Winemaker Notes
Blend: 70% Sangiovese, 30% Canaiolo
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Lungarotti’s flagship 2007 Rubesco Riserva Vigna Monticchio comes across as quite powerful and rich in this vintage. There is plenty of depth in the glass. At the same time, the 2007 is likely to require several years in bottle to lose some of its baby fat. Suggestions of licorice, tobacco, crushed flowers and incense add a measure of complexity on the finish. The 2007 remains a decidedly young wine with plenty of potential for the future. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2027.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine’s most outstanding quality is the elegant and delicate manner with which the bouquet slowly reveals itself. This vineyard-designate wine is a traditional blend of Sangiovese and Canaiolo, opening with subtle aromas of red cherry, dried violet, moist earth, vanilla and cured meat.
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Wine Spectator
Dry and aromatic, this well-integrated version layers sinewy tannins with flavors of dried currant, spice box, kirsch and aged leather. The finish shows subtle length and solid tannins, with hints of smoke and grilled herb. Sangiovese and Canaiolo. Drink now through 2017.
Italian Red Wine
While picturesque hillsides, endless coastlines and a favorable climate serve to unify the grape-growing culture of this country. The apparent never-ending world of indigenous grape varieties gives Italy an unexampled charm and allure for its red wines. From the steep inclines of the Alps to the sprawling, warm, coastal plains of the south, red grape varieties thrive throughout.
The kings of Italy, wines like Barolo and Barbaresco (made of Nebbiolo), and Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino (made of Sangiovese), as well as Amarone (mostly Corvina), play center stage for the most lauded, collected and cellar-worthy reds. Less popular but entirely deserving of as much praise are the wines made from Aglianico, Sagrantino and Nerello Mascalese.
For those accustomed to drinking New World reds, the south is the place to start. Grapes like Negroamaro or Primitvo from Puglia and Nero d’Avola from Sicily make soft, ammicable, full-bodied, fruit-dominant wines. Curious palates should be on the lookout for Cannonau (Grenache), Lagrein, Teroldego, Ruché, Freisa, Cesanese, Schiopettino, Rossese and Gaglioppo to name a few.