Australia's Best Sangiovese

[Nick]

Hi All

I'm putting together an Italian-themed dinner for some friends next month, and thought it would be interesting to have a look at a couple of Super Tuscans (2015 Tignanello and 2014 Cepparello) blind side-by-side with Australia's best effort at a similar style of Sangiovese-dominant wine.

Which begs the question, what current-release Australian Sangiovese (if any) would sit most confidently in that company? At this stage I'm leaning towards Castagna or Coriole, but any thoughts or recent impressions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks++
Nick

[George Krashos]

Penfolds Cellar Reserve.

[Ozzie W]

+1 to Castagna

[michel]

+1 to Castagna

Possibly this
Never engaged with Pizzini

[simon1980]

Great idea. Castagna la chiave 2015 should do the trick... pls let us know how it goes!

[asajoseph]

I haven't had all that many, but do enjoy the Coriole, think it's excellent. From memory, the Cupitts is ok too.

[felixp21]

oxymoron

[Nick]

Have to admit, "oxymoron" made me laugh. Instinctively, I have to admit that I agree, so will be interested to see how they present. Have procured a 2015 Castagna, alongside a 2015 Tignanello and a 2014 Cepparello. Will give them all a few hours in a decanter beforehand, and will let you know the results.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

[Willard]

Genuinely interested to hear how it goes.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Genuinely interested to hear how it goes.

Me too. The Tignanello is about 20% cabernet sauvignon while the Ceparello is pure sangiovese. I presume the Castagna is also all sangiovese?

[Wizz]

Genuinely interested to hear how it goes.

Me too. The Tignanello is about 20% cabernet sauvignon while the Ceparello is pure sangiovese. I presume the Castagna is also all sangiovese?

Castagna la Chiave is 100% Sangiovese. They also make another wine, a Sangiovese Shiraz blend called Un Segreto, which is rather tasty as well...

[via collins]

Freeman from Canberra is quality and getting better each vintage.

Drank a 2015 over 3 nights last week, and it really was flying by Day 3.

But it probably takes too much attention to hit sweet spot at this stage.

So I'll swing in behind the Castanga recommendations. Both straight and blend are consistently excellent.

Also look forward to your results.

[TravisW]

Castanga is lovely stuff. +1 from me.

Re the Freeman, I'm pretty sure that it's from Hilltops not the Canberra District. One which is from Canberra is Collector's Sangiovese which has a dash of Malvasia Nera. It's brilliant as a Rose as well.

[n4sir]

Coriole. Ideally the Vita, but even the standard release would be a worth addition.

[via collins]

Re the Freeman, I'm pretty sure that it's from Hilltops not the Canberra District.

I am sure you are right. I tend to conflate the two districts, but your tip there teaches me I'd better get a bit more specific . I notice the 2017 release is vineyard specific - Altura - which is where their nebbiolo has been hailing from.

I really should get up there and learn how to distinguish.

[via collins]

is this dinner still to come Nick?

I am very keen to read the results.

cheers,

[Craig(NZ)]

For anyone that cares, Heron's Flight in my opinion makes NZ's best Sangiovese

[Mahmoud Ali]

I could look it up but where is Heron's Flight located?

[kenzo]

Believe it's Matakana.

[JamieBahrain]

I had lunch at Mitchletons restaurant in Nagambie and got charged $55 for their sangiovese last week. It was the equivalent of an $8 Tuscan wine. Disgusted!

[Mahmoud Ali]

Believe it's Matakana.

Okay, I'll bite, where is Matakana?

We studied New Zealand in my Grammar School geography class and one of the things I remember was the boys giggling away when ever someone got the opportunity to mention Shag Point on the south island. Anyway, I do not recall Matakana.

Mahmoud.

[Nick]

Thanks everyone for suggestions on which Australian Sangiovese to choose. The eventual line-up for the Sangiovese flight was:

2015 Antinori Tignanello
2014 Isole e Olena Cepparello
2010 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino
2015 Castagna La Chiave

All wines were opened, tested, and left open four hours before drinking, and the Italians were then decanted for half-an-hour before serving.

