Decanted for sediment returned to bottle after 30 minutes of aeration. Totally on point now with some years still ahead. This is full and joyous on the mid palate and long finish. I was surprised to see 15,0% abv as it never once showed itself, but therein lies the magic of Giampiero's hand. Sadly my last one. highly recommended
Love this wine. Great with steak, pork, chicken, pasta. Very versatile and a lot of personality. Sorry I don’t have specific notes it’s been a while since I last had it.
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Brought by John. Anise, herbs, bark, and dark cherries with plums on the nose. Palate with Plums, dark cherries, bitter chocolate, herbs and bark. My notes says tannins which prob means that there were still plenty of it. Nice finish. As with most Bea wines, this had plenty of soul and very much enjoyed this. 92+
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Drinking great from first taste to last. No decant needed. Lovely dusky black cherry, cherry, leather, some earth/mineral, nose has light layering fruit, floral, herb initially. Nice combination of age and freshness in the fruit, after a couple of hours by end of dinner dark fruit really dominated. Good balance, length, perfect tannin for moderate body. Drink up.
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A generous present from Philip Chan: Our favorite Paolo Bea wine -- one of our favorite wines, period -- is the 100% sagrantino Pagliaro. This one is mostly Sangiovese (with 15% sagrantino and 15% montepulciano). It has the Bea style, without the full-on wildness of the Pagliaro -- lovely, leathery flavor, a lot of tannin, dark blackberry fruitedness. The tannin, which persisted all the way through the last glass, is more exciting than intimidating, and so the wine is drinkable now, but will last for a long time.
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After four years I return to this wine from Paolo Bea. The last bottle was flawed and returned to the store; this one - paired with ribs as other writers suggest - was wonderful and delicious. Decanted for less then an hour. Drank it over two nights - it lost some of it's power by day two. Very complex and plenty of tannins on day 1, well-balanced with deep dark fruit. Not at all raisony or overdone. Beautiful. Day two was OK but the complexity was gone and it became somewhat ordinary. If you have any 2010's I would drink them this year.
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Drank over a couple nights; recorked and put back in the fridge. This was showing a lot of secondary characteristics up front but with still very chalky/dusty tannins. On Day 2 tannins disappeared and this was much more enjoyable. A very good wine but a bit past its prime for my liking. Given what I’d heard about the longevity of Bea’s wines (maybe applies less to the Sangiovese, though) I expected this to be much fresher.
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This wine was delicious. We decanted it for 2 1/2 hours before drinking, but probably should have decanted it for 4 or 5 hours. Toward the end of the bottle, it really opened up, presenting first dense tannins, then redcurrant, blackcurrant, and mulberry, along with a distinct but hard-to define herbal character. These were followed by tobacco, chocolate, and oak spice toward the end of the swallow. The body was very full, and the finish moderately long. If memory serves, the 2010 was a blend of Sangiovese, Sagrantino, and Montepulciano.
We had this with our Valentine's Day meal of wine-braised beef shortribs, winter squash and brown-butter puree, and homemade polenta. This was our only bottle of this wine, which we purchased at Paolo Bea and shipped home in a mixed half-case. My wife wishes we had purchased a case of this wine!
Slow ox'd for 5 hours and paired with grilled skirt steaks. Brick red color with large change from rim to center. Savory nose. Tar, dirt, tobacco, cherry, all-spice. On palate, bing cherry, tobacco, cherry and touch of tobacco. Full body, high acidity (low ph) and medium+ tannins. Fruit was brighter on palate than nose suggested. I loved this wine - especially after some young cult Napa cabs. I need to buy more of this - highly recommended if you like savory wines with real structure - great with the food. 93++
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This was very good though still young; nose with dark fruit, lots of spice and earth with hints of savory/meaty notes. The palate is dense and still fairly tannic. Has a good balance, but feels just a touch heavy to me. Still quite enjoyable.
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Tasty and very drinkable. Slightly chewy with nice tannins and a medium finish. Definitely needs to be served with food. Although we drank it with other foods, a tomato dish would have been a great accompaniment. Did pair well with some funky soft cheeses.
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Really nice wine - some of Bea's wines can be a bit much -- and worried a little about the alcohol being listed at 15%, but it wasn't too ripe and the structure held it very well. Probably the best Bea I have had of in the $30 range.
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This was a bad bottle of Paolo Bea Sanvalentino. I brought it to a dinner party and I noticed the cork was cracked just before I put in the cork screw. Very thin line across the top of the cork. The opened bottle smelled very musty but I had tasted Paolo Bea 2010 SanValentino a few days earlier and it was great, so I proceeded to pour the wine. The four dinner guests all thought it was bad. A corked bottle! I have faith in Paolo Bea and my wine shop gave me a new bottle which I will try soon. No score because I don't believe this experience is representative of the wine..
