Muddy, ripe pear gorgeousness with all the dirty sex and verve running acacia and sweaty horse up into sharp, angular stalls, not quite liqueur, not quite something I would call “concentrated”, not quite thin and meager either. Despite a chunk of glycerine and some of its banana kin hanging around, despite big fat cherry, it still manages to show the world what Sangiovese can do all by itself in the new world.
Juicy and round in the mouth. The bitterness of all the angular briar and maybe even a bit of petrol plays wonderfully into the slight acid prodding the ripe fruit. An overlay of this sharp crescendo basks in warm cherry far into the finish.
Not gonna lie this is a geeky wine. Not for Super-Tuscan lovers or Chianti Classico Riserva drinkers. All the Mendo green-ness and ridiculous briar you typically see thwarted toward, say, pinot or zin or merlot–or any of the myriad of grapes Mendo does amazingly well in its slightly peculiar way–is in this case NOT projected squarely on Sangiovese. Quite a surprising wine, and not ordinary at all.
2016 WEST OF TEMPERANCE Sangiovese Eaglepoint Ranch VYD Mendocino Co. 14.5
Stephen McConnell 