Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with rich, textured dishes including game meats, hearty vegetables and dark sauces.
Blend: 50% Sangiovese, 50% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Siepi, Fonterutoli’s Merlot/Sangiovese blend, is absolutely gorgeous in 2018. Rich, pliant and creamy, Siepi offers all of the seductiveness of Merlot with the bright acids and grip of Sangiovese. Inky blue/purplish fruit, lavender, dried herbs, spice, licorice and new leather meld together in an open-knit, inviting Tuscan red with no hard edges and tons of allure shaped by alberese soils with a good bit of clay. The 2018 is an undeniably sexy wine with so much immediacy.
Siepi (the wine) is built on a core of holdings from Siepi, a historic property dating back to the 1400s, plus holdings from the broader Fonterutoli estate. Merlot and Sangiovese lots are harvested, vinified and aged separately. The 2018 saw long macerations 20 or more days, followed by 16-17 months in French oak, with a preference for 225L barrels for Merlot and larger 500L tonneaux for the Sangiovese, which also spent a bit less time in oak. The final blend was assembled and then the wine spent 5-6 months in cement, a recent change made for the first time in 2017 that really seems to let the purity of the fruit come out. The 2018 is positively stellar and also one of the very best editions in recent memory. Don’t miss it.
Legendary in Italy for its Renaissance art and striking landscape, Tuscany is also home to many of the country’s best red wines. Sangiovese reigns supreme here, as either the single varietal, or a dominant player, in almost all of Tuscany’s best.
A remarkable Chianti, named for its region of origin, will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and plenty of cherry fruit character. From the hills and valleys surrounding the medieval village of Montalcino, come the distinguished and age-worthy wines based on Brunello (Sangiovese). Earning global acclaim since the 1970s, the Tuscan Blends are composed solely of international grape varieties or a mix of international and Sangiovese. The wine called Vine Nobile di Montepulciano, composed of Prognolo Gentile (Sangiovese) and is recognized both for finesse and power.