What a shocking little wine! Deep, thick ruby and ridiculously staining in the glass, a strong nose of woody incense, oiled road and cedar-spice wrapped around black BLACK fruit with heady aromas of cigar smoke, toasty leather, cinnamon, allspice, and dark chocolate on an raspy, wet-concrete mineral base. It *almost* smells of Cru Beaujolais, the the blackness and depth of concentrated berry tell a different story than Gamay. If this is straight Sangiovese I will be surprised.
In the mouth: more shocks to the palate. Glorious bitter acid clings to the grainy fruit, creating a pithy, acrid mouth-feel far outweighing its simple price-tag and whimsical label. This wine is NOT messin around with fruity pleasantries or subtle nuance, packing SO MUCH body over the tongue, receptors–and descriptors–fail. Feeling quite Right Bank, the lushness of Merlot is there, and the structure mind-boggling in intensity. Wiping your teeth of this brutally-gorgeous liquid is a chore, each taste both peeling back layers of intensity and adding to them. Stupendously tannic, you’ve never had a wine quite like this and the potential for aging boggles calm deduction. THERE’S SO MUCH FRUIT, though it drinks like an infantile, irresponsible barrel-sample in desperate need of charm lessons.
This is a 1%er’s wine, pure and simple. NO ONE with a sweet-tooth or penchant for lush, smooth oak-bombs will appreciate what’s in this bottle. It needs 2 more years in bottle to even BEGIN to express the possibilities, and at this price you can easily afford three cases and drink one-per-year. Yes! That’s how long this wine will last. An absolute tour de force: probably designed for early enjoyment, but that’s not what has happened here. Lose a case of this on your Bordeaux shelf and watch the magic. I don’t think I’ve EVER tasted anything like this from Italy. Even now–wrapping this review up–I am shaking my head at its power and depth. A perfect wine. I want to make everyone I know taste this.
2019 INSERRATA ‘Insieme’ Rosso Toscano Sang/ME Biologique IGT Italy 14.5
Stephen McConnell 