Wine of the Week #13
2001 Benessere Vineyards Sangiovese
According to them: “Sangiovese, if you can pronounce it, you can have another glass.”… The 2001 growing season was a roller coaster of sorts…. With over 12 different clones planted on our estate in St. Helena, we are confident in our ability to grow great wine grapes in Napa Valley. We are pioneering the effort for the production of Sangiovese as a serious red wine….The soft, medium body, spicy character, seductive perfume and generous fruit from the wine are complementary to most foods ranging from Chilean Sea bass with tomato remouillade, to grilled poultry and more substantial beef and lamb dishes. It was created for pizza and pasta dishes with either mushroom or marinara derived sauces. This wine will age well for 10+ years and develop more complexity and character with age.
According to me: This wine was excellent with grilled steak and asparagus. I always enjoy a good California Sangiovese, and I love trying to pick out the subtle differences between these wines and the old world Chianti’s of Tuscany. Very fragrant and very smooth.
[…] According to Sean O’Connor: The more wine I drink the more I feel that wine is more about the expereinces associated with a particular bottle and less about the nitty gritty tasting notes. I’m always curious to see how Sangiovese’s made outside of Italy hold up against the Chianti’s of Italy which harken back to my days roaming the streets of Firenze and enjoying dinner in the ristorante’s like La Spada, which has the best food in Firenze by the way. I have had some very nice California Sangiovese’s in the past - Benessere Sangiovese 2001 and Luna Sangiovese 2002 and Seghesio, and another from Washington - Tsillan Cellars Sangiovese 2003. This wine comes from 100% Washington grapes and is different from any Sangiovese I have had before. The color is light ruby red and similiar in clarity to a pinot noir and less like the dark ruby red Chiant’s that leave your teeth in need of an after dinner brushing. I enjoyed this wine as the cherry aromas gave way to the dry yet tart finish. It’s intersting to note that I couldn’t find much in the form of a website for Cavatappi wines, but did find that Peter Dow, the owner of Cafe Juanita, also owns this label. […]