Easy-going and impressively accessible already, this juicy, berried wine is surprisingly gluggable. Svelte tannins meet lightly piquant acidity to give this blend a real pop of freshness. This is super fun though not very complex.
Read MoreCastelvecchi undertakes a plant-by-plant approach in its vineyards, working in lockstep with a team from the University of Milan led by Leonardo Valentini. Two vineyards in particular at this 22-hectare estate are source of great pride. First is Le Madri, whose 50-plus-year-old vines serve as propagation material for replanting the rest of the vineyards. Second is the Vivaio vineyard, a small plot hosting a collection of Sangiovese clones collected over the centuries.
Read MoreAs food prices continue to creep up, it's nice to know that good wines are still available for a Jackson. (Or, maybe soon it will be a Tubman!) All three of these red blends taste delectably of Tuscan sunshine, and they all hail from highly acclaimed estates.
Read MoreTwo things struck me in this tasting. On the one hand, I found it worrying that these current Montecucco releases taste so mature. On the other, if one is looking for a mature wine without having to age it, wines like the Scarafone bottling deliver very nicely. I do think, however, that these are very careful hand-sells.
Read MoreTenuta di Arceno 2016 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Strada al Sasso: This wine's nose immediately absorbs my attention. It is hedonistic but not over the top. It is beautifully balanced, but it commands enough weight and girth to be head-turning for a Chianti Classico. Clearly, that is why it is a Gran Selezione, the highest of the Chianti Classico DOCG levels. (Previously, this single vineyard micro cru was labeled as their Riserva wine before the Gran Selezione designation came into play with the 2010 vintage.)
Read MoreTenuta di Arcano 2013 Arcanum Toscana: This very attractive and fragrant wine composed of predominantly Cabernet Franc (73% - from 16 different blocks of vines, along with 17% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon) needs some time to open, despite the fact that it is showing decidedly tertiary aromas.
Read MoreOne hundred years passed between the Giuntini family's last two purchases of land for vineyards, 1897 and 1997. So, the 19-year wait to produce the first single vineyard wine, Vigneto Erchi, from that new plot was relatively quick. (The family planted the vineyard in 1999.)
In the same year that Selvapiana welcomed this new wine to its stable, the winery also celebrated the 300th harvest since Pomino's first quality decree, or bando, by Grand Duke Cosimo III de’ Medici in 1716. The duke defined this area to protect the quality of wines being shipped to England (in place of French claret during the various wars of those days) for increasingly higher prices and volumes.
Read MoreThis quartet, indeed, sings with harmony. Each wine overdelivers for its price point. The Il Ghizzano Rosso, Venerosso 2016 and Nambrot drink the most easily now, and each offers a distinctly different drinking experience. I fell head-over-heels for the Il Ghizzano Rosso!
Read MoreWe're connecting digitally more and more these days, and now we're often doing so over a glass of wine. Bubbly lifts the spirit, making this post on a wide array of sparkling wine styles rather timely. Here's to you and yours!
Read MoreThe Lilliano Chianti Classico wines are crushingly good in two senses: they are so delicious that they are drinkably crushable, and they give so much value-for-money that they are crushingly good values. This applies to all three DOCG levels: Chianti Classico, Riserva and Gran Selezione. Everyone likes a good value year-round, and everyone particularly appreciates one after the holiday season.
Read MoreFattoria Selvapiana has been a family business based high in the hills of Chianti Rufina for 133 years and five generations. These are wines of finesse and fragrance, whatever the vintage. Don't let the seemingly high alcohol levels lead you astray. Their refined balance delivers harmony via their multi-sensory experiences. The icing on the cake is the organic certification for all of the vineyards.
Read MoreThere's nothing like tasting the wines from the winery where Chianti was created! It was at the Castello di Brolio in central Tuscany that Baron Bettino Ricasoli first debuted his 30-year research project in 1872, today called Chianti Classico. Striving to remain at the edge of innovation in an ever more-competitive wine industry, Ricasoli is a local leader in vineyard mapping and clonal research. These "cru" wines are all enticing, each in its own way.
Read MoreSeven years ago Stefano Casadei and Fred Cline met over dinner for the first time. Now they are making a wine named Casadei, a total heart-throb red, together. That's not all. The Cline family is importing Stefano's Castello del Trebbio wines, too. Saluti!
Read MoreCasanova di Neri 2015 IrRosso di Casanova di Neri: This is a bloody, irony, feral sort of wine that calls out for a nice cut of red meat. Its stretchy tannins give just enough grip to allow it to handle deliciously fatty cuts.
Read MoreThose who follow wine closely know that it is a living drink. Like people, wine has good and bad days.
I deeply hoped this 2015 Le Serre Nuove was having a bad day when I first tasted it professionally then drank it over several hours with dinner. It was astonishingly disappointing. A second bottle was modestly more satisfying but effectively identical. It certainly did not live up to my standard for Le Serre Nuove, a wine that I have tasted in its various phases – different winemakers, blends, vintages and so forth – for almost two decades.
Read MoreWhat a fascinating comparison of a Riserva and a Gran Selezione from the same cellar and vintage! There is a clear sibling resemblance via the fervent focus on savoriness. I would love to taste these again together in five then in ten years time to see how they evolve. I am confident that neither will disappoint.
Read MoreSelvapiana is a winery dedicated not only to Chianti Rufina but also to family. The Giuntini family is less than a decade away from owning the winery for 200 years.
Read MoreI adore Vermentino (aka Rolle, Pigato and Favorita) for its floral nose scented with honeysuckle, yellow pears and sometimes star fruit. While I’ve tasted it in its many forms for a long time, my keen interest began only about six years ago, as I noticed that many places other than Tuscany, Sardegna, Corsica and the Languedoc were making Vermentino.
Read MoreHere’s a quick decoder to some of the most sought-after Super Tuscans, along with their second and, sometimes, third and even fourth wines. Percentages are approximate and subject to change depending on the vintage and the winemaker’s and owner’s whims.
Read MoreIt’s the home stretch; it’s the last leg of the marathon. A week of merriment…and still more preparation. It’s a never-ending circle, this holiday process! Remember, there’s always a bottom to the bottle, so don’t be caught short on stock.
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