Tuscany

• Brunello di Montalcino
• Chianti

This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Sangiovese which makes it a "Super Tuscan".  It is, however, not expensive and truly a great value.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is nice with black cherries, cherries, baking spices and slight woodiness.  On the palate, this is medium bodied.  A nice backbone of acidity.  It has a soft but inviting texture.  Delicious red berry fruit with underlying dry earthiness.  Medium finish.  This drinks great on its own but is better with food.  A great "pizza wine".  It should be good for another five to seven years.  

This IGT wine from Tuscany is a blend of  50% Petit Verdot and 50% Syrah.  It really is an excellent value.  Deep ruby in color.  The nose has black cherries, plums, slight cedar and a bit of herbs.  On the palate, this is medium bodied with a lovely energy.  Lighter in style considering the varietals.  Nice black cherry fruit with an underlying earthy/gravel quality.  Nice backbone of acidity.  Long finish.  This drinks well on its own and will work well with pizza or burgers.  This should continue to drink well for the next five to seven years.  

Opened this with some pasta at home during the Covid 19 Quarantine to enjoy with the family.  Pop and pour and consumed over 4 hours.  Deep ruby in color.  The nose is nice with cherries, sour cherries, wet tea leaves and baking spices.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, this is a bit modern in style and full bodied.  Lots of red fruits, mostly cherries with some underlying charred forest floor.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  This worked well with the food and on its own after dinner.  It is still on the youthful side with some tannins.  Drink now and for the next ten years.  

2016 is such a great vintage for Chianti's so there was a lot of hope for this.  It is solid but there are a lot of better values in the market.  Ruby in color.  The nose has cherries and slight hay.  On the palate, this is light to medium bodied.  Strong acidity.  Some cherry fruit.  Simple.  It requires food and worked fine with some pasta.  It started to show some volatile acidity after a few hours.  Drink now.  

I love Chianti.  My favorite winery there is Felsina.  This is their top Chianti.  it is rare and expensive.  It is 100% Sangiovese from the Rancia vineyard's highest growing vines.  The wine is quite concentrated and complex.  Deep ruby in color.  On opening, this was tight but with a couple hours of air, it opened beautifully.  Lots of cherries and black cherries on the nose along with some char and a bit of a pine forest.  On the palate, this is bold with firm tannins.  Lots of cherry fruit.

A definite step up from the 2014 and back up to their usual standards.  This is usually an easy choice for a go to value in Chianti and wine in general.  Deep ruby in color.  The nose has cherries, slight anise, slight forest floor.  On the palate, this is medium bodied.  Very smooth texture.  Nice juicy cherry fruit with some underlying damp earth.  Nice acidity.  Well rounded.  Nice finish.  This is drinking well now and will continue for at least a decade, probably more.  A great match with pizza or pasta for sure.  

One of my go to Chianti's.  Truly a consistently great value.  2016 is another  great vintage in Chianti in general and for this wine.  Ruby/purple in color.  The nose has cherries, slight black cherries, tea leaves and just a bit of fennel.  On the palate, this is medium bodied.  A nice backbone of acidity.  Concentration and depth that will undoubtedly unwind into layers as it ages.  Right now lots of cherries on the palate.  This drinks well on its own but really is better with food.  Of course, pizza and pasta with tomato sauce but almost any meat or fowl or vegetable dish will work.  D

OK.  So when we did this tasting, we had six Chianti's.  I went thru the lineup.  Then we invited friends over and about ten more people tried the wines.  I revisit them that night, the next night and finish on day 3.  This was almost the unanimous wine of the night.  If it was labelled Brunello or even a Super Tuscan, i think the scores would have been higher.  Of course, there is always something that says the best Chianti's can't score that high.  I have never subscribed to that philosophy as producers like Felsina and Fontodi deserve higher scores.  Well add this one to the list.   A bl

This is a blend of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Colorino.  Purple with ruby swirls.  It is very tight on opening but with air opens to black cherry fruit.  The nose is easy and enjoyable.  On the palate, the black cherries come thru.  This seems ripe and has an almost cough syrup quality to the cherry fruit.  A bit of anise on the finish.  Firm tannins.  This is concentrated but seems more about fruit than a typical Chianti.  That proved to be a good thing in a tasting.  It will be interesting to see how this ages from here.  It seems like there is room to improve over the next few years.  It sho

Terrific vintage.