I wouldn’t think it is 2008 if I tasted it blind. bright ruby color. Mouthfeel tannin. It had cherry, savory, raspberry taste with medium plus acidity.
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Decanted one hour. Rip black cherry, tar and tobacco weed. Full bodied, packed, chewy with still a decent amount of tannin. Not particularly complex but clearly a well made wine. I’d wait another 5 years
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This is actually pretty nice right now. I can't believe I was so bored by this wine when I drank it in Rome in 2017.
Rose petals, ripe dark plums, ripe black cherries, nutmeg and olive tapanade on the nose. The palate is pretty evenly split between the non fruit and fruit notes; but overall the flavors are consistent with the aromas. High intensity of aromas, medium + intensity of flavors.
Medium body with medium + tannins that are somewhat high for a wine from 2008 but completely what you'd expect from Sagrantino. They're definitely starting to integrate. Great pairing with suckling pig. Can drink now; but this can also benefit from further aging. (which is not what I thought in 2017). I enjoy being proven wrong, and I'd also enjoy checking back on this in 5 more years.
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Similar to the previous note and while the tannins are less abrasive they are still present. Give this more cellar time or several hours of decant time.
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Enjoyable. Tannins felt completely integrated… honestly was hoping they were a bit more prominent to balance the fruit/sweetness. Some savory complexity but perhaps not quite enough. Good not great.
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Bought at the cantina. Some special organic ideas. Vines do not get older than 20 years to let the soil recover. Dominant aroma of coffee. Fruit fades. Sagrantino seems not as long lasting as promised. Very balanced, on the verge of boring.
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Gevulde pruimenrode kleur met lichte verkleuring. Evolutieve neus met tertiaire impressies. Donker en zwart fruit, rijpe kers, zwarte bramen, pruimen en opgelegde pruimen. Kruidig: munt en andere kruiden. Groene steeltjes. Hout in de neus, achteraan: ceder en eik. Bosgrond. Stevig en kruidig en zwoel zwart fruit in aanzet, met harde tannines op middenstuk. Krachtpatser, vol (over)rijp fruit. Tannines nemen over aan het eind en overheersen dan de afdronk. Mist verfijning.
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Nice recommendation from the local wine shop. Pretty much as advertised.
45+ min decant. Dark red color. Nose has medicinal tones, gasoline, and prunes. Wine is thick and tannic with cherries and rhubarb. Age served this well. Finish is thin and has some weird tequila elements. Not my style.
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Dark ruby with a hint of rusty red on the edge. On opening a slight medicinal note that might become cedar or pine. A few hours of decanting reveal some cherry notes. Not a wine to be toyed with; strong tannins but exceptionally balanced to make a serious wine.
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After a bad bottle (almost dead or in advanced stage of evolution) I opened my last bottle of this wine and I was surprised to find it this time a very lively Sagrantino, of a better garnet color, still with strong tanning but younger and less dusty than the other one. It still has some acidity and a long final. Generally if you have one of these, I would not wait to drink it, the risk for it to go over the top is too high.
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This one bottle over evolved without smoothing the tannin, still as strong as when I drank it last a couple of years ago..I have one more bottle which I guess I will open quite soon, if the state of the evolution is the same it will be hard to drink.
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Three hour decant, needs a lot more than that to calm the raging tannins this presents. The nose is nice, with red fruits and herbs. The palate is solid and somewhat complex, somewhat taurasi like in some ways, with super grippy tannins that as the glass goes down become more pronounced. I have always enjoyed this varietal but this was clear reminder that age and epic decant time are needed for the best expression.
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Macerated for 25-40 days with the skins. Aged for 6 months in 500-liter barrels and for another 18 months in 2500-liter barrels. Blended together and aged for 12 months in cement vats, bottled and aged for 12 months in bottles. Not released earlier than after 4 years of aging. 14,5% alcohol.
