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Wine Details
Price:
$18.00 per bottle
Description:
Often a winemaker?s nemesis in California, Sangiovese is a delicate, often finicky varietal that can be absolutely outstanding when well made, as our 2005 Sangiovese most certainly is. This famous variety that hails from the Chiani region in Italy benefits from our warmer climate in Temecula Valley and the extreme maturity we are able to achieve in the vineyard contributes to this ultra premium limited bottling we have produced. Our version of Sangiovese is a more concentrated and balanced richly textured wine. Hand picked at optimum maturity and brix, the fruit was gently de-stemmed and lightly crushed to leave mostly whole berries for fermentation. Closely monitored to maintain cool fermentation temperatures, our Sangiovese experienced an extended maceration time of about 21 days for maximum color extraction and softer mouthful. The fruit was then gently pressed and racked to new French oak for 8 months of barrel aging. At that point, our winemaker blended in 5% 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon for a touch of structure and backbone and chose to bottle this Sangiovese immediately to retain the delicate fruit flavors. The very limited, special release bottling of Sangiovese has vibrant flavors of cherry, dried cranberry and cedar with hints of toasty oak and anise.
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Varietal Definition
Sangiovese:
Sanguis Jovis, the Latin origin for the varietal name, literally means “blood of Jove.” Sangiovese is one of the oldest known varietals and it is likely that ancient Etruscan winemakers cultivated it, although the first literary reference to Sangiovese was in 1722. Sangiovese is probably indigenous to Tuscany, whose most famous wine is Chianti. Chianti is a blend that currently contains a minimum of 90% Sangiovese.Sangiovese thrives in hot dry climates. Because these climatic criteria generally enhance quantity, rather than quality, it takes careful cultivation and winemaking techniques to produce really excellent wine from this grape.
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