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Castello di Monsanto Monrosso Toscana IGT 2016

Castello di Monsanto Monrosso Toscana IGT 2016

Like breathing in the Italian countryside in mid-summer—the 2016 Monrosso Tuscan Red Blend IGT displays dusty earth, leather, dried mushroom, and mountain herbs. Composed of 60% Syrah, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and 3% Sangiovese, the fruit notes seem rather secondary here, and emerge more on the palate than the nose—a melange of black cherry […]

Vitalonga Terra di Confine 2013

Vitalonga Terra di Confine 2013

Aging gracefully, the 2013 Vitalonga Terra di Confine is a masterful blend of Montepulciano and Merlot grown in the winery’s Northernmost vineyards, in the clayey-sandy soil. Expressive, penetrating aromas of marionberry pie, cherry turnover, vanilla, and wood spice shows its Umbrian side with the merest hint of leather and subtle earthiness. In the mouth, caressing, […]

Piccini Villa al Cortile Brunello di Montalcino 2010

Piccini Villa al Cortile Brunello di Montalcino 2010

A classic, the 2010 Piccini Villa al Cortile Brunello di Montalcino unfurls slowly, revealing her bountiful aromatic charm—underbrush and brambly forest berries, tart pie cherries, forest floor, leather, wild mint, and decaying rose petals. It’s nimble on the palate, furnished with soft, fine tannins and a vein of marly limestone running through the center. Sour […]

Marchesi Mazzei Belguardo Rosato Toscana IGT 2017

Marchesi Mazzei Belguardo Rosato Toscana IGT 2017

This charming salmon-hued rosado from Mazzei, a winery that’s been around since the Early Renaissance, is a blend of 50% Sangiovese and 50% Syrah, all from Maremma. Orange blossom and pie cherry waft from the glass. On the palate, it’s light and welcoming with a delicate core of mandarin oranges and salted yellow peach. 13.8% […]

Tenuta San Guido Le Difese Toscana IGT 2014

Tenuta San Guido Le Difese Toscana IGT 2014

The third wine of Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido Le Difese 2014 is a blend of 70% Cabernet and 30% Sangiovese. Aged for twelve months on French and American oak barrels, it’s a medium-bodied, fairly liner Tuscan red bedecked in plums, pie cherries, cassis and mint. In the mouth, firm tannins and high-acid and youthful energy […]

Palazzina Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Le Macioche 2007

Palazzina Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Le Macioche 2007

The 2007 The Macioche, tasted in a vertical was the oldest vintage we were treated to a very impromptu tasting at the winery. It’s the color of brick dust, and it feels like it’s on the nose, along with layered aromas of purple, incense, anise, menthol, iron. It is quite nimble the mouth, with well […]

Palazzina Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Le Macioche 2011

Palazzina Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Le Macioche 2011

Virtually unknown in the US, Le Macioche is in the same neighborhood as Biondi Santi—their stylish 2011 Riserva is a study in lightness and complexity. Aromas of menthol, incense, pomegranate, leather, mushroom, and forest floor give way to an understory of well-integrated, ultra-fine tannins. The acid here is quite pretty, too—it crescendos mid-palate, and softly […]

Poggio Al Tesoro Bolgheri Superiore Sondraia 2012

Poggio Al Tesoro Bolgheri Superiore Sondraia 2012

Supple and stylish, Poggio Al Tesoro is part of the Allegrini family of wineries. This decidedly modern Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend is frife with earth, leather, plums, and cellar dust. With a core that’s juicy and plush, and cradled in soft, ripe tannins it’s hard to resist the pure hedonism in this glass. […]

Brancaia: The Best of Both Worlds

2013 Brancaia Maremma Toscana Ilatraia

Like so many New World winemakers, Barbara Widmer’s childhood landscape wasn’t shaped by a life amongst the vines. Her parent’s journey into winemaking began, more or less, as a hobby that stemmed from the purchase of an abandoned hillside Castellina named Brancaia. “I grew up in Zurich; I had no ambition or dream to move […]

2013 Brancaia Maremma Toscana Ilatraia

2013 Brancaia Maremma Toscana Ilatraia

A Cab-dominant blend that flirts with opulence, reigned in by its Tuscan provenance—and that is a good thing, a food-friendly thing. The 2013 Brancaia Illatraia quietly unspools with notes of plums and ripe blackberries steeped in thyme. Burning embers, dust, and juniper berries add layered complexity. On the palate, it’s round and plush, with mouth-coating […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com