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.

Family Winemakers Gather In San Diego

Article and photo by Frank Mangio

A showcase of California’s small, family owned wineries will gather at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Sunday March 15 in a 5 hour major tasting to include some 240 participants. The turnout of wineries from up and down the state has been so overwhelming, the building housing the event has been upgraded to the 30,000 square foot Wyland Center.

Veronica Barclay, chair of the Family Winemakers Tasting Committee commented that “the Del Mar tasting will offer a great opportunity for wine buyers and wine lovers to experience product from California’s small, family owned wineries. It will make this the largest representation of California boutique wines showcased in San Diego.”

The lineup of lovely vineyards and wineries is a who’s who of long-time favorites and rising stars.

One that stood out and is fascinating in the sense that it really is two wineries is the Francis Ford Coppola Rubicon Estate in the Napa Valley, and his Rosso & Bianco Winery in Sonoma. It is rare that a show of this type would draw this Hollywood icon’s wines. Coppola’s “Godfather” films are legend and his goal now is “to create a happy Italian family feeling of winemaking” in his latest Sonoma project. All his memorabilia is shown at this winery.

This first-ever tasting also attracted Falkner winery form the nearby Temecula Wine Country, and a number of greats from Paso Robles, including Justin, Vina Robles and Tablas Creek. The great Grgich Hills winery in Napa Valley will be there, as well as ZD wines. A trade and media tasting will be from 1pm to 3pm, then the public event will be from 3pm to 6pm. Cost is $40. in advance, $50. at the door.

For more information on wineries and ticket sales, go to www.familywinemakers.org" www.familywinemakers.org. You can also call 415-705-0646.

“Vino” Choices with Pasta
Up until a decade ago, Italian restaurants and home-made feasts of pasta, lasagna, ravioli, pizza and a host of other delicious dishes had one choice of “vino” and that was Chianti. Old grandfather types had their portraits on the jugs and the more authentic bottles were wound in straw.

My how times have changed! Italian Chianti is still available but now it’s Chianti Classico with the source grape clearly identified as Sangiovese, from Tuscany.

Up and down California, Sangiovese is grown and bottled with the grape name large and clear. It has become the wine of choice for the rich and tasty dishes of Italy.

This would be the end of the comment on wines with pasta a decade ago, but now with over 8,000 vineyards producing over 2 million acres of wine, Italian wines are a powerhouse of choices. The pairing of wines with pasta offer some lovely alternatives to the basic Chianti wines, and are found in Tuscany south to Sicily.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a fruity, light wine found east of Rome, usually an inexpensive, drink-now favorite. Sagratino di Montefalco is a heavier bodied wine full of minerality and found in the rising Umbria district, just east of Tuscany. Moving south where the pasta gets sweeter and heavier, you will want to try a Primitivo, which is the original Zinfandel, made famous in California. It’s grown primarily in the Puglia district and has dark, purple tones, and match the rich flavors of southern style Italian cooking. Aglianico is gaining in popularity and is from the Campania district and dates back to the 7th century BC. You’ll taste big, solid, tannic notes in this one.

There are more acres under vine in Sicily than anywhere else in Italy. Here the grape of choice is Nero d’Avola. I have reported many times on how this grape is exploding onto the world of wine as an inexpensive way to enjoy the Italian style of earthy red wine pleasure. The 2004 to 2007 vintages on all these wines have been superb, and are now stocked at your favorite wine shop.

Wine Bytes
Carlsbad Wine Merchants has a wine tasting event to benefit the Encinitas YMCA, this Sat. March 7 from 6 to 8pm. Wines from around the world will be poured with Italian style appetizers. Details by calling 760-804-9994.

Savory Casual Fare in Encinitas features a wine dinner with Paraiso, Thurs. March 12 starting at 6:30pm. Paraiso, from the Central Coast, is one of the first to feature ”sustainable farming methods.” $65. pp. Call for an RSVP at 760-634-5556.

Paso Robles Wine Country is offering their 17th annual Zinfandel Festival, set for Fri. March 20 thru Sun. the 22nd. The highlight is the prestigious Reserve event, an intimate gathering of the best of the best from 4 to 6pm on Fri. March 20, an auction on Sat. and a Grand Tasting on Sun. You can purchase part or all of the events, by going online at www.pasowine.com.

Thornton Winery in Temecula has a Spring Bounty event on Sat. March 14 starting at 3pm. Join Executive Chef Steve Pickell who will teach take-home recipes for you to cook in your own kitchen. Food and wines included in the $70. price. Reservations at 951-699-0099.

Eli’s Food and Wine in the Del Mar Highlands Center has a great wine lineup for his Sat. afternoon tastings. March 7: Loring Wines ’07 new releases. March 14: New releases from Dunn of Napa Valley and March 21: the wines of Biale including Black Chicken Zinfandel. Call 858-481-2323 for details.

