Wine Reviews
Sampling two wines that exemplify traditional Tuscan offerings, I recently gathered with a few friends to enjoy two bottles from that venerated region: a 2013 Castello dei Rampolla Sammarco, and a 2010 La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino.
Referring first to the Castello, this wine has a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and provides an excellent example of a Super Tuscan, as it does not fit into the requirements of officially recognized DOC or DOCG rules for production, and is considered an IGT wine produced in the Greve area of Tuscany. We found this wine quite pleasing, especially as the evening wore on. The bouquet had essence of sour cherry early on, and later developed more complexity with notes of spices such as cinnamon and clove.
The body was somewhat light for a Super Tuscan, especially with the blend of the Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The color was a beautiful, clear deep ruby red. Alcohol content was 14%, and was not overpowering. Overall the wine had noticeable acidity and ample tannins, yet felt balanced, and seemed well within its drinking window, although as it tended to improve as the evening wore on, it could have certainly benefited from a bit more aging.
As far as flavor, we generally agreed that the wine had complexity. Some of the flavors noted included ripe red fruit, such as cherries, with some notes of pepper and herbs. We could not decide on which herbs, but there was some exotic flavors there that added to the complexity. Perhaps a hint of licorice?
As a point of reference, see the K&L Wines summary of professional views of the 2015 vintage of this same wine. While not our vintage, these reviews may typify what the professional critics think about the same wine from a vintage just two years younger than our 2013 bottle, and having the same terroir and wine maker, they provide an indicia into bouquets and flavor associated with the Castello/Sammarco wines.
The 2010 La Gerla Brunello provided a very different drinking experience. Being a Brunello, it was comprised 100% of Sangiovese grapes from that special clone used for Brunello wines. To my surprise, it was more light bodied than the Super Tuscan. Brunellos often require ten-plus years of aging to reach their full potential, and are often very full bodies wines. It had noticeable acidity and less tannins than the Super Tuscan, but still remained balanced with complex flavors of young cherries and strawberries, with a hint of plums. It possessed a pleasing nose of candied fruit and bubble gum. These were the findings of our very unprofessional group of tasters.
The La Gerla possessed an alcohol level of 14.5%, and while the wine had nice bouquet and flavors to begin the evening, both these seemed to fade as the evening wore on. The bottle had been decanted for over an hour before the tasting began, and I was surprised that it had “lost’ something by the end of the evening, which only spanned about three hours.
To the right, see the rating of this same bottle of wine from notable wine critics. Obviously ability to detect aromas and flavors from the wine surpasses our own! My reaction to reading the reviews after tasting the La Gerla was something akin to. “Oh yeah, that’s what that mysterious essence was!!!”
The Italian meal pairing
We've included the recipe in this edition so you can make it at home.
All things considered we all enjoyed both bottles before and during dinner. Our main course for that dinner was the Italian meatloaf described in this issue’s Food & Wine Pairing page, which contains the recipe for that dish.
