1999 Altamura Sangiovese

Community Tasting Notes (8) Median Score: 93 points

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  2/14/2024 - MagicInABottle Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Aged to perfection. This new world Sangiovese presented us with quite the Valentine's Day surprise as it was still graceful after 25+ years of cellaring. A one-hour decant at Capital Grille and she was dancing with loads of dark red fruit, nutmeg, molasses and boysenberry jam. The tannins have mellowed and the aftertaste is sublime. Like many wines of this age, it did not get much better after 2+ hours, getting sweeter still and resulting in an almost port-like flavor profile. Nonetheless, our undisputed champ for best domestic Sangiovese continues to reign supreme (and the Earth is still spinning post Y2K).

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  3/30/2018 - awkiii Likes this wine: 93 Points

  this was still great. fruity. sorry it was my last bottle

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  7/9/2013 - NoSwill wrote: 82 Points

  Full bodied, syrupy, oak bomb. Heavy layers of creamy oak with dark jammy fruit and hints of chocolate. Silky tannins and a medium finish. Sounds great right? Maybe if it were port. Fully integrated and ready to drink, but the clobbering oak and sweetness renders this unrecognizable as sangiovese. Unfortunate style I've encountered too often from Napa where little regard seems to be paid to varietal character or terroir, and the wine is instead amped up with oak and extraction in an apparent attempt to make everything taste like an overripe cab or zin. Easy drinking, but varietally absurd. There is little here that resembles sangiovese.

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  7/9/2010 - jbergin wrote: 94 Points

  this was a great bottle of wine. Perfectly balanced acidity and fruit - served with heaping bowls of pasta with spicy red sauce - perfection

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  10/2/2006 - jmull wrote: 93 Points

  From a 375. Really fine. Nose of chocolate, creamy oak and some subtle red fruit, which carries through to the palate where these distinctive notes seem totally integrated. 30-second finish. Altamura is probably the best Cal-Ital producer going, and this is the finest California sangiovese I've tried.

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