Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
I would be the first to admit that my wine colleagues and I sometimes take our business too seriously and forget that wine can be fun. The 2015 Stolpman Vineyards Carbonic Sangiovese is pure joy. The wine's fruity disposition and easy drinkability make it a perfect party or lunch brunch wine. So let's live a little! Drinks well now. (Tasted: October 19, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
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.
Accounting for only ten percent of the greater Santa Ynez AVA, Ballard Canyon’s north-south orientation provides an ideal pattern of sunshine and martime fog for producing excellent Syrah. While Syrah is planted to half of the total AVA acreage, an additional third is dedicated to other Rhône varieties, red and white.