Tag Archives: sangiovese

Molino della Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2012, Tuscany, Italy

18 Wednesday Feb 2026

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Pale to medium garnet colored with medium tanning and medium viscosity (14% ABV).  The nose has medium (+) intensity aromas of tobacco, leather, tar, ripe cherries, prunes, a medicinal note, crushed/dried rose petals,  spice, and tamarind. The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity, medium (-) body and medium tannins that are fully integrated. Medium (+) intensity flavors confirm the nose, especially that tamarind note that I got. It’s quite silky and quite high in acidity. A cherry note hits on the back end where the finish is medium in length. This is a decent Brunello. Nothing major. It gets 90 points for me. At $40 for newer vintages, it’s a 4 star effort.  Drink till 2032.

Bonacchi Podere Molino della Suga Brunello di Montalcino

Grifone ‘1967’ Toscana IGT Rosso 2021, Tuscany, Italy

03 Tuesday Feb 2026

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Medium ruby colored, with slight staining, and a low viscosity (12.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of rhubarb, pomegranate, black cherry, green herbs, and licorice.  The palate is dry, with medium acidity, a medium (-) body, and medium (-) tannins.  Medium intensity flavors of black cherry, rhubarb, and pomegranate lead to a medium (-) finish.  I was not expecting much from this $7 bottle from Trader Joes, but find it to be a very serviceable weekday quaffer that gets 86 points from me, earning it 4 stars.  At 6 years of age, it’s time to drink up.  Mostly Sangiovese, with a dash of Cab Sav and a sprinkle of Syrah.  Salut….

Grifone '1967' Toscana IGT Rosso

Terravino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2001, Tuscany, Italy

18 Thursday Dec 2025

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Deep garnet colored with definite bricking and slight traces of sediment.  A medium viscosity with some staining evident (13.5% ABV). The nose has medium (+) intensity aromas of prune, nuts, tobacco, stewed cassis, acai berry jam, cloves, and dried rose petals. The palate is dry with medium acidity, a medium body, and medium (+) tannins that are fully melded. Silky smooth- it leads to a medium (+) length finish and gets 93 points.  My buddy brought this over to pair with braised Beef shins, amazing.  I would drink this over the next few years, but no rush as it has some structure and fruit left.  Salut….

Terravino Brunello di Montalcino

Castelli del Grevepesa Coltifredi Riserva 2020, Chianti Classico DOCG, Italy

04 Tuesday Nov 2025

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Medium ruby fading to a watery meniscus, with slight staining, and high viscosity (13.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of red cherry, leather, dried herbs, pomegranate, black currant, and an iron note.  The palate is dry, with medium (+) acidity, a medium body, and medium (+) tannins that seem to dominate the mouthful.  Flavors are medium in intensity and I get dried red cherry, leather, iron, blood, dried herbs and overly dry tobacco leaf.  The finish is medium (-) in length and a touch tart.  The tannins go on for ages, drying up the gums in the process.  It’s a serviceable Sangiovese, nothing special.  A bit youthful, it will reward cellared for a few years to tame the tannic imbalance.  89 points from me for this $25 effort making it a 4 star wine.  The obvious pairing for me is pasta tonight.  Salut…..

Castelli del Grevepesa Coltifredi Riserva Chianti Classico

Castello di Gabbiano Cavaliere d’Oro Chianti DOCG 2021, Tuscany, Italy

27 Monday Oct 2025

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Pale ruby colored with copper highlights, and a medium viscosity (13.5% ABV).  The nose has medium intensity aromas of red raspberry, red cherry, baking spices, red currant jam, lingonberry, and wild flowers.  It’s got a bit of tertiary development starting, which excites me.  The palate is dry, with medium (+) acidity, a medium body, and medium (+) tannins that are a touch coarse.  The flavors are red fruit driven with some evolution already happening. The jammy/stewed note I got on the nose is evident and there is some old oak notes coming through.  There is a flowery hint alongside some spiciness.  The tannins are certainly present and keep gripping throughout the medium (-) length finish.  I’ll be honest, this is a Magnum that was on sale for $18.74, marked down from $25 at my local grocery store.  I bought it to use in a beef shin braise and obviously had to taste it.  I think it’s a nice wine, slightly unbalanced by the roughness of the tannins, but I am willing to overlook that.  I think it’s very serviceable and it gets 89 points from me.  I will be back to buy the rest before anyone else realizes that there’s some aged Chianti going cheap.  I would drink within the next three years, hopeful that the tannins meld and pair it with pasta.  5 stars believe it or not!  Salut….

