Quattro Mani Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Wine: Quattro Mani Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Grapes: Montepulciano (60 percent), d'Abruzzo (40 percent)

Region: Central Italy

Vintage: 2011

Price: $9.99

In the glass: Quattro Mani wine is a deep violet-red color with a dense purplish core going out into a fine crimson to pinkish rim definition and medium-high viscosity.

On the nose: It's all about the red fruits in this wine, and it delivers a plethora of scents ranging from smashed raspberries, cranberry juice, pomegranate seeds, red currants and rosehip to notes of red flowers, fruit-driven minerals and hints of a more rustic edge with sloe fruit and loganberries.

On the palate: It is a wonderfully expanding mouth-feel one gets from this wine, loaded again with red berries, red cherries, red plum skins, cranberry juice and strawberry sorbet. The midpalate is well-balanced, showing firm ripe tannins in a harmonious relationship with the fresh fruity character and fine acidity, all going into a firm, yet supple finish that lingers well and is all red fruits.

Odds and ends: Having survived Thanksgiving, I was enjoying a Korean barbecue dinner at one of the hot spots for it, Woonam Jung in Korea Town Plaza on Spring Mountain Road. I wondered what wine would do best with these marinated meats and other spicy specialties. Most people would just settle for Hite Beer and Soju, but the answer is this delicious and superbly balanced Italian red wine from Montepulciano in central Italy. Not as well-known as Tuscany or Piedmonte, and made from grape varieties not considered as noble as those from those regions, Montepulciano wines are perennial overachievers that are best drunk when young. They have a tremendous amount of great upfront fruit and verve and are still very solid on the palate, meaning they can hold their own against anything they're served with, hence this Korean food experiment. Imported by Domaine Select, whose portfolio is one of the best for Italian wines in the country, this is a simply packaged wine with a distinct red label that makes it stand out on store shelves. What's inside is a good value. This is the time of year for good, sturdy red wines, and while this is more on the medium-bodied side, it is highly recommended. Drink it now through 2014.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz's wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.