2014 Castellani Sangiovese

 

2014 Castellani Sangiovese

Vintage: 2014
Region: Tuscany, Italy (Toscana IGT)
Winery: Famiglia Castellani
Varietal: Sangiovese
Price: $14 (found at Wegmans)
Rating: 90 Points
My Rating: 90 Points

The Review: After a brief week off and a trip home, I'm back again with another delicious wine! For this week's wine, we'll be venturing to our summer homes in the Tuscan countryside to taste a wine from a legendary producer.

The Castellani family has been putting out renowned Tuscan wines for around 150 years now. Around 25 years ago, however, the current owner decided to start focusing on his winery's environmental impact. The vineyard switched to organic (and from what I could read, biodynamic) farming processes and implemented a new focus on maintaining the land itself. This quality has shown itself in the wines, and even one of their low-end wines is receiving quite the acclaim.

This 2014 Sangiovese receives the European Union quality certification of "IGT" as opposed to the Italian stamp of approval, "DOC." This is not by any means a marker of quality, rather it means that at some point Castellani ventured off the path of what Tuscany has declared (by law) what their wine and winemaking process is supposed to be (as I've said before, Europe is super strict). Making IGT wines instead of DOC wines has actually become more and more common in Italy as winemakers break tradition and become more adventerous. This trend was popularized with the arrival of the now famed "Super Tuscans" (Bordeaux blends made in Tuscany), so despite this being a reason to worry 20 years ago, it's not any more.

This 2014 Castellani Sangiovese is a classic. It shows the fruity and acidic Sangiovese as it's supposed to- with elegance and depth. The nose presents a nose filled with red fruits- cherry, strawberry jam, ripe plum. It's freshness is complemented nicely by undertones of baking spices and some leather. The taste similarly shows lots of red fruits (tart cherry and plum), but shows some more oak aging complexity and notes of vanilla, cedar, and pepper. This was a very warm and lush wine, with rounded tannins, a full body, and a juicy finish.

Nothing would go more perfectly with this wine than two classic Tuscan dishes- steak and pizza (separately of course... unless...). Oh, and also more wine. That's another Tuscan pasttime. I think this wine is a great way to show off a Tuscan Sangiovese with a little bit of age for a great price. In a minefield full of terrible Tuscans and Chiantis (thanks Silence of the Lambs), this wine is a beacon of hope that could easily be $20-30. If you want to take a "trip to Tuscany," this is a great place to start.

drink what you like,

db

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