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Very earthy and with loads of minerality. Barnyard, liquified rocks, blood, and fresh black cherry. Musty taste lingers on the dry and tannic finish for 30 seconds plus. Bizarre but complex for the price. Opened 2 hours in bottle but needs long decant.
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At 15% this is impeccably balanced, bringing red fruits, clay, sweet spice and tobacco leaf together. It is fresh and enticing. Its texture is not rounded, it is lean but not flat. There is some tannic grip still present, lightly brushing your palate at the end, leaving you begging for more. Someone at the table said, this is fruity like Malbec but somewhat more serious and assertive. Could not have put it better. As always with Bea, non-interventionist techniques on a blend of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, and 15% Montepulciano.
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Light red. VA and anise on the nose-could only be Italian. Light weight, cherry fruit, fine acidity, and good minerality. For now and the short term. Good value, very clean (as opposed to a couple of the older ones).
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Cherry and spice; earthy. Fine tannins, but with some bright acidity; needs 1-3+ hours to fully open up and soften. Once that happens, this wine is simply delicious!
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2/23/2024 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
Decanted for sediment returned to bottle after 30 minutes of aeration. Totally on point now with some years still ahead. This is full and joyous on the mid palate and long finish. I was surprised to see 15,0% abv as it never once showed itself, but therein lies the magic of Giampiero's hand. Sadly my last one. highly recommended
https://www.ItalianWine.blog
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1/31/2024 - iliap Likes this wine: 95 Points
Love this wine. Great with steak, pork, chicken, pasta. Very versatile and a lot of personality. Sorry I don’t have specific notes it’s been a while since I last had it.
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12/16/2023 - James Kim Likes this wine: 92 Points
Brought by John. Anise, herbs, bark, and dark cherries with plums on the nose. Palate with Plums, dark cherries, bitter chocolate, herbs and bark. My notes says tannins which prob means that there were still plenty of it. Nice finish. As with most Bea wines, this had plenty of soul and very much enjoyed this. 92+
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9/10/2023 - wayfarer Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking great from first taste to last. No decant needed. Lovely dusky black cherry, cherry, leather, some earth/mineral, nose has light layering fruit, floral, herb initially. Nice combination of age and freshness in the fruit, after a couple of hours by end of dinner dark fruit really dominated. Good balance, length, perfect tannin for moderate body. Drink up.
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8/20/2023 - talbot61 wrote: 92 Points
A generous present from Philip Chan: Our favorite Paolo Bea wine -- one of our favorite wines, period -- is the 100% sagrantino Pagliaro. This one is mostly Sangiovese (with 15% sagrantino and 15% montepulciano). It has the Bea style, without the full-on wildness of the Pagliaro -- lovely, leathery flavor, a lot of tannin, dark blackberry fruitedness. The tannin, which persisted all the way through the last glass, is more exciting than intimidating, and so the wine is drinkable now, but will last for a long time.
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5/6/2023 - LW31 Likes this wine:
Delicous tonight. Totally ready and resolved for my taste. A crowd pleaser with a steak.
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8/21/2022 - pwelin wrote: flawed
Bottle was corked
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9/20/2021 - Yaozi Likes this wine: 92 Points
After four years I return to this wine from Paolo Bea. The last bottle was flawed and returned to the store; this one - paired with ribs as other writers suggest - was wonderful and delicious. Decanted for less then an hour. Drank it over two nights - it lost some of it's power by day two. Very complex and plenty of tannins on day 1, well-balanced with deep dark fruit. Not at all raisony or overdone. Beautiful. Day two was OK but the complexity was gone and it became somewhat ordinary. If you have any 2010's I would drink them this year.
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11/29/2020 - brandonmoyse Likes this wine: 90 Points
Drank over a couple nights; recorked and put back in the fridge. This was showing a lot of secondary characteristics up front but with still very chalky/dusty tannins. On Day 2 tannins disappeared and this was much more enjoyable. A very good wine but a bit past its prime for my liking. Given what I’d heard about the longevity of Bea’s wines (maybe applies less to the Sangiovese, though) I expected this to be much fresher.
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2/14/2020 - Swaggering Beaunie Likes this wine:
This wine was delicious. We decanted it for 2 1/2 hours before drinking, but probably should have decanted it for 4 or 5 hours. Toward the end of the bottle, it really opened up, presenting first dense tannins, then redcurrant, blackcurrant, and mulberry, along with a distinct but hard-to define herbal character. These were followed by tobacco, chocolate, and oak spice toward the end of the swallow. The body was very full, and the finish moderately long. If memory serves, the 2010 was a blend of Sangiovese, Sagrantino, and Montepulciano.