Italian Grape from Chianti Revealed in California

LEON SANTORO, the FAMED "RHONE RANGER" TASTING THE NECTAR OF ORFILA WINERY (Foto by Frank)

by Frank Mangio

Italian winemakers are a romantic lot. The language of wine, especially in Tuscany, is meandering poetry, words of love and some hyberbole.

Take Chianti, or more recently, Chianti Classico. Over the years Chianti was getting a bad name, so some of the more influential vintners coaxed the government to crack down and raise the standards. Now, Chianti can only be made in a district called Chianti Classico. It not named for the grape, which in my judgment is one of the most lovely in the world: Sangiovese. Sangiovese has relaxed elegance with a taste of the terroir, the earth from which it was raised. You will taste a lively acidity that begs for cheese, olive oil and rustic breads. I find that newly won disciples of wine that may not know wine terminology, just simply like it a lot!

Sangiovese in California is the focus of this week’s column. From north to south, unlike Italy, this grape is boldly proclaimed on the label of an increasing number of wineries and is gaining in popularity. In the north, look to Sonoma for some delicious examples as wineries like Pedroncelli grow it in Dry Creek Valley near Geyserville. Their ’05 is just out and is pleasing to the palate. The Seghesio family, back in the late 1800’s, was bottling a Chianti containing a blend of Sangiovese, considered America’s oldest Sangiovese planting. On the Central Coast, a small winery, Javardi in Paso Robles has an ’04 Sangiovese that is tasting beautifully.

I am most excited about what I see and taste in Southern California, namely Temecula’s wineries like Palumbo Family, La Cereza, Falkner, Briar Rose and others. In Escondido, Orfila Vineyards and Winery with Leon Santoro ( see accompanying photo) brings 13 years of Sangiovese love to the table. Leon himself comes from Tuscany. In 1995, his Sangiovese “Di Collina” (means hillside) won Gold at the San Francisco Fair. He smiled and said “we would have won double gold then but the Tuscan vineyard we received our plantings from, Fattoria Le Bocce, won with their ’93.” Each year since that first accolade, Orfila’s Sangiovese has medaled, including five double golds. See more at www.orfila.com.

Italian and Rhone Valley French style grape-growing represent the single best hope to put Southern California wineries on the map. The wave of wineries gaining success with Sangiovese is a real trend that is here to stay.

One Closed Case of 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild...
What’s it Worth?

Twelve bottles, a case of the above named wine treasures, have been sitting since 1984 in perfectly temperature controlled storage, owned by Gary Parker of WineSellar Brasserie in San Diego. This “vintage of the century” was one of the first to receive a 100 point rating. The wine, in the Bordeaux appellation, is considered a benchmark for the greatest wines ever made. This unopened case is being offered sealed and aged for some 25 years. A single bottle has been priced at an average $2,000.

The public has a unique opportunity to participate in an on-line auction for this case of wine. Between now and midnight March 20, Parker will be taking offers for this rare case. “I urge you to make your best offer right away…I will certainly envy the fortunate person who will ultimately possess one of the most amazing cases of wine on the planet” he said. You can send your offers or any questions you may have to Parker at GParker@WineSellar.com. His phone is 858-450-9557.

La Cereza Shines Silver

Temecula, Calif. / Feb. 1. 2008

Wine drinkers seeking to explore new and exciting worlds in the vast cosmos called the wine industry often find themselves overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite amount of wines available to them. Add to this conundrum a whole slew of promotional schemes by labels including point systems, critics’ reviews and shelf talkers…all aimed to assuage possible buyers to purchase their bottle of wine instead of the one next to it. Is your head spinning yet?

Well, just like any other competitive market, wineries have the ability to have their products rated objectively each year during a handful of annual wine competitions. One of largest of which is the annual San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Located at the doorstep of Napa Valley, wineries that earn medals during this wine competition consider it a huge feat, a right of passage, so to speak, in the wine world.

La Cereza Vineyard and Winery, located in Temecula Valley, is now the proud bearer of that title after winning silver medals in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for both their Sangiovese and Tempranillo red wines.
Judged next to wines from appellations long-recognized for excellence in red wine-making like Napa, Sonoma and Central Coast, La Cereza considers these awards a great honor as well as a testimony to their desire to produce high-quality wines capable of competing with the best.

The earning of a silver medal for their Tempranillo varietal is especially exciting for the Spanish-themed winery, as this grape is considered to be the quintessential Spanish grape, used to make the world-famous Rioja red wine.
“The choice to produce this wine here denotes the foresight of our winemaker to acquire tempranillo grapes from Guadalupe Valley,“ said Buddy Linn, owner of La Cereza. “This fruit is extremely high-quality and the outcome has been a very consistent and exceptional wine.”

La Cereza’s silver medal award for their Sangiovese is also remarkable, considering it’s the first year that the winery has ever produced this unique Italian varietal.
La Cereza winemaker Gus Vizgirda said he has long been honing in on his winery’s potential to produce excellent wines from Mediterranean grapes such as Tempranillo and Sangiovese.

