Winemaker Notes
This is a broad, intense and enveloping Viognier, which owes its refined but versatile character to skilful practices aimed at preserving its freshness and varietal aromas.
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Blackcurrants, violets, pine needles, bark, and dark chocolate. Medium- to full-bodied with refined and polished tannins and a long and beautiful finish. The finish is fantastic with a crunchy character and hints of dark chocolate. Best after 2025 but already a joy to taste.
-
Wine Enthusiast
The nose is all pepper and savory spices at first, before black cherries, currants and a bit of dark chocolate pop through. The berries and chocolate take over on the palate, but the wine is anchored by a savory salinity and more peppery heat. A wine that overdelivers for its price point.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Poggio al Tesoro 2020 Bolgheri Superiore Sondraia (in a heavy bottle) is a big wine on all levels, with dark fruit, spicy bay leaf, exotic curry leaf, rose, tea and barbecued spice. The wine is actually quite rich, broad and textured in terms of mouthfeel. No part of the palate is untouched, as it is swept over with sweet tannins and very generous fruit. It is almost too much of good thing, with a 15% alcohol content.
-
Wine Spectator
A supple red, featuring black currant, cherry, licorice, iron and eucalyptus aromas and flavors. Fluid and more on the side of elegance than power yet shows good grip on the finish, with fine balance and length. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
-
Decanter
Dense garnet in the glass, this is full of mint, oregano, thyme, blood orange, cinnamon and a bit of smoky woodland. The nuanced aromatic profile is completed by a dense, full body with a cola and oak character balanced by chewy acidity and muscular structure, polished on the finish. Clove and cacao dominate the aftertaste. Lacks a bit of fruit depth. The oak integration will improve with time.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.