) pasta e fagioli; pastas with red and meat sauces; roasts and baked or grilled meat dishes; and hard cheeses (think dessert).
-- Tom Claire

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