Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling: Some of most beloved wine grapes are planted around the world. Chianti’s Sangiovese, not so much.
It’s easy to understand why the grapes that produced France’s Burgundy and Bordeaux and the great wines of Germany’s Rhine and Mosel valleys inspired efforts to replicate their charms in distant places.
But as a devoted Chianti fancier since the very start of my wine journey, it’s a little harder for me to understand why Sangiovese and some of Italy’s other top red grapes get so little traction elsewhere.
What do you think?
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Could it be one of those quirky grapes that simply won’t grow anywhere but in Tuscany’s soil? Maybe, but they used to say something similar about Pinot Noir and Burgundy, until growers in California, Oregon, New Zealand, Australia and beyond worked tirelessly to nurture Burgundy’s red grape in their own terroir.
Still, Cabernet Sauvignon didn’t require as much effort to make top-rank wines in Napa, Sonoma, Washington State, or Coonawara or the Margaret River, so maybe there’s something to that.
Or maybe it’s just that, until the last couple of decades of the 20th century, Italy’s wines weren’t considered on a par with Burgundy or Bordeaux; so few producers saw a benefit of business or bragging rights in seeking to emulate them.
It’s probably no coincidence that a lot of California’s most successful wine makers who brought Italian heritage to the table – Foppiano, Martinelli, Martini, Mondavi, Sebastiani, Seghesio, Trinchero, Rafanelli, and, oh yeah, Gallo, just to name a few – chose to pass over Italian varieties to focus on Cabernet, Chardonnay, Riesling, and the less favored grapes that went into generic “Burgundy” and “Chablis.”
But as with just about everything in the world of wine and beyond, there are always exceptions. A small band of “Cal-Ital” producers turned out wines using Italian varieties and blends, many to critical approval if not to great fame. (Read writer Vicki Dennig’s thoughts on this in her 2021 article on Wine-Searcher, Sangiovese Struggles to Gain a Foothold.)
Today I returned after a hiatus of many years to try a California Chianti lookalike that earned some respect: Siena, a Chianti-style red named after the historic city that marks the southern edge of the Chianti region, from Ferrari-Carano, an upscale Dry Creek Sonoma County winery perhaps better known for its well regarded – you guessed it – Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
At an average U.S. retail price of $24 in Wine-Searcher’s database, I have to leave the detailed tasting report behind our subscription paywall.
But I can tell you that this is a tasty, appealing red table wine with good Sangiovese-style cherry and berry character, perhaps a bit more smooth than Chianti and a step short of Chianti’s food-friendly acidity and tannins. But it’s still balanced, pleasing, and perhaps a bit more appealing to sip on its own than a serious Chianti. At a lower-$20s price more than competitive with most sought-after Tuscans, that’s a lot to like.
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