Somewhat translucent and slightly developed dark cherry red color. Quite attractive and perfumed nose with aromas of sweet dark forest fruits, ripe boysenberries, some black cherries, light floral tones of violets, a little bit of blueberry and light earthy tones. The wine is ripe, full-bodied and surprisingly lively on the palate with somewhat sweet-toned but not super-extracted or heavy flavors of juicy dark berries, some sanguine iron notes, a little bit of savory wood spice, light sour cherry bitterness, a succulent hint of dark plummy fruit and a touch of licorice. The wine is high in acidity with ample, moderately grippy tannins. The finish is ripe, slightly warm and quite powerful with moderate tannic grip and lengthy flavors of sweet black cherries, some licorice root, a little bit of sour cherry bitterness, light salty liquorice notes, a hint of savory wood spice and a touch of black oolong tea.
A very sophisticated, poised and still pretty youthful Sagrantino. Perhaps lacking in character and distinction when compared to other Sagrantinos, but makes it up with its sense of harmony and finesse - at least relative to its big size and muscular overall style. Based how very little age the wine shows now, at 10 years of age, it is quite obvious that this wine is made for the long haul. It really doesn't scream for further aging, since it is drinking so well right now, but I can imagine the wine will need at least another 10 years before really starting to sing. A positive and classically built effort, priced according to its quality at 29,90€.
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Deep garnet red in appearance. Dark nose with dried black cherries, dark cocoa and graphite. Medium tannins (6.5/10) and medium plus finish. Very dry palate with some dried spices, leather, and dried black berries. Long finish. Drink till 2026.
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On the big side of huge...or perhaps...the huge side of massive...or something of the like. Sweet, raisiny fruits, dustiness, and OFF-THE-CHAIN!!! tannins. Who knows what this might develop into...after the tannins mellow somewhat...say in three to four decades. 90-91.
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Vinosphere (Town Hall, Sydney): perfumed funkiness, rich red fruit, slight spice and a touch of VA. All of this dialled up to eleventy stupid on the palate joined by huge tannins. No signs of age. Kind of fun.
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Opened and put through aerator 24hours prior to drinking and the put back into bottle with cork stopper. This resulted in a beautiful wine with believe it or not soft tannins and good fruit. Much better with food though. Black fruits on bouquet which fed onto the palate with a lasting aftertaste. Liked this a lot.
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I have been trying out various Sagrantino's, trying to wrap my head around this very interesting variety. This Antonelli San Marco is pretty typical. Dark and extremely tannic. But like other Sagrantino's I've tried- the tannins are of the very bitter variety. So I made an experiment out of this one, tasting it out of the bottle, then decanting and tasting over a 20 hour period. At first, the tannins were like sucking on a wet tea bag, and overpowered the dark fruits. After a few hours, the tannins began developing some complexity and less bitterness, but the fruit also evolved into a more prune juice flavor. Some people love this, but its not a style I prefer. At some point, blackberry/dark fruit became more expressive and balanced with the prune juice flavor. The bitter tannins never completely went away, but they did balance and this was overall an enjoyable experiment. I'm wondering if this vintage is past its prime though.
Red fruit mixed with leather on the nose. Leather, earth, spicebox, white pepper, tobacco, with hints of dark burnt cherry and bitter herbs on the palate. Good effort, and lots of life left. Great acidity wo being too tannic. 91-92
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Dark garnet and opaque through the core. Light staining in the tears and medium-plus viscosity with bright to day-bright reflections. Medium-plus aromas enter with mineral and gun metal scents with crushed rock, leather, spices (salt, pepper and baking), herbs, cigar smoke, red meats, plum, dark cherry, blackberry, earth and forest floor with lighter scents of dried violets.
Upon entry, absolutely massive with powerful tannins from start to finish. Flavors of dark fruits are secondary behind the flavors of wood, earth, cigar smoke, red meat, spice and sous bois. Fruits of plum, dark cherry, black currant with wild blue and black berries. Intense through the long finish.
Overall, absolutely massive let this air out or give decent amount of cellar time
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I agree with my previous tasting note, but I cannot overstress how tannic this wine is. It is the most tannic wine Ive ever tasted. I can't remember anything close. Think sucking on a black tea bag, and that's just the lite version of this wine. But the aromas of baking spices are lovely.
