Halloween Night 2014, a night for ghouls, ghosts, and Night of the Living Dead–a classic for some but a first time for me. Just like the 2012 Biltmore Sangiovese opened for the occasion. We put some great candy outside for the trick-or-treaters (honor system and faith in humanity for our house) and fired up some homemade pizzas to go with this Sangiovese.

2012 Biltmore Sangiovese, North Carolina, USA.

Individual pies were the order of the day; one on wheat and one on white crust. The wheat was doctored up with a spicy pizza sauce, mushrooms, green olives with jalapeno pepper centers, pepperoni, red pepper flakes, and heaping piles of mozzarella cheese. Yes, I think wheat breads deaden the taste and thus compensated with a great mix of toppings–it turned out great and I buzzed right through this pie. The white crust I simply slathered with the sauce, pepperoni, and the same piles of shredded mozz; it was a delicious dish as well.

All that talk of pizza, you say, so what of the Sangiovese? I’ll classify this one as good but not great. I had actually cracked it last night to accompany a perfectly cooked NY Strip steak, and on both occasions the meal stands out more to me than the grapes. It was fruity, it had an easy finish, and it was rich in its appearance–but those are the key takeaways. I’m sorry I don’t have more to offer. This wine was a gift from family who’d visited the breathtaking Biltmore several weeks ago while I was away on business travel, and that’s more important to me than the taste or profile of the 2012. The gesture is what lasts here.

Maybe we’ll just have to have another go at this vino closer to Christmas when we revisit Asheville?