Winemaker Notes
Pure expressions of Sangiovese reverberate throughout the glass including black plum, dried herb, and crushed brick with beats and notes of fresh fig, cherry, forest floor and old campfire. The tannins are rich but refined, this is so good, with a cool Sangio vibe.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Sangiovese Cinghiale has layered scents of sour cherry, red plum, pipe tobacco, fennel, salami and pepper. The medium-bodied palate offers layered, red fruit flavors. It’s framed by fine, chalky tannins and bright acidity and has a long, perfumed finish. Drink it with food over the next 3–5 years.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Charles Smith's Italian-inspired wine project, named for his daughter's mother, who is from Rome, the 2023 Sangiovese Cinghiale is intended as an entry-level wine for Americans to understand and enjoy classic Italian varieties. It succeeds in its soft, easygoing, medium-bodied grasp of fresh, bright acidity and supple layers of earthy dried herb, anise, and black cherry.
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Vinous
The 2023 Sangiovese Cinghiale wafts up with a bouquet of dusty rose, cedar spices and dried strawberries. It is juicy in style with crisp minerality and perfumed red berry fruits. Fine tannins coat the palate, offset by a sour citrus tinge as a hint of tart raspberry fades.
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.