My last review suggested giving this wine five years, but I suspect it will take at last ten years for this wine to have any sort of balance.
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Striking. Dense with red fruit, wood, half-ripe plummy tannins, and baking spices. These flavors are not well integrated at this point. I think this would be better in five years.
Just as tough the next day after Vacu-vin.
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- Garnet color and has flavours of coffee, burnt toast and molasses - Massive wine. Needed 3 hrs of decanting to open up a little. Didn't finish it the first day and drank the rest 2 days later. It was much smoother and less tannic then. Drank it with pizza. I suspect would be much better with a heartier dish -- like beef stew.
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Taste: Full bodied with some massive tannins and medium+ acidity. The structure is very imposing with balanced tones of roasted herbs, violets, licorice, spice tones, and cherries.
Overall: This certainly needs time. The tannins are what one would expect from such a young sagrantino, but the nose is showing well right now.
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2/21/2024 - Bolzano2022 Likes this wine: 90 Points
I wouldn’t think it is 2008 if I tasted it blind. bright ruby color. Mouthfeel tannin. It had cherry, savory, raspberry taste with medium plus acidity.
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10/5/2023 - mclanew wrote: 91 Points
Decanted one hour. Rip black cherry, tar and tobacco weed. Full bodied, packed, chewy with still a decent amount of tannin. Not particularly complex but clearly a well made wine. I’d wait another 5 years
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8/26/2023 - AlphaMikeFoxtrot Likes this wine: 89 Points
This is actually pretty nice right now. I can't believe I was so bored by this wine when I drank it in Rome in 2017.
Rose petals, ripe dark plums, ripe black cherries, nutmeg and olive tapanade on the nose. The palate is pretty evenly split between the non fruit and fruit notes; but overall the flavors are consistent with the aromas. High intensity of aromas, medium + intensity of flavors.
Medium body with medium + tannins that are somewhat high for a wine from 2008 but completely what you'd expect from Sagrantino. They're definitely starting to integrate. Great pairing with suckling pig. Can drink now; but this can also benefit from further aging. (which is not what I thought in 2017). I enjoy being proven wrong, and I'd also enjoy checking back on this in 5 more years.
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2/20/2023 - quaffnov Likes this wine: 90 Points
Similar to the previous note and while the tannins are less abrasive they are still present. Give this more cellar time or several hours of decant time.
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4/17/2022 - lifeattable Likes this wine:
Enjoyable. Tannins felt completely integrated… honestly was hoping they were a bit more prominent to balance the fruit/sweetness. Some savory complexity but perhaps not quite enough. Good not great.
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3/3/2022 - battytaxicab Likes this wine: 89 Points
Austere
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2/12/2022 - sempervinum Does not like this wine: 88 Points
Bought at the cantina. Some special organic ideas. Vines do not get older than 20 years to let the soil recover. Dominant aroma of coffee. Fruit fades. Sagrantino seems not as long lasting as promised. Very balanced, on the verge of boring.
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5/17/2021 - MarcRies wrote: 86 Points
Gevulde pruimenrode kleur met lichte verkleuring.
Evolutieve neus met tertiaire impressies. Donker en zwart fruit, rijpe kers, zwarte bramen, pruimen en opgelegde pruimen. Kruidig: munt en andere kruiden. Groene steeltjes. Hout in de neus, achteraan: ceder en eik. Bosgrond.
Stevig en kruidig en zwoel zwart fruit in aanzet, met harde tannines op middenstuk. Krachtpatser, vol (over)rijp fruit. Tannines nemen over aan het eind en overheersen dan de afdronk. Mist verfijning.
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10/26/2020 - Zorg wrote: 89 Points
Good but nothing special. Mature enough to drink with or without food.
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9/25/2020 - PMJak11 wrote: 90 Points
Nice recommendation from the local wine shop. Pretty much as advertised.
45+ min decant. Dark red color. Nose has medicinal tones, gasoline, and prunes. Wine is thick and tannic with cherries and rhubarb. Age served this well. Finish is thin and has some weird tequila elements. Not my style.
