Umbria, Italy
Served to double-blind after a lineup of heavy hitters from Piemonte. This grabbed my attention from the beginning. Sure, it was an obvious outlier but there was an undeniable quality about it that was arresting. After a couple of swirls and a sip, my first guess was Tempranillo...but then the color wasn’t deep enough...so I quickly moved on to Sangiovese...but I wasn’t sure from where. Ruby in color and very attractive in the glass. The bouquet was powerful with red cherries, spices, and dried herbs and the palate didn’t disappoint either with ripe cherries and Mediterranean spices. Structure is there with everything in its rightful place.
When this was revealed to be Anne-Santi’s “Val Nero”, an Umbrian Sangiovese, I can’t say I was terribly surprised as this sort of reminded, in some respects, to Paolo Bea’s “Pipparello”; just a notch or two below. Never the less, this was a head turner for all of the right reasons. 100% Sangiovese produced with a philosophy of minimal intervention. This producer uses no oak; choosing stainless steel and amphora instead, though, I’m unsure whether this bottling sees any of the latter as very little information is available.
Served to double-blind after a lineup of heavy hitters from Piemonte. This grabbed my attention from the beginning. Sure, it was an obvious outlier but there was an undeniable quality about it that was arresting. After a couple of swirls and a sip, my first guess was Tempranillo...but then the color wasn’t deep enough...so I quickly moved on to Sangiovese...but I wasn’t sure from where. Ruby in color and very attractive in the glass. The bouquet was powerful with red cherries, spices, and dried herbs and the palate didn’t disappoint either with ripe cherries and Mediterranean spices. Structure is there with everything in its rightful place.
When this was revealed to be Anne-Santi’s “Val Nero”, an Umbrian Sangiovese, I can’t say I was terribly surprised as this sort of reminded, in some respects, to Paolo Bea’s “Pipparello”; just a notch or two below. Never the less, this was a head turner for all of the right reasons. 100% Sangiovese produced with a philosophy of minimal intervention. This producer uses no oak; choosing stainless steel and amphora instead, though, I’m unsure whether this bottling sees any of the latter as very little information is available.
