Sangiovese

This Super Tuscan is a blend of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc.  Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is great with cherries, chocolate, dust, black cherries, spice and tobacco.  Full bodied.  Juicy acidity.  Great plush texture.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, black cherries, char some forest floor notes.  Young but complex and deep.  Delicious.  This is great on its own but even better with food.  It worked well with mushroom ravioli.  It certainly can be drunk now and for the next twenty years.  

This is a blend of 34% Sangiovese, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 33% Merlot from Tuscany.  Deep garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, dust, tea leaves, black cherries and coffee grounds.  Nice texture.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, black cherries and cherries with some underlying forest floor.  A bit of heat on the finish.  This is a wine that drinks easy right now but should develop some complexity with a bit of age.  

This is the basic Brunello in Altesino's line-up.  Drinking well right now.  Deep ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose takes some time to open, then shows cherries, tobacco, some forest floor and slight chocolate and spice.  Medium bodied.  A nicer backbone of acidity.  On the palate, there is some depth here with vibrant cherries and underlying dust and fresh tobacco.  Nice finish.  This is drinking well with just a bit of air.  Moderate tannins.  It works better with food and past with Bolognaise sauce would be great.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.  $75 purchased at a tren

A nice, Chianti, this is 80% Sangiovese and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, black cherries, forest floor and some anise.  Medium bodied.  Nice acidity.  On the palate, cherries and black cherries.  Moderate finish.  This is drinking well now and should continue for the next five to eight years.  It works better with food, pasta with meatballs or mushrooms would be a nice choice.  

Beautiful showing for this wine albeit young.  A blend of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, sandalwood, and slight anise.  Full bodied.  Medium to firm tannins.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Cherries, black cherries and spice with underlying char and slight tea.  With air, a bit of tobacco.  Layers of flavors, deep and complex.  This should continue to improve for the next five to eight years.  It will drink well over the next ten to fifteen.  

Tasted blind with a group of experienced tasters.  In all, three bottles of Italian wine were opened and we all agreed that there was a surprising lack of acidity, across three vintages 2011, 2015, and 2016.  It used to be one of the real clues for identifying an Italian wine, blind.  Not sure if this is a trend, global warming or random chance, or perhaps just.  Maybe being the last day of Libra it was just a root day.  :-)  In any event, I thought it was a Loire Cabernet Franc.  Deep garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is nice with dusty, cherries, and some tobacco.  Full

This is an interesting wine.  The grapes are grown at Lanza Vineyards in the Suisun Valley, which is located to the east of the Napa Valley in California (there is a Lanza Sangiovese also on the market) and shipped to Cape Cod where they are crushed and vinified.  Sangiovese is of course the pre-eminent red grape of Tuscany and nearby regions of Italy.  It has been an elusive grape to grow in California (or anywhere else for that matter).  It makes more sense to judge these types of wines on their own rather than comparing to Italy (i.e.

This is a blend of 67% Barbera and 33% Sangiovese from Sonoma.  A very interesting take on "Italian Red".  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, black cherries, tree bark, and char.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, nice black cherry fruit with a touch of acidity.  A bit of smoke.  Nice finish.  This worked better with food.  It should be consumed over the next three to five years.   This worked well with pasta in a tomato sauce.  

This is a nice, straightforward Chianti that is drinking beautifully right now.  Purple in color with some ruby swirls.  The nose is nice with cherries, baking spices and tea leaves.  Medium bodied.  An excellent backbone  of acidity.  On the palate, lots of cherries with a slight undertone of forest floor.  Nice finish.  Drink this over the next four to six years.  It is a nice choice for pizza or pasta with a tomato based sauce. 

This is a blend of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Sagrantino.  An excellent value.  Deep ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright.  Medium bodied.  Excellent acidity.  The palate has cherries, some black cherries and slight mocha.  Some depth.  Light tannins.  This is drinking well now and may improve a bit.  It will make excellent drinking over the next eight to ten years.  This will work great with pizza or pasta.