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8/22/2020 - battytaxicab Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark ruby with a hint of rusty red on the edge. On opening a slight medicinal note that might become cedar or pine. A few hours of decanting reveal some cherry notes. Not a wine to be toyed with; strong tannins but exceptionally balanced to make a serious wine.
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6/18/2020 - marco_graz Likes this wine: 89 Points
After a bad bottle (almost dead or in advanced stage of evolution) I opened my last bottle of this wine and I was surprised to find it this time a very lively Sagrantino, of a better garnet color, still with strong tanning but younger and less dusty than the other one. It still has some acidity and a long final. Generally if you have one of these, I would not wait to drink it, the risk for it to go over the top is too high.
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10/20/2019 - marco_graz Does not like this wine: 85 Points
This one bottle over evolved without smoothing the tannin, still as strong as when I drank it last a couple of years ago..I have one more bottle which I guess I will open quite soon, if the state of the evolution is the same it will be hard to drink.
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5/18/2019 - quaffnov Likes this wine: 90 Points
Three hour decant, needs a lot more than that to calm the raging tannins this presents. The nose is nice, with red fruits and herbs. The palate is solid and somewhat complex, somewhat taurasi like in some ways, with super grippy tannins that as the glass goes down become more pronounced. I have always enjoyed this varietal but this was clear reminder that age and epic decant time are needed for the best expression.
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3/2/2019 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points
Macerated for 25-40 days with the skins. Aged for 6 months in 500-liter barrels and for another 18 months in 2500-liter barrels. Blended together and aged for 12 months in cement vats, bottled and aged for 12 months in bottles. Not released earlier than after 4 years of aging. 14,5% alcohol.
Somewhat translucent and slightly developed dark cherry red color. Quite attractive and perfumed nose with aromas of sweet dark forest fruits, ripe boysenberries, some black cherries, light floral tones of violets, a little bit of blueberry and light earthy tones. The wine is ripe, full-bodied and surprisingly lively on the palate with somewhat sweet-toned but not super-extracted or heavy flavors of juicy dark berries, some sanguine iron notes, a little bit of savory wood spice, light sour cherry bitterness, a succulent hint of dark plummy fruit and a touch of licorice. The wine is high in acidity with ample, moderately grippy tannins. The finish is ripe, slightly warm and quite powerful with moderate tannic grip and lengthy flavors of sweet black cherries, some licorice root, a little bit of sour cherry bitterness, light salty liquorice notes, a hint of savory wood spice and a touch of black oolong tea.
A very sophisticated, poised and still pretty youthful Sagrantino. Perhaps lacking in character and distinction when compared to other Sagrantinos, but makes it up with its sense of harmony and finesse - at least relative to its big size and muscular overall style. Based how very little age the wine shows now, at 10 years of age, it is quite obvious that this wine is made for the long haul. It really doesn't scream for further aging, since it is drinking so well right now, but I can imagine the wine will need at least another 10 years before really starting to sing. A positive and classically built effort, priced according to its quality at 29,90€.
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1/19/2019 - Millennial Drinkers wrote: 91 Points
Deep garnet red in appearance. Dark nose with dried black cherries, dark cocoa and graphite. Medium tannins (6.5/10) and medium plus finish. Very dry palate with some dried spices, leather, and dried black berries. Long finish. Drink till 2026.
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12/6/2018 - Motz wrote: 91 Points
On the big side of huge...or perhaps...the huge side of massive...or something of the like. Sweet, raisiny fruits, dustiness, and OFF-THE-CHAIN!!! tannins. Who knows what this might develop into...after the tannins mellow somewhat...say in three to four decades. 90-91.
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5/7/2018 - chatters wrote:
Vinosphere (Town Hall, Sydney): perfumed funkiness, rich red fruit, slight spice and a touch of VA. All of this dialled up to eleventy stupid on the palate joined by huge tannins. No signs of age. Kind of fun.
