Sangiovese

This is a blend of 90 Sangiovese and 10% Colorino from central Italy.  Deep ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, with some cranberries and slight spice.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, plums, slight chocolate and spice.  Clean.  This drinks easy.  Nice on its own, this is very food friendly.  A nice plate of pasta would work well.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.  Great value.  

Purchased about 15 years ago, this was opened and turned out to be corked.  Fifty-one years old and it was ruined the day it was bottled.  Sad.  It did seem like it had a bit of life left under the TCA.

This is a blend of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino and 15% Merlot from central Italy.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has black cherries, cherries, char and spice.  Medium bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, black cherries, cherries, milk chocolate and slight smoke.  Long finish.  This is a lovely Sangiovese with a firmness from the blend that gives it s bit more seriousness.  It is drinking well now and should for the next seven to ten years.  A very nice value.  This is very food friendly and will work better with food.  Pasta Bolo

This is a blend of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Sagrantino.  Deep ruby in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has black cherries and an interesting black olive note.  Medium bodied.  Light tannins.  Very good acidity.  On the palate black cherries and cherries.  Nice depth.  This seems to be about at peak and should be at that level for another seven to ten years.  Nice on its own, but a bit better with food.  This is a great choice for a "Pizza" wine.  

This is a Sangiovese wine from Emilia Romagna in Italy.  What an impressive Sangiovese!  Deep garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, black cherries, anise, tea leaves and slight ground coffee notes.  Medium to full bodied.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is young with some tannins.  Lots of cherries, black cherries and plums with underlying forest floor/earthiness.  Good finish.  There is some depth but this will take a few years to unwind.  While drinking well already, a few more years of cellaring would help.  If not, give it plenty of air before se

From the excellent 2006 vintage, this seemed to be just about at peak.  Pop and pour.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is lovely with dark cherries, slight plums, tea leaves, dust and spice.  Full bodied.  Tannins about resolved, maybe some wispy ones left.  On the palate, cherries and black cherries with some dried fruits.  Complex and layered with forest floor/tea leaves and spice.  Good acidity.  Long finish.  This drinks well on its own, but would work better with food.  A nice match would be a Lasagna.  Drink over the next five to ten years. 

Cantina di Montalcino is the only cooperative in the Brunello DOCG.  It has just under 100 members who are for the most part, small vineyard owners.  This is an excellent wine and don't be afraid of buying from a co-op.  The vintage, 2017, was hot and dry, and the wines produced were more generous and flashy than a more typical vintage.  The wine is purple in color, ruby at the rim, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black cherries, dried cherries, cigar tobacco, spice and slight char.  Full bodied with medium to firm tannins.  On the palate, cherries, black cherries with som

The idea of a Super Tuscan wine has been around for decades, but they tend to be a higher price point. So in 1993 Carpineto launch they value version, Dogajolo. This wine offers good tannic structure and acidity. This leads to notes of blackberry, black cherry, light blueberry with soft strawberry, pomegranate and huckleberry. These fruits are muted though, not overt and jammy - the fruit is balanced with the oak, acids and tannins so the wine is ideal for food.

Back when the 1997 vintage was released, there was a lot of fanfare and hype.  Some bought into it and some didn't.  But, the prices rose dramatically and at the time, this was one of the better values in Brunello (around $40).  I was curious how well this held up.  Sadly, after all this time, the bottle was corked (TCA).  What a shame.  

This is 100% Sangiovese, which when it was released, did not qualify to call itself Chianti (the rule has since been changed), so it was released as a Super Tuscan.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, tea leaves, spice and dust.  Full bodied.  Light tannins.  On the palate, this has a nice complexity.  Cherries with underlying forest floor.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  This will work better with food.  Pasta or pizza would be great.  Probably past prime, so drink up soon.