Vino Noceto Sangiovese 2015
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Connoisseurs' Guide
6% Merlot. Smelling of well-ripened cherries but going well beyond simple fruit and showing a streak of dried herbs and forest-floor spice throughout, this slightly rounded, medium bodied wine has aged into a polished and complex Sangiovese that, while mature, still has plenty of life. It is, withal, a pretty and sophisticated piece that invites drinking tonight, but there is no sign of impending old age, nor is there likely to be if it is left to sit in the cellar for a few more years.
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2017-
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Enthusiast
The "bug" grew into a passion over the years as the couple took regular wine-county outings and several wine-related courses. While on a family vacation in California's Gold Country, they stumbled upon the Shenandoah Valley property where their winery and home currently reside. With the September 1984 purchase of this 21-acre property and the subsequent 1987 acquisition of the neighboring 18.5 acre original homestead, the passion became reality.
Vino Noceto's goal has always been to produce a food-friendly, Chianti-style Sangiovese that is true to its Tuscan roots. The Gulletts' passion for Sangiovese has never waned. Wine critic Mike Dunne calls Vino Noceto "the state's go-to house ... and most respected producer of sangiovese wines in California."
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.
As the lower part of the greater Sierra Foothills appellation, Amador is roughly a plateau whose vineyards grow at 1,200 to 2,000 feet in elevation. It is 100 miles east of both San Francisco and Napa Valley. Most of its wineries are in the oak-studded rolling hillsides of Shenandoah Valley or east in Fiddletown, where elevations are slightly higher.
The Sierra Foothills growing area was among the largest wine producers in the state during the gold rush of the late 1800s. The local wine industry enjoyed great success until just after the turn of the century when fortune-seekers moved elsewhere and its population diminished. With Prohibition, winemaking was totally abandoned, along with its vineyards. But some of these, especially Zinfandel, still remain and are the treasure chest of the Sierra Foothills as we know them.
Most Amador vines are planted in volcanic soils derived primarily from sandy clay loam and decomposed granite. Summer days are hot but nighttime temperatures typically drop 30 degrees and the humidity is low, making this an ideal environment for grape growing. Because there is adequate rain throughout the year and even snow in the winter, dry farming is possible.