2012 Kiona Sangiovese Estate Reserve

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Reoffers, 8/17/2018

  (Kiona Estate Sangiovese) Hello friends. We have a trio of reoffers today that are moving towards last call status—all knockout PacNW wines, all brought to us through Full Pull’s Vast Network of Wine Spies™:Originally offered August 10, 2015 and reoffered as part of a special Kiona offer April 13, 2018. Excerpts from previous offers: A member of FP’s Vast Network of Wine Spies™ sent us a note indicating that Kiona was pulling back a pair of 2012s from a distributor in a different part of the country. We pounced on the entire remaining stock of wine, re-tasted to check in on evolution, and—no surprise considering the quality of the grape-growing/winemaking team and the vintage involved—the wine is ageing beautifully. This wine comes from Kiona’s main estate site on Red Mountain, as well as their Ranch At The End Of The Road, and it offers a wonderful Red Mountain dusty character aromatically, hovering over a core of red cherry and pomegranate fruit. A note of star anise ramps up the exoticism and adds further complexity. The palate possesses wonderful Sangiovese character: sour cherry fruit, rustic back-end chew, and a great finishing lick of Aperol-flavored bitters. The rich fruit (14.5% listed alc) is well-balanced by Sangiovese’s bright natural acidity, and this put me in the frame of mind to get a nice pot of bolognese bubbling away, despite the season. UPDATED NOTES: This is dustier/earthier/smokier than three years ago, moving nicely into its peak drinking window. Aromas layer primary fresh fruits with tertiary dried fruits, all in the red-fruit camp. The acidity is softening up nicely but is still quite present; savory threads are woven throughout; and the overall impression is of an honest, rustic Sangiovese in mid-peak drinking. I’d recommend drinking these up sometime in the next two or three years, and they’ll bring an awful lot of pleasure during that window

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull 2012, 4/13/2018

  (Kiona Estate Sangiovese) Hello friends. A member of FP’s Vast Network of Wine Spies™ sent me a note back in February indicating that Kiona was pulling back a pair of 2012s from a distributor in a different part of the country. It took a few weeks to learn which wines, as well as parcel sizes, but when we did, we pounced on the entire remaining stock of both wines. Technically, these are both reoffers, but it has been a loooong time since the original offers (both went out in 2015). We re-tasted both wines to check in on their evolution, and – no surprise considering the quality of the grape-growing/winemaking team and the vintage involved – they’re ageing beautifully. I suspect our list members are going to be delighted to access Red Mountain wines from one of the mountain’s stalwart wineries, now six years past an epic vintage:Originally offered August 10, 2015 and reoffered as part of a special Kiona offer April 13, 2018. Excerpts from previous offers: A member of FP’s Vast Network of Wine Spies™ sent us a note indicating that Kiona was pulling back a pair of 2012s from a distributor in a different part of the country. We pounced on the entire remaining stock of wine, re-tasted to check in on evolution, and—no surprise considering the quality of the grape-growing/winemaking team and the vintage involved—the wine is ageing beautifully. This wine comes from Kiona’s main estate site on Red Mountain, as well as their Ranch At The End Of The Road, and it offers a wonderful Red Mountain dusty character aromatically, hovering over a core of red cherry and pomegranate fruit. A note of star anise ramps up the exoticism and adds further complexity. The palate possesses wonderful Sangiovese character: sour cherry fruit, rustic back-end chew, and a great finishing lick of Aperol-flavored bitters. The rich fruit (14.5% listed alc) is well-balanced by Sangiovese’s bright natural acidity, and this put me in the frame of mind to get a nice pot of bolognese bubbling away, despite the season. UPDATED NOTES: This is dustier/earthier/smokier than three years ago, moving nicely into its peak drinking window. Aromas layer primary fresh fruits with tertiary dried fruits, all in the red-fruit camp. The acidity is softening up nicely but is still quite present; savory threads are woven throughout; and the overall impression is of an honest, rustic Sangiovese in mid-peak drinking. I’d recommend drinking these up sometime in the next two or three years, and they’ll bring an awful lot of pleasure during that window