“We have a very unique winemaking style here in the (Temecula) Valley and particularly at La Cereza,” said Vizgirda. “It’s based on the fact that we have a terroir here that is very similar to the Mediterranean, so although we may not be producing wines like the ones you’ll find up North, we’re confident and proud that we have a style that’s totally different and the quality is just as good.”

2008: An Inflection Point for Temecula Wines

by Frank Mangio

As a wine writer and observer, I am constantly on the look-out for movements, new dynamics, and answers to the question “what’s going on here.” It’s like gathering all the pieces of a puzzle together, observing the mosaic and realizing that an inflection point is here. Inflection points are upward movements on a curve at the point of the upward arc; I submit that this point is now at hand with the wines of Temecula.

Task Force Wine Country 2020 is a committee, formed by the Temecula Valley Wine Association to deal with the huge growth of the region as a viable and strong wine country estimating that some 2 million visitors will enjoy the vineyards, lodging and other attractions. The number of wineries is expected to grow to 60, with 15 more restaurants, 25 more bed and breakfast type facilities and 4 more large resorts. Traffic studies are being made with the cooperation of Riverside County to accommodate this growth.

The type of grapes grown, recent winemaker acquisitions and the quality of the wines have been impressive. So much so, the association has been emboldened to present a package of judged “80 points plus” wines from many of the wineries, 18 in all, to unveil to the wine world’s press. They will demonstrate Temecula’s readiness to be represented as a major wine country. I will be reviewing these wines and profiling them in a later column. One thing that struck me as I went through the list was the emphasis on Mediterranean grape varietals, such as Syrah, Sangiovese and Viognier as well as the traditional Cabernet Sauvignon.
Saturday and Sunday January 26 and 27 will be an opportune time to taste test for yourself, as Temecula’s annual Barrel Tasting event offers new releases prior to bottling. (See photo of South Coast’s Barrel Lady). You will be able to meet the winemakers from some 20 wineries and sample bistro style food. Tickets for the 2 day event are $85.00 per person for both days plus a souvenir wine glass. Call 951-699-3626 or access www.temeculawines.org.

While visiting, you might want to stop by a favorite restaurant, Café Champagne at Thornton Winery, where they have a sunset special on weekdays from Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 5pm. The big buzz there is the return of Steve Pickell as Executive Chef with his fusion cuisine cooking techniques. He started there in 1993 and was in this position for 12 years where he was twice voted “Chef of the Year” by Southern California Restaurant Writers and California Writers Associations. He is teaming up with winemaker Don Reha for new menu pairing ideas.

La Cereza Announces Sangiovese Release

by Cheri Linn

It was bound to happen eventually; it was never a matter of “if,” but only “when.” In congruence with the winery’s Mediterranean flair and winemaking gumption, and to the delight of its many fans (and hopefully soon-to-be fans), La Cereza is preparing to “up the stakes” with the first-ever release of a Sangiovese wine.

So what is it about this wine that’s causing so much buzz among the folks at La Cereza?

Well, perhaps it was the wine’s immaculate reception during its premier at Temecula Valleys Harvest Barrel Tasting, held November 3 – 4, 2007.

The barrel tasting allowed participating Temecula wineries to showcase their “best of the best” to about a thousand wine drinkers, many of whom had yet to experience some of the hidden gems found only in Temecula. Never to be outshined, La Cereza audaciously introduced a wine that was essentially still in the works at the time; a wine that hasn’t even been bottled yet (creating for many a truly authentic barrel-tasting experience), and had never been released under the La Cereza label.

“We feel that this wine is particularly special, “ said Buddy Linn, owner of La Cereza Vineyard and Winery. “Not only because it’s a new endeavor for us, but because it just tastes so darn good. And now after such a successful reception during the tasting, we’re even more excited about its release.”

Produced by La Cereza’s winemaker Gus Vizgirda and his staff, this earthy, fruit-forward wine is similar in style to many of the Sangiovese wines grown in California.

“It’s a little bigger, a little fruitier than its Italian cousin, “said Vizgirda. “It has aromas a bit more subtle than some other reds, but has a mid-palate loaded with spice, ripe strawberry, blueberry and vanilla, along with some faint floral and violet accents. The acidity is even and balanced and the tannins are very soft and smooth.”

Introduced in California in the late 1800’s by Italian Immigrants, this noble and ancient grape varietal, originally called Sanguis Jovis, the Latin translation for “Blood of Jove,” traces its ancestry back thousands of years, as it is believed to have been cultivated by the pre-Roman Etruscans. Since then, Sangiovese has flourished in Northern Italy’s Tuscan region, known by most wine drinkers as Chianti. Well-suited to southern California’s hot, dry summers, paired with consistent sunny days, Californian wine growers, however, are now beginning to see astonishing results in the production of this grape.

And La Cereza is proud to now be among those ranks.

Folks interested in purchasing La Cereza’s Sangiovese can do so by filling out a pre-order sheet at the winery, by telephone (1-951-676-1711), or at the winery’s website at www.lacerezawinery.com. This wine can be purchased for $18.95.