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3/1/2018 - Ashdene Likes this wine: 90 Points
Opened and put through aerator 24hours prior to drinking and the put back into bottle with cork stopper. This resulted in a beautiful wine with believe it or not soft tannins and good fruit. Much better with food though. Black fruits on bouquet which fed onto the palate with a lasting aftertaste. Liked this a lot.
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11/20/2017 - AlphaMikeFoxtrot wrote: 84 Points
In Rome at Pecorino restaurant. Red fruit, leather, cedar. Drink now. Probably won’t benefit from any further aging.
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10/25/2016 - ElSol Likes this wine: 89 Points
I have been trying out various Sagrantino's, trying to wrap my head around this very interesting variety. This Antonelli San Marco is pretty typical. Dark and extremely tannic. But like other Sagrantino's I've tried- the tannins are of the very bitter variety. So I made an experiment out of this one, tasting it out of the bottle, then decanting and tasting over a 20 hour period. At first, the tannins were like sucking on a wet tea bag, and overpowered the dark fruits. After a few hours, the tannins began developing some complexity and less bitterness, but the fruit also evolved into a more prune juice flavor. Some people love this, but its not a style I prefer. At some point, blackberry/dark fruit became more expressive and balanced with the prune juice flavor. The bitter tannins never completely went away, but they did balance and this was overall an enjoyable experiment. I'm wondering if this vintage is past its prime though.
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9/30/2016 - ckinv368 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Red fruit mixed with leather on the nose. Leather, earth, spicebox, white pepper, tobacco, with hints of dark burnt cherry and bitter herbs on the palate. Good effort, and lots of life left. Great acidity wo being too tannic. 91-92
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1/26/2016 - bjamesclark wrote: 91 Points
Dark garnet and opaque through the core. Light staining in the tears and medium-plus viscosity with bright to day-bright reflections.
Medium-plus aromas enter with mineral and gun metal scents with crushed rock, leather, spices (salt, pepper and baking), herbs, cigar smoke, red meats, plum, dark cherry, blackberry, earth and forest floor with lighter scents of dried violets.
Upon entry, absolutely massive with powerful tannins from start to finish. Flavors of dark fruits are secondary behind the flavors of wood, earth, cigar smoke, red meat, spice and sous bois. Fruits of plum, dark cherry, black currant with wild blue and black berries. Intense through the long finish.
Overall, absolutely massive let this air out or give decent amount of cellar time
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11/30/2015 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 90 Points
I agree with my previous tasting note, but I cannot overstress how tannic this wine is. It is the most tannic wine Ive ever tasted. I can't remember anything close. Think sucking on a black tea bag, and that's just the lite version of this wine. But the aromas of baking spices are lovely.
My last review suggested giving this wine five years, but I suspect it will take at last ten years for this wine to have any sort of balance.
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9/16/2015 - lifeattable Likes this wine: 95 Points
Montefalco Visit '15; 9/15/2015-9/20/2015 (Montefalco, IT): Truly classic Sagrantino in every sense. Brilliant.
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8/8/2015 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 91 Points
Striking. Dense with red fruit, wood, half-ripe plummy tannins, and baking spices. These flavors are not well integrated at this point. I think this would be better in five years.
Just as tough the next day after Vacu-vin.
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4/2/2014 - eniskonuk wrote: 88 Points
- Garnet color and has flavours of coffee, burnt toast and molasses - Massive wine. Needed 3 hrs of decanting to open up a little. Didn't finish it the first day and drank the rest 2 days later. It was much smoother and less tannic then. Drank it with pizza. I suspect would be much better with a heartier dish -- like beef stew.
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2/12/2013 - KeithAkers wrote: 91 Points
2013 Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri tour (Union Station, Chicago, IL): Nose: This is on the tight side, but there are balanced and perfumed tones of roasted herbs, violets, berries, red cherries, and some incense.
Taste: Full bodied with some massive tannins and medium+ acidity. The structure is very imposing with balanced tones of roasted herbs, violets, licorice, spice tones, and cherries.
Overall: This certainly needs time. The tannins are what one would expect from such a young sagrantino, but the nose is showing well right now.
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