Castello di Gabbiano Cavaliere d'Oro Chianti

Fattoria della Talosa Vin Santo di Montepulciano Occhio di Pernice 1996, Tuscany, Italy

07 Monday Jul 2025

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It’s called Occhio di Pernice, which means Eye of the Partridge- relating to the deep amber color.  This one has a slight haze due to non-filtration and a high viscosity (13.5% ABV).  The nose has intense aromas of walnuts, prunes, candied orange peel, salty caramel, Seaspray, and spun honey.  It’s quite complex. The palate is sweet, with a full body and medium (+) acidity.  The flavors are intense and mirror the nose.  It’s quite an unctuous drop packed full of flavors that layer on themselves.  The sweetness is balanced by the juicy acidity.  This wine begs for a stinky Blue Cheese or super ripe Brie.  The finish is long and silky.  What a treat.  We paid $45 ex-chateau for this 94 pointer that makes it worthy of 5 stars.  It’s just being released after 29 years- shockingly good stuff.  Made predominantly from Sangiovese grapes made in the Vin Santo method.  Drink till 2040.  Salut….

talosa occhio di pernice vin santo di Montepulciano

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino 2019, Tuscany, Italy

24 Monday Mar 2025

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The third wine of our virtual wine-tasting was this Sangiovese Grosso that was a little one-dimensional.  It started off with the color- pale garnet, with medium viscosity (14.5% ABV).  The nose gave us medium intensity aromas of anise, sage, musty leather, red cherry and orange peel.  The palate was dry with medium (+) acidity, medium (+) body, and medium (+) tannins.  Green leaf, slightly unripe red cherry, leather, barnyard, and pencil lead all took us to a medium length finish.  I was a bit underwhelemed by this $40 offering, giving it 15 points on our scoring sheet and 90 technical points, thus making it a 3 star effort.  It may be in a dumb phase as it did open up on night 2.  We paired it with leftover pepper steak and mashed potatoes.  I would cellar a bottle or two for a few years and drink by 2030.  Salut….


Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino

Castelli del Grevepesa Lamole 2019, Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG, Italy

21 Saturday Dec 2024

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Pale to medium garnet colored with copper highlights, and a medium viscosity (14% ABV).  The nose has medium intensity aromas of red cherry, pomegranate, rhubarb, baking spice, olive tapenade, and a green stalk note (thyme?).  The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity, a medium body and medium (+) tannins.  Flavors of red cherry, pomegranate, thyme, dried leather, rhubarb, and some baking spice.  The finish is zippy with some acidity that lingers.  Fruit length is medium and red in nature with some slight astringency right at the end.  It’s a very delicious and food-worthy wine that gets 92 points from me.  I would drink this $25 effort till 2030 with Bolognese all day long. 5 stars.  Salut….

castelli del grevepesa lamole chianti classico gran selezione

Castelli del Grevepesa Clemente VII Riserva 2019, Chianti Classico DOCG, Tuscany, Italy

20 Wednesday Mar 2024

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Medium ruby colored with high viscosity (14% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of cherry, pomegranate, red licorice, rose, dusty earth and dried green herbs.  It’s kinda muted and one-dimensional.  The palate is dry with high acidity, a medium body with medium (+) tannins.  Flavors of red cherry, rhubarb, pomegranate and dusty earth dominate with some chalky tannins bringing grip to the tart, medium length finish.  To me this is an 89 point Sangiovese that runs $20 making it a 4 star effort.  Drink till 2028.  Salut….

Ruffino Riserva Ducale Chianti Classico Riserva 2020, Tuscany, Italy

13 Tuesday Feb 2024

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This Sangiovese was served blind at our tasting group and it stumped us all.  Medium ruby colored with slight staining and medium viscosity.  The nose has medium (+) intensity aromas of dusty black cherry, purple licorice, vanilla, baking spice, strawberry pie, caramel, açaí berry and roses.  The palate is dry with medium acidity, medium body and medium (+) tannins.  Flavors of black cherry, licorice, baking spices and vanilla are prominent, the dusty note faded.  The strawberry shows up later in the game with the acai berry.  It finishes medium in length and not as tart as expected from a Chianti.  It’s a young wine whose tannins need to settle down with time or vigorous decanting.  This bottle was a brute last night but has since mellowed out very nicely.  It should drink well till 2030 and gets 91 points from me.  At $20 it’s a definite 5 star wine to load up on.  Salut….