Winemaker Notes
A noble color and classic nose. Not Roman, pure Tuscan. Red fruit, leather, suede, tar and structured focused. It’s a compelling one for the cellar or just right for today.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very attractive wine with dried-cherry, walnut and light wet-earth character. It’s medium to full-bodied with brightness and energy at the end. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Delightful aromas of sour cherry with red plum skin float out of the glass of the 2018 Sangiovese Cinghiale with a dusty rusticity under the juicy red fruit profile. Medium to full-bodied, the wine delivers a juicy expression of tart red fruit medley with elements of dried herbs and leather on the lingering finish. It's a nicely made wine that is food-friendly.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Distinguished by a broad, south-exposed, uniform slope and landlocked by the Columbia River to its south and Saddle Mountains to its north, the Wahluke Slope AVA of Washington holds 15% of the total vine acreage of the state and takes its name from the Native American word for “watering place.”
Incidentally the Wahluke Slope AVA has one of the hottest and driest climates of the state so irrigation is not only essential, but also allows complete grower control of vine vigor. On top of its arid and warm environment, strong summer winds blow across this broad slope and ensure both smaller leaf size and grape clusters. The result is top quality wines with great concentration, phenolic ripeness, body and depth of flavor.
Vineyards cover the AVA from 425 to 1,480 feet along the slope. Its deep soils of wind-blown alluvium and sand with a depth, on average, of more than 5 feet along the continuous grade allow optimal drainage for the vines.
Thriving varieties include Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.
Merlots are rich in sweet, ripe cherry, red currant, raspberry and cocoa. Syrahs tend to express black and blue fruit along with savory notes. Wahluke Cabernets are rich in stewed red and black berries.