We had this with our Valentine's Day meal of wine-braised beef shortribs, winter squash and brown-butter puree, and homemade polenta. This was our only bottle of this wine, which we purchased at Paolo Bea and shipped home in a mixed half-case. My wife wishes we had purchased a case of this wine!
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12/8/2019 - hlip Likes this wine: 88 Points
Has got a few few years to go but is drinking ripe and delicious right now
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10/20/2018 - herbaceous Likes this wine: 89 Points
starting to mellow but could go 5 years
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6/3/2018 - maxima wrote: 89 Points
Beau vin bien équilibré.
Cerises et épices avec des tannins charnus.
Finale assez longue et soutenue.
Bien.
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5/29/2018 - CWilliam wrote: 93 Points
Purchased from J. Emerson's in Richmond, VA
Slow ox'd for 5 hours and paired with grilled skirt steaks. Brick red color with large change from rim to center. Savory nose. Tar, dirt, tobacco, cherry, all-spice. On palate, bing cherry, tobacco, cherry and touch of tobacco. Full body, high acidity (low ph) and medium+ tannins. Fruit was brighter on palate than nose suggested. I loved this wine - especially after some young cult Napa cabs. I need to buy more of this - highly recommended if you like savory wines with real structure - great with the food. 93++
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5/26/2018 - jnewman77 wrote:
This was very good though still young; nose with dark fruit, lots of spice and earth with hints of savory/meaty notes. The palate is dense and still fairly tannic. Has a good balance, but feels just a touch heavy to me. Still quite enjoyable.
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4/13/2018 - bradfriedlander Likes this wine: 89 Points
Tasty and very drinkable. Slightly chewy with nice tannins and a medium finish. Definitely needs to be served with food. Although we drank it with other foods, a tomato dish would have been a great accompaniment. Did pair well with some funky soft cheeses.
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12/11/2017 - tdelorme wrote:
Really nice wine - some of Bea's wines can be a bit much -- and worried a little about the alcohol being listed at 15%, but it wasn't too ripe and the structure held it very well. Probably the best Bea I have had of in the $30 range.
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6/20/2017 - Richardmaxson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Another amazing evening spent with old man Bea's beautiful entry level
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3/4/2017 - Yaozi wrote:
This was a bad bottle of Paolo Bea Sanvalentino. I brought it to a dinner party and I noticed the cork was cracked just before I put in the cork screw. Very thin line across the top of the cork. The opened bottle smelled very musty but I had tasted Paolo Bea 2010 SanValentino a few days earlier and it was great, so I proceeded to pour the wine. The four dinner guests all thought it was bad. A corked bottle! I have faith in Paolo Bea and my wine shop gave me a new bottle which I will try soon. No score because I don't believe this experience is representative of the wine..
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8/23/2016 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 88 Points
Very earthy and with loads of minerality. Barnyard, liquified rocks, blood, and fresh black cherry. Musty taste lingers on the dry and tannic finish for 30 seconds plus. Bizarre but complex for the price. Opened 2 hours in bottle but needs long decant.
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7/31/2016 - DoubleMagnum Likes this wine: 91 Points
At 15% this is impeccably balanced, bringing red fruits, clay, sweet spice and tobacco leaf together. It is fresh and enticing. Its texture is not rounded, it is lean but not flat. There is some tannic grip still present, lightly brushing your palate at the end, leaving you begging for more. Someone at the table said, this is fruity like Malbec but somewhat more serious and assertive. Could not have put it better. As always with Bea, non-interventionist techniques on a blend of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, and 15% Montepulciano.
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5/26/2016 - jibby Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cherry coca cola, some earthiness and spice. Bright acidity, medium tannins. Very enjoyable and complex.
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5/19/2016 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 91 Points
One of 4 Paolo Bea reds my group had a dinner. Very nice, and probably the best wine of the night, when you factor in the price. Very food friendly.
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3/21/2016 - kenthargis wrote: 89 Points
I liked better than K. Notes of cherry, medium bodied, good acidity.
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3/19/2016 - drwine2001 wrote:
Light red. VA and anise on the nose-could only be Italian. Light weight, cherry fruit, fine acidity, and good minerality. For now and the short term. Good value, very clean (as opposed to a couple of the older ones).
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3/5/2016 - rdegaris Likes this wine: 91 Points
Cherry and spice; earthy. Fine tannins, but with some bright acidity; needs 1-3+ hours to fully open up and soften. Once that happens, this wine is simply delicious!
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2/27/2016 - Katerockwell Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lighter than previous vintages. Sangiovese, montepulciano and sagrantino. Earthy and hearty.
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