Sangiovese

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.  

This is 100% Sangiovese grape from Tuscany grown near Sienna.  It is unclear why this is not labelled as Chianti (though it probably could be), but no matter, this is very enjoyable.  Delicious and punches way above its weight class.  Ruby/purple in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has bold cherry fruit with some tea leaves and a touch of wintergreen.  On the palate, the cherries come thru with a bit of spice.  Firm tannins.  Black licorice on the finish.  This is drinking well now but will certainly mature and possibly improve.  It drinks well on its own, but wines like this are m

Wow.  This was a first time trying this wine and it is excellent.  ColleMassari is the largest estate of the Montecucco appellation in central Tuscany.  This is a blend of 80% Sangiovese and 10% Ciliegiolo and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.  The wine spends 18 months ageing in oak barrels and barrique then 12 months in bottle.  Tasted over two nights, it was even better on night 2.  Purple in color with some ruby swirls, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is great with black raspberries, black cherries, cherries, and a bit of pepper and spice.  Initially, there is also some mint on the nose, but

From the Montecucco DOC in Tuscany.  La Pianore is a certified organic farm with a zero carbon footprint situated in a nature refuge.  The wine is a blend of Sangiovese (at least 60%) and Merlot aged in 25% Wood and 75% Stainless for six months and then another six months in bottle before being release.  Ruby/purple in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose has nice cherry fruit, hay and salinity.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, this has an interesting rustic quality.  Light tannins.  Flavors of cherries and slight orange peel.  A bit of a bitter almond on the finish.  There is s

From the little known Montecucco Songiovese DOCG in Tuscany, this wine really showed well.  Served to some friends, everyone agreed that this was really very nice.   This wine is aged for two years in French oak barriques, and a minimum of another six months in the bottle.  This is 100% Sangiovese.  I believe the 2015 is the current release.  If served blind, I would have guessed Brunello.  Ruby in color, with just a hint of browning, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, allspice, and slight forest floor.  Medium to full bodied.  Serious tannins that resolved slightly with air.  On the

Great showing for this.  In a really nice place right now.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cherries, spice, dust and tea leaves.  Medium to full bodied.  Great acidity.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, nice cherry fruit with forest floor underneath.  Long finish.  This is delicious but also has plenty of complexity.  It is pretty close to peak but should provide another ten to twelve years of great drinking.  A nice match with pasta with a meat based tomato sauce.