Hello from my deck this Labor Day.
This is a chance for us to all raise our glasses to the folks that built America and the modern world with their efforts in all industries.
So, cheers!
Again, I don’t really look at the reviews or go by anyone else’s tasting notes when I sit down to think through these things…but I did look this one up to find a website to point y’all towards, in case you wanted to find out more.
And, this one has an average rating of 88.7. So I will keep that in mind as I write this up.
First, I decanted this one.
I have to admit I haven’t decanted a bottle of wine in a while, but I figured for the first red wine I was going to review, y’all deserve it.
The first thing I notice when I am starting in on a red wine is the color and this one is the kind of color that I really like.
It is a deep, ruby red that reminds me of a freshly cooked steak.
The legs after the first sip are long and fat, but go away quickly.
On the nose, I get a lot of deep, dark fruit. I’ll call it a rich berry smell.
Jammy, even.
The first taste is pretty pleasant. I notice a slight hint of fruit on the middle of my tongue that pushes towards the back.
As it opens up, the nose mellows out a bit.
Unfortunately, I’m not picking up anything else.
I get a lot of fruit. And, the nose is pretty pleasant but I’m sitting with it and it seems a bit flat for the price point of $40.
I’m going to give it a few minutes to open up and come back to it. Let’s see what happens.
Okay, I let it sit for a few minutes and came back to it.
After sitting for a bit, the nose is a little more subtle, less sweet when you stick your nose in the glass.
Consulting the bottle, I see this one is 100% Sangiovese. So I’m expecting two of my favorite attributes from a red wine: cherry and leather.
I get the cherry, but not the leather.
As I’m searching the internet to look for more information, one review I read on the Total Wine website said that it was past its prime and I think that hits it pretty well.
I can see where if I had a vintage that was a few years younger, this would be a better wine when there was still a little more vibrancy in the juice. It seems that as the bottle ages, it loses a little of its color and luster, turning the wine into something that is just average.
Not bad, but not great either.
I’m going to give this one a rating of 85 of 100.
You can drink it. You might even find it fine, but at the price point…not great.
I’d probably not spend the money on this one again.