red grape
Sangiovese
Natural crossing of Ciliegiolo × Calabrese di Montenuovo, native to central Italy; the name is often glossed as sanguis Jovis, 'the blood of Jove'. Many clones and biotypes exist, from Tuscany's Sangiovese Grosso (called Brunello in Montalcino, Prugnolo Gentile in Montepulciano) to the smaller-berried Sangiovese Piccolo.
Italy's most-planted red grape. Thin-skinned, late-budding and late-ripening, it needs warmth and long autumns to ripen fully, so it favours warm, well-drained hillside sites; the warm, dry mesoclimate of Montalcino ripens it more reliably and more fully than the rest of Tuscany. High natural acidity and firm tannin are retained even in ripe vintages, making it savoury and food-friendly rather than plush.
Structure tendencies
- body
- medium to medium-plus
- tannin
- medium-plus to high
- acidity
- high
- alcohol
- medium (medium to high in warm sites like Montalcino)
tendencies in prose, as read by critics/consensus — not measured ordinals
Classic descriptors
red cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016black cherry
in your cellar: 15 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022plum
in your cellar: 14 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022violet
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried herbs
in your cellar: 8 bottlesMayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022tomato leaf
not in any of your bottles yetpotpourri
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010forest floor
in your cellar: 7 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Château Pontet-Canet 2022wet earth
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020saline
in your cellar: 8 bottlesChâteau Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Domaine Servin Chablis 1er Cru "Forêts" 2022Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Trocken GG 2023Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Château Pontet-Canet 2022baking spice
in your cellar: 9 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016licorice
in your cellar: 9 bottlesChâteau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022cedar
in your cellar: 9 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Gloria 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesBodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010leather
in your cellar: 7 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016balsamic
in your cellar: 1 bottleCastelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010tobacco
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried fig
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Bright red/sour cherry is the universal Sangiovese marker, framed by high acidity and grippy tannin and a savoury edge of dried herb and tomato leaf. With age — the whole point of Brunello di Montalcino — the fresh cherry concentrates into dried cherry and joins leather, balsamic, tobacco and forest-floor. In warmer Montalcino the fruit darkens toward black cherry and plum. Soil and mineral terms are classical tasting associations, not literal mineral uptake (see docs/wine-pedagogy.md §3).