Sangiovese grapes in the sun.

 Sangiovese
A new look at an old grape

Wayne on wine
By Wayne Crawford
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Who doesn't remember Italian Chianti in those wine bottles wrapped in a straw flask or fiasco.

The wine was marginal, but the straw flasks with colorful wax candles lingered around long after the wine, transformed into table or hanging decorations.

The dominant wine in Chianti was Sangiovese and Italian winemakers cleaned up their act and started reinvigorating the versatile grape in the 1990s.

Today Sangiovese -- literally the "blood of Jove" -- enjoys a worldwide renaissance; it is the dominate grape in Tuscany and has shown success in North America, Chile, Australia, Sicily and in North Georgia. 

Essentially, Sangiovese wines can be divided into young easy to drink fruit forward wines designed for immediate drinking  and the wonderfully robust and longer cellaring Sangiovese bottled in selected Super Tuscans, Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Riserva and my favorite red wine Brunello di Montalcino and  its youthful and lighter Rosso di Montalcino.

Sangiovese fruit is early budding, but late ripening with thin skins and seems to grow well in limestone in hot, dry climates, like Tuscany and North Georgia.  The grape has moderate to high acidity and has evolved in oak barriques and chestnut woods showcasing black cherry, plum and floral flavors.

A view of Banfi Castle and vineyard in Italy.

The better the winemaker the better the wine. A great Brunello needs four years of aging before bottling.  Sangiovese is a food friendly wine and pairs well with pasta with tomato based sauces, cheese, veal, pork chops and grilled Steak.  Try Chianti Classico with roasted or braised chicken and the long aging Super Tuscans and Brunello di Montalcino with aged cheese like Gouda, Parmesan, Asiago, wild game, stewed venison, lamb chops and aged steak.  Last year was a tough year for Brunello di Montalcino with investigations on the possible addition of other grapes into what should be a 100% Sangiovese.

Wine books

A delightful and easy reading book on Italian wine is Matt Kramer's Making Sense of Italian Wine.  Matt writes regularly for Wine Spectator Magazine and this book is his fourth in the Making Sense series. 

Other books covered; New California Wine, Burgundy and Making Sense of Wine. This is a straight forward easy to read book for wine beginners and it is designed for the American Reader. 

I like his chapter format which addresses region, grape, the tradition, how it's changed, noteworthy producers, what do the locals eat with this wine, whose wine should I buy and worth searching for.  Matt's comments under worth searching for under Brunello di Montalcino "don't die without trying it". 

 If you are planning a trip to Italy this is a quick read and a good reference for a wine journey to Italy.

Wines drinking well now

Banfi, Chianti Classico, 2005 Reserve, Italian $17: Dark ruby red medium bodied with cherry and spice flavors. This wine was aged two years in Slovenian oak casks. This is a pleasant wine that pairs well with red roasts, pastas and cheese. Banfi is an American owned winery in Tuscany.

Il Poggione, Rosso Di Montalcino 2005, Italian $27: Dark ruby red medium bodied Sangiovese, 14% alcohol, wild berry flavors, nice balance somewhat sweet with pleasant finish.  Pair with pasta, meats and aged cheese.

Peppoli, Chianti Classico, 2004, Italian $17:  Dark ruby red Sangiovese with smooth tannins, wild cheery and raspberry flavors, a nice wine with pleasant medium finish.  This wine pairs well with pasta, pizza and tomato based dishes. Best Buy.

Blackstock, Sangiovese Rose, 2005, North Georgia $15: Light Salmon color with red berry and hints of spice and strawberry, light dry wine. Serve well chilled 13.5% alcohol. This is a fun summer wine that complemented turkey or chicken sandwich. Best Buy and local - IGA

Blackstock, reserve Sangiovese, 2006, North Georgia $22: Ruby Red colors more in the style of a young Chianti, not a lot of structure but an nice Sangiovese, light to medium bodied. Pair with Savory meats and heavy spices.  The Reserve is not currently in stock but the regular Sangiovese is available at the IGA.

Wine to Cellar

Valdicava, Brunello di Montalcino 2003, Tuscany, Italy, $113. This is a wonderful Brunello, Dark Ruby Red, with plum and cherry flavors with a lengthy finish.  I enjoyed this wine with peppered Salmon. This wine is young but should cellar for several years. 

This wine was aged four years before it was released and is one of the best Brunello released in 2003. It is a good example of Sangiovese at its best.  I would encourage our readers to spend time trying this Sangiovese grape in a Brunello di Montalcino, particularly since Brunello compete very well price wise and quality with the best cabernets and blended wines.

Wine Terms

What's in a name? A cult wine is by definition a wine in which committed wine enthusiasts pay significant prices for high quality wine produced in limited quantity. This is really an American term most often associated with Cabernet Sauvignon wine produced in California and a few Chardonnays.  The wines may include Araujo, Bryant Family, Colgin, Grace Family, Harlan Estate, and Screaming Eagle.  As an example the 2004 Screaming Eagle included only 400 cases with a release price of $500 per bottle and the current auction price is $1,473 per bottle.

Garage wines or vins de garage are similar in definition to cult wines, but the term describes small estates Saint-Emilion Bordeaux wines, the first being Chateau Le Pin a small five-acre estate.

On occasion you will hear the term boutique wines but there is no agreed upon definition. Boutique means small shop so there is considerable range for wineries with say a volume less than 5,000 cases per year.  Perhaps this term can best be applied to unique styles of wine which are hand crafted to express a winemaker's passion and price is not the driving variable and the wine is considered high quality.

Do not confuse the above terms with names wines like Opus and Silver Oak or similar wines.   The 2004 Opus had a release price of $180 per bottle, 22,000 cases were produced and it scored a 90 from Wine Spectator; it was a great wine in 1990 and most of this century it has only averaged about 88 points in Wine Spectator.

Silver Oak is another example of a descending wine. The last time the wine scored above a 93 was in 1991; in 2003 the release price was $100 per bottle, 33,400 cases were produced and the wine scored only 89 points in Wine Spectator.  I don't recommend buying wines by scores, but the point is there are a lot of wines living off their reputation long after their quality may have passed. This is another reason to encourage you to drink what you like and avoid label buying, unless you have previously enjoyed the wine or it comes highly recommended.  I think the two most over worked and under delivering wines on wine lists today are Opus and Silver Oak.

Drink what you like!

In the next article I would like to visit wines for tail gating, football and the transition into the fall.  If you have a wine you have enjoyed with barbeque or grilling or tailgating let me know at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Although he calls Big Canoe home, Wayne Crawford, the former COO of Harry's Farmers Market, Works weekly in Dallas and Tulsa as Executive Vice President Operations and Custo