Sangiovese with 10% Merlot, aged 12 months in 800 gallon casks; south-facing vineyards on sandstone and clay at 1,300–1,800 feet; 13.5 % alc.
Lively and lyrical, this wine’s personality gestures toward delicacy without abandoning Chianti’s firm, angular, bitter-tuned orbit. The wine hovers between Tuesday-table convivial and meditative/ascetic. No modernist polish, just gently expressive movement and restraint.
The first inhale brings pretty, high-toned florals—violet and a whisper of rose—that lift a plume of fresh strawberry. The typical dusty aromas of Chianti take a back seat to tea leaf that emerges as the violet recedes. With aeration, the background becomes more prominent with baking spice drifting in, a fine orange-peel zest sketching the rim of the aroma plume. The aromatic register is pitched toward light and luminous rather than rich and round. Yet the aromas have real intensity. The wine speaks softly but not faintly.
On the palate the initial movement is vertical. Strawberry strikes first, then is immediately framed by tea leaf and flint, as if the fruit ascends only to meet a balcony of stone. The 10% Merlot in the blend lends a soft midpalate core, but acidity then planes that softness into a compressed, taut profile as the finish launches. Tannins are fine-grained—chalk dust more than sandpaper—drawing edges without casting a shadow over the fruit. There’s no oak sheen to blur the lines.
Acidity does most of the work influencing the tempo, but fine, small-grain tannin and that touch of bitterness give shape to the wine. So the line of flavor is an arch: quick, bright articulations in the attack, a mid-palate lift where high acidity wins the tug against anchoring tannin, then a lengthy, even fade. The finish is where the wine shows its spine. Stony minerality and walnut-skin bitterness pull the gentle sweetness of the fruit back toward a taut, disciplined line.
High acidity with low viscosity give lift and tension reinforced by the floral aromas that give the wine a sense of weightlessness. To my ear, this wine resolves in the high frequencies: piccolo and first violin are more salient than the cello but the wine never loses contact with the stony bass. So floral lift vs. stony gravity is the core tension, played with clarity. The open-knit, almost-generous red fruit smiles, then the finish’s slight bitterness reminds you this is a serious food wine.
Pair with tomato-braised beans and pecorino.
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 