All wines were served in Riedel Vinum Shiraz glasses, 70mL pours, paired with gnocchetti with duck sausage, porcini mushroom, pumpkin and sage.

It was the second course of the evening (after 3 x Etna, and before 3 x Barbaresco and 2 x Barolo), and the Sangiovese wine flight and food pairing was the firm favorite among the group.

In terms of how the Castagna compared to the Italians, the first impression was that it is an exceptional wine, and difficult to compare. The most obvious contrast was that the Castagna was the clear feminine wine of the group. It was all about red fruit and spices, with some tobacco, but it was by far the lightest on its feet. Someone commented that the Castagna was 'whimsical', while the Italians were all different shades of 'brooding', and I think that's a fair reflection. My recollections are that the Castagna was delightful, lighter than all of the Italians in body, but with plenty of tannin to carry the approachability of the primary fruit.

I don't think it managed to carry a "favorite" vote among the group, but the overall sense was that it well-and-truly held its own, albeit in a slightly different category to the other three wines. Perhaps closer to Chianti Classico Riserva, but a shade less savoury.

Overall, a really worthwhile experiment, and would certainly not be put off throwing $75 at the Castagna again in a good vintage, particularly given the current price inflation on all things Italian.

I didn't keep score, but I suspect that the Tignanello just shaded the other two Italians for top honours; my personal preference was for the Cepparello.

On a separate note, the 2015 Domenica Nebbiolo surprised plenty of people alongside 2012 and 2013 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis. Not quite the depth of fruit of the Italians, but for most, the best example of Australian Nebb that they had seen.

Cheers
Nick

[Craig(NZ)]

Believe it's Matakana.

Okay, I'll bite, where is Matakana?

We studied New Zealand in my Grammar School geography class and one of the things I remember was the boys giggling away when ever someone got the opportunity to mention Shag Point on the south island. Anyway, I do not recall Matakana.

Mahmoud.

It is a coastal region about an hour north of Auckland city. It was foundered upon some old school wineries Heron's Flight (they specialise in Italian varieties and do so pretty successfully - some smartly packaged stuff too).

The most famous wineries are Providence and the now defunct Antipodean which in the late 80's launch right bank bordeaux wines at the then outrageous price of $90. I have tried Antipodean once, it is rather old school NZ. Red fruited and a good dose of green herbals. Not worth the money IMO, but great to try that piece of NZ wine lore.

Providence is a very smart producer of mainly right bank bordeaux blends. They again are very expensive at north of $200 a bottle. I have tried these several times over the years, and they are good stuff. At the price though they are only purchased by me when the cost is shared in a tasting. I would rate them the regions finest producer

Gillman Vineyards is a more recent winery producing bordeaux styled wines too. I find them very old fashioned in style and think they are a bit over rated. I think they struggle next to some of the finer more modern styles now coming out of Auckland and Hawkes Bay

There are a number of other wineries up there, most under the radar. A few commercial places making boring overpriced stuff catering for the lifestyle crowd, and a few places making some interesting stuff out of more left field varieties

[Mahmoud Ali]

Thanks for the reply Craig. I was not too far from there when We were invited to attend a camping weekend away in a park north of Auckland on the eastern coast. I cannot remember the name of the park and campground where we stayed but I seem to think it might have been a national park or reserve.

It was on that visit that I visited Waiheke Island and some of the wineries there.

Cheers ............ Mahmoud.

[via collins]

Much appreciated Nick - really excellent overview of the tasting, and glad to see the Castagna performed well in good company.

But even more excited personally to see the Domenica get some kudos.

On a separate note, the 2015 Domenica Nebbiolo surprised plenty of people alongside 2012 and 2013 Cavallotto Barolo Bricco Boschis. Not quite the depth of fruit of the Italians, but for most, the best example of Australian Nebb that they had seen.

Give that this wine is probably a good 4 to 5 years from optimal window, it's getting raves in early sightings. I've got 6 tucked in the back of the cellar as per winemaker's suggestion, and will report in around 2024.