Is Sangiovese the Greatest Grape?

by Frank Mangio

As most of my readers know, I will be leading a small group of wine aficionados through Tuscany, Italy during the harvest of its signature grape, Sangiovese.

Tuscany is a maze of different microclimates with 7 distinct districts. It’s like you placed all the major wine making areas in California in a tight cluster with their own climactic kingdoms, all growing Sangiovese.

A farm near Siena Tuscany that makes Sangiovese with an ancient press and oversize straw bottles.

Italy itself is a vast garden of grape varietals with over 2,000 native wine grapes that came from a longhistory of settlers from other lands that brought their vines with them to plant in this wine paradise. Today, Italy is the largest producer and exporter of wine in the world, with the U.S. its largest importer. But big is not the Sangiovese story. Growers on average farm on just 2.5 acres and operate old-world equipment with historic techniques as shown in the photo of the wagon, storage jugs and press.

The American appetite for Tuscan Chianti reached its peak in the 60’s when, wrapped in quaint, ubiquitous straw bottles, it was the darling of mindeless wine drinkers. Tuscany was churning out wines that were watered-down with little regard for quality.

When California Italians emerged as the new world quality wine makers , old world Italy had to dramatically change for the better, and they did. The government, with the cooperation of the larger wineries, raised the standards to the highest quality possible and by the late 1970’s the revolution to fine wine was well under way.

Leading wineries, for the first time, were allowed to blend their wines and called them “Super Tuscans.” Antinori was the first with his Tignanello, a wine of 85% Sangiovese, with the balance of Cabernet and Cab Franc. Piero Antinori is the wine “maestro” that I studied under with a Wine Spectator video course where I earned my Wine Connoisseur certification. “I feel a special bond with Tignanello,” he is fond of saying. “It represents a major point of departure for my winery, my family and I, and sparked the beginning of the Italian wine renaissance.”

Other world-class Sangiovese based wines that I recommend are: Banfi Wines Summus, a fine wine blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Syrah in the Montalcino estate and Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino, a Sangiovese clone aged for 4 years; Fontodi Chianti Classico with 100% Sangiovese, a classic Tuscan wine; Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico, from a family that dates back to the 11th century. Franceso Ricasoli is credited with working with the Italian government on higher standards for Sangioivese wines, that became Chianti Classico. All these classic Tuscan wines give us rich notes of black berry fruit, earthiness, the high grades of minerality, excellent food friendly acidity and silky tannins that benchmark all Sangiovese wines.

Sangiovese’s name comes from early Roman Empire times. The literal translation means “the blood of Jove”- the Roman version of Jupiter.

The blood of Sangiovese ran thick in Italian immigrants as they flooded California in the late 19th century. The early Seghesio family is credited with growing it in Sonoma, the first in California.

A rising star in Tuscany is Agricola Fontanelle with the three Rosati bothers that contribute to Sangiovese-based wines that are turning heads. They also cultivate high quality olive oil and an “heirloom” breed of pig. They use small oak barrels and age the wines for 24 months. The best example now released is the 2007 Ri.Va.Le. Chianti ( $15.) distributed through Quigley Fine Wines in San Diego.

Today, two California wineries produce Sangiovese wines to try: Niner Wine Estates in Paso Robles and their 2008 vintage ( $24.) with winemaker Amanda Cramer. It packs a strawberry taste with a touch of spice and lovely acidity that mates with Italian hard cheese.

At South Coast Winery, master winemaker Jon McPherson makes his Sangiovese in the hills of Temecula with a style more like Brunello. The current release is still 2006 ( $34.). Age and French Oak barrels are key to the refined acidity of this Sangiovese.

Is Sangiovese the greatest grape? It’s worth a glass or two to find out for yourself.

Wine Bytes

San Diego Wine & Culinary Center has a Caymus & Groth Wines Tasting Fri. July 29 from 6 to 9pm in cooperation with Alternative Wines. $45. pp. with finger foods. Call 619-231-6400 for an RSVP.

Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido has a Frank Family Wines event Sat. July 30 from 2 to 4pm. Fee of $10.in advance. For your glass call 760-745-1200.

Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook is offering half-off Fallbrook Wines by the glass or bottle on Fridays. The Food and Beverage Director recommends the Syrah. Call 760-731-6806.

Stuart Cellars in Temecula Wine Country welcomes the 7th annual Futures Barrel Tasting event Sat. July 30, 6:30 to 10pm. Sample 10 wines plus gourmet food for $70. RSVP at 951-676-6414.

Enjoy a gourmet Winemaker Dinner at Orfila Winery Escondido Thurs. Aug. 4 from 6 to 8pm. $85. pp. Details at 760-738-6500 x22.

La Costa Wine Company presents its Cakebread Wine Tasting Fri. Aug. 5 from 5 to 8pm. Cost is $25. Call 760-431-8455.

