Italian and Italo-Australian reds from Sangiovese & Montepulciano

Posted by Simon on July 15, 2010

Da Vinci Chianti 2008, Tuscany, Italy (£8.99 Liberty Wines, Whole Foods, Noel Young)
Juicy, earthy style, combining violet-scented bitter cherry & raspberry flavours with a herby wildness and a sappy, refreshing finish. B+

Poggiotondo Chianti Superiore 2007, Tuscany, Italy (£11.99 Liberty Wines, Whole Foods, Noel Young)
More flesh and polish than the Da Vinci, a touch of VA (volatile acidity – think ever-so-slight vinegar) but it’s in balanced with the smooth, serious morello cherry and blackcurrant fruit, also a seam of minerality, with tannin & acidity to keep it in balance. S(-)

Greenstone Sangiovese 2007, Heathcote, Australia (£26.99 Liberty Wines, Imbibros, Noel Young, Wimbledon Wine Cellar)
Shows the cola edge often found in Sangiovese, along with the characteristic earthy bitter cherry fruit and tangy tannins, but it’s more leathery, warmer & riper than the 2 Italians. Perhaps lacks subtlety, but it’s not too heavily extracted, and the finish is full and satisfying. S-

First Drop Wines Minchia Montepulciano 2008, Adelaide Hills, Australia (currently N/A in the UK)
Riper and fleshier still, almost verging on the jammy, with the slightly baked berry edge of very ripe grapes. Plummy and upfront, but with a sappy savoury edge and tannin to freshen up the finish. B+

More Aussie reds + a Brunello wannabe

Posted by Simon on January 27, 2010

Australia Day + 1, so a few hangers-on from the haggis adventure, plus a moody but not all that magnificent Italian…

Jacobs Creek Grenache Shiraz 2008, South Eastern Australia (£5.99 Tesco, Asda, Ocado)
Quite light, almost refreshing, sweet raspberry aroma and flavour, slightly jammy, but then the more earthy gravitas of Shiraz comes through. Good, easy commercial style, almost chillable. B

Peter Lehmann Layers Red 2008, Barossa, Australia (£10.50 SWIG)
Liquorice and earth, slightly jammy dodger-like sweetness, big, quite fleshy, concentrated and juicy, and the blackberry and plum fruit isn’t overripe, but seems not to be quite sure what it wants to achieve. B

Wyndham Estate George Wyndham Founder’s Reserve Shiraz 2005, South Australia (£9.99 Majestic)
Big, pungent, peppery, inky, has a pleasing black fruit and herb intensity, but there’s a slightly ‘processed’ feel to it, along with some vanilla that detracts from that nice fruit. But a decent glug all the same. B(+)

Castello Banfi Rosso di Montalcino 2007, Tuscany, Italy (£15.07 Bibendum – sale price from Feb 2^nd £7.82)
Vague brown sugar, black cherry and Cola, touches of vanilla and bayleaf, but ultimately quite simple with not much in the way of aroma, and a finish that’s just that bit too dry and charmless – too controlled. B-