Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 120

YEAR'S BEST TUSCAN REDS
grip to pair with a juicy char-grilled burger. §
Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, CA

87 | Col d'Orcia

$16

87 | Terenzuola

$18

2016 Toscana Spezieri (Best Buy) ^ A snap
of blueberry-skin tightness lends structure
to this wine's flavors of red and black berries tinged with notes of sweet tobacco. It
finishes warm and a little weighty, so give it
a light chill before serving with roasted poultry. § Palm Bay Int'l, Boca Raton, FL
222247
2015 Toscana Vermentino Nero (Best Buy) ^
Lively acidity weaves through this wine's flavors of brambly berries, the fruit balanced by
a light, seedy bitterness and a hint of savor.
Pair it with fatty salumi to punch up the fruit
flavors. § Michael Skurnik Wines, NY
227202

87 | Tua Rita

$20

2015 Toscana Rosso dei Notri (Best Buy) ^
Sangiovese (50 percent) lends acidity to this
blend with cabernet sauvignon, merlot and
syrah, but the focus is on dark, savory fruit.
The notes of black olive and roasted mushroom bring to mind a match with woodfired pizza. § Leonardo Locascio Selections/The
Winebow Group, NY

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228692

94 | Petrolo

$120

2015 Val d'Arno di Sopra Galatrona ^ Subtle black spice notes weave through flavors
of ripe blackberry and plum in this lush,
velvety merlot. The wine aged in barriques
(one-third new) for 18 months, and shows an
elegance and polish, more sedate than Petrolo's lively Campo Lusso (also recommended
here). The fine, densely packed tannins rein
in the fruit, requiring several hours of air
before layers of tobacco and dark chocolate
begin to emerge. § Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
228696

228329

120

VAL D'ARNO DI SOPRA

93 | Petrolo

$115

2015 Val d'Arno di Sopra Campo Lusso ^
Flavors of cassis, blackberries and black currants saturate this juicy, herb-inflected cabernet sauvignon. Already expressive, the wine
unfolds to reveal velvety tannins layered
with notes of dark chocolate and bay leaf.
Its lively acidity and lifted violet scents are
reminiscent of a northern Rhône syrah, but
the wine's sun-kissed ripeness and tomato
savor bring it back to Tuscany. § Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
228695

92 | Petrolo

$75

2015 Val d'Arno di Sopra Bòggina A ^ In
2006, proprietor Luca Sanjust and his team
began producing Bòggina from the central
rows of the estate's oldest vineyard (now
called Bòggina C for "classic," and also recommended here). Bòggina A originated in
2011, when Sanjust decided to ferment and
age a portion of the wine in amphorae. The
2015 Bòggina A is a delicious rendering of
unadorned sangiovese, its fresh red-cherry
flavors brimming with vibrant acidity. Lean
and taut at first, the wine fleshes out with
exposure to air, evolving into darker fruit
tones tinged with anise and fennel. § Vintus,
Pleasantville, NY
228693

90 | Petrolo

$33

2015 Val d'Arno di Sopra Torrione ^ This
wine's earthy herbal scents evoke an image of
a damp forest path strewn with mossy stones
and soft pine needles. Its red and blue fruit
flavors feel fresh and juicy, with a crunch of
fruit skin lending a buttoned-up structure,
but the pleasure is more in the woodsy aromatics than the somewhat fleeting flavors. §
Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
228694

90 | Petrolo

$75

2015 Val d'Arno di Sopra Bòggina C ^ Sangiovese from the central rows of Petrolo's
Bòggina vineyard ferments in cement tanks
and rests in a mix of large French oak casks
APRIL 2018

and tonneaux for 18 months, giving a wine
with dark cherry flavors accented by black
spice. It feels woodsy and earthy, with lively
acidity and a cooling ferrous tone. § Vintus,
Pleasantville, NY

VINO NOBILE DI
MONTEPULCIANO
227835

93 | Boscarelli

$126

91 | Boscarelli

$55

90 | Boscarelli

$39

88 | Crociani

$21

2013 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Il
Nocio ^ Il Nocio is a five-acre plot of massalpropagated sangiovese vines that Boscarelli
began bottling on its own in 1991. Grapes
are harvested in different passes based on
the predominant soil types (clay or sand)
and vinified separately, aged in tonneaux
for the first year, then in larger casks. The
long, moderate 2013 growing season yielded
a wine with lifted aromas of cherry blossom
and tree bark. The tannins feel broad and
powerful, encasing a core of pure red-cherry
fruit infused with enough vitality to outlast
those tannins. This needs a good five years of
cellaring. § Empson USA, Alexandria, VA
227834
2012 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
Riserva ^ The warm 2012 growing season gave
a Riserva with soft, jammy black fruit flavors
surrounded by firm, chalky tannins. At this
point, the wine is less about fruit than savor
and spice; one of our tasters likened the flavors to black-truffle risotto. The acidity perks
up with exposure to air, igniting the blackcherry notes and pointing to the positive
direction this wine can take with a little time
in the cellar. § Empson USA, Alexandria, VA
227833
2014 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ^ This
wine shows good ripeness despite the cool,
rainy vintage, but it's tightly structured and
austere at first. It begins to flesh out with
exposure to air, showing hints of nutmeg
and black pepper that complement the pure
black-cherry fruit, the flavors riding on a
wave of brisk acidity. Give it a couple of years
to unwind. § Empson USA, Alexandria, VA
228131
2014 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (Best
Buy) ^ Notes of sun-dried tomato and roasted
red pepper mingle with this wine's blackcherry flavors, with firm, ferrous tannins
creating a sturdy structure for pairing with
a wild boar ragù. § Tradizione Imports, NY ■
https://www.palmbay.com/producers/Col-dOrcia
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018