Pop Open These Wines!

by Frank Mangio

Traveling the length and breadth of California for the past 3 months of 2011 has brought me to over 60 venues, tasting over 1,500 wines. I evaluate all tastes on a 1 to 5 rating, from bad to excellent. Flavor, place and price are chief factors in the selections. Prices shown are suggested retail. These are my recommended Excellent 10:

Artesa Cabernet, 2005, Napa Valley 63%/Sonoma 37%. $15. A Cab blend of two world-class growing grounds… aged 2 years in French Oak.

Concannon Conservancy Petite Sirah, 2007, Livermore Valley, CA. $8. Incredible buy. America’s first Petite Sirah winery. Full bodied cherry flavor, rich to the finish.

Le Machiole Bolgheri Rosso, 2008, Italy. $32.99. A blend of 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet, 15% Syrah and 5% Sangiovese. Dark, rich fruit with that Italian minerality that showcases this mama earth vino.

Markham Merlot, 2006, Napa Valley CA. $16. Merlot is very much alive and Markham deserves credit for this exceptional quality red.

Niner Twisted Spur Syrah/Merlot/Cab Franc/Petite Sirah, 2007, Paso Robles CA. $25.

The artistry of leading California winemaker Amanda Cramer is perfectly balanced fruit. Lovely complexity.

Ravenswood, a big crowd-pleaser at the recent Zinfandel Festival in San Francisco, is considered a pioneer in this varietal.

Ravenswood Zinfandel, 2008, Lodi CA. $16. Winemaker/owner Joel Peterson produces wines from many vineyards and makes over 800,000 cases of red wine. His major skill is presenting each wine as handcrafted with flavorful artistry.

Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc, Napa Valley CA. $ 11. Our only white wine entry, Fume Blanc was coined by the master himself. It has a slightly citrus quality to tweek the palate; same as Sauvignon Blanc. Racy and refreshing.

Seghesio Cortina Zinfandel, 2008, Sonoma CA. $35. The north end of Sonoma holds lots of gravely loam soil that the Seghesio Family added to their estate wines in 1957. Dry Creek is a timeless appellation where most of the Old Vine Zin vineyards live.

Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir, 2008, Dundee Hills, Oregon. $38. A marvelous example of an old world style of Pinot, in the best Burgundian tradition. This mystical growing ground is the stuff that the queen of red wines thrives in. Place it into a 16 month hibernation in old oak and you have pure Pinot, Sokol Blosser style.

Thornton Winery Syrah, 2007, Temecula Valley, CA. $24. The aroma and taste of the Rhone Valley, Thornton has captured what the Temecula Valley does best. Velvety tannins enhance big-bodied fruit with layers of berry and a touch of mocha.

Enjoy these latest release wines. My picks for the first quarter of 2011.

Getting Caught Up in the Wine World

Wine sales are recorded for last year and once again Chardonnay is the leading varietal with 2 billion in sales and 22% of total sales.

Cabernet Sauvignon comes in 2nd at 1.35 billion and 15% of sales, according to the International Wine Guild. Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio is next, with Merlot holding on in 4th place and Pinot Noir 5th.

Chardonnay and Cabernet still hold on to

1st and 2nd place in wine sales in the U.S.

The fastest growing sales increases are coming from Riesling and Pinot Noir, with Italy’s Sangiovese coming in 3rd. Italy is the top importer, selling 30% of all imported wines.

Veteran San Diego Chef Jeff Rossman and his long-time restaurant in Hillcrest, Terra, have re-located to a sleek bistro style dining establishment on El Cajon Boulevard in La Mesa called Terra American Bistro which should be ready next month. Jeff will emphasize even more, his farm-to-table format. The décor will feature a “living wall” garden. He recently published “From Terra’s Table: New American Food Fresh From Southern California’s Organic Farms.”

China is the next hot market for wine. The monied crowd consider wine drinking to be Western, modern and cool. The sales in Hong Kong are double that of New York and London combined.

Check out www.wineanddinedeals.com, chock full of wine and dine news. It’s run by Ron James who used to do it for Sign On San Diego. You’ll find what you need for that next happy hour and more.

Wine Bytes

§ A Tuscan Night with Banfi Wines and dinner at Vigilucci’s in Encinitas is planned for Wed. March 23 starting at 6:30pm. Banfi will have a presentation by Educational Director Sharron McCarthy. Wines range from Pinot Grigio to Brunello di Montalcino. $65. cost. RSVP at 760-942-7332.

§ A Stags Leap Wine Dinner is planned for Thurs. March 24 from 6pm to 9pm at the Marriott Laguna Cliffs in Dana Point. Chef Erasmo has a 7 course feast accompanied by 6 different varietals of Stags Leap. Cost is $100. ea. Call 949-661-5000.

§ Mistral at Loews Coronado is presenting a 3,000 bottle wine cellar seminar event with an hors d’oeuvres reception followed by a 4 course dinner with paired wines, Thurs. March 24 from 6 to 9pm. $75. pp. Reserve at 619-424-4000.