vincent arroyo does really nice sangio up in calistoga
i have had Sangio from both Del Dotto and B Cellars that are very nice
I know you said CA, but mentioning Leonetti makes a very respectable Sangiovese out of Washington. (Walla Walla Valley) Not cheap though.
Back in the late 90s, Heidi Barrett made a sangiovese for Showket that was very appealing.
+1 on the Stolpman
I use to be on their mailing list until it was impossible to receive shipments in OH (the laws have since changed) and have had their sangiovese a number of times but never with any age on it. Have you had a bottle with 5 to 10 years of age on it and if so how was it?
Seghesio makes two really nice Cal-Itals.
The best one, I think, is Omaggio, which is like a Super Tuscan blend, cab, merlot, sangiovese and (I know this isn’t actually Tuscan) barbera. Frankly, I think this overperforms most Super Tuscans at around its price point. I had a 1998 last week and it was a beauty.
They also make a 100% sangiovese called Venom. This wine comes off fairly modern, dark and oaky when it’s young, but if you give it 10-15 years, it’s a really nice wine. It’s definitely more Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova than Biondi Santi, but with some age, it’s very good wine. Unlike Omaggio, I don’t know that it is great value compared to its Italian counterparts at similar prices, but it’s still a nice expression.
A few more:
Muscardini- Monte Rosso Vineyard
D’Alfonso – Curran Stolpman Vineyard
Rusack- Ballard Canyon
Altamura, Mastro Scheidt. Back in the early 90s Atlas Peak made a brilliant one. Generally. when looking for CA examples they are best represented when blended no more than 2% with anything else.
Sorry I wish I had, but I’ve only had the 2011 and 2012. Both were very good, and the 2012 was really really nice, and memorable. I bought a couple more just of the 2012 and plan to try starting next year.
Bummer about the shipping to OH! I don’t know if you have Binny’s in OH, but I can generally find these via them in Chicago.
Stolpman was always my favorite Cali-Sangiovese
Recently had a decent sangio from Carr Vineyards out of Santa Ynez.
Yes, it’ll ready show off what it’s blended with, so if you’re trying to make a Sangio it’s best to go 100% (unless a little something else is truly needed, in some unusual circumstance).
But, it is an excellent blending grape. Works well with Montepulciano, for example. It can do a better job of rounding out and taming Syrah than Grenache.
I know this is a 3-year old thread but I just joined wineberserkers.
For sentimental reasons I’m looking for a specific Cal Sangio. Shafer grew Sangiovese 1982-2003. I served Shafer Firebreak (Sangio/Cab blend) 1995 vintage in 1998 when I was an Intro Somm to someone who was introduced to me again 15 years later. Does anyone have a bottle of any vintage of this wine 1982-2003, including what they labeled “Last Chance” in 2003? Shafer does not have any bottles in their library & I can’t find it on the secondary market. Any ideas?
David Glancy (ITB)
San Francisco Wine School
David,
Welcome to the board. I found two retailers selling the Firebreak. Good luck.
I am also interested in what folks have to say about CA Sangiovese.
I believe Washington and Oregon have some high performing Sangios, but I rarely hear about CA.
Two of theirs came in at #1 and #2 at our last sangiovese tasting.
Amador County.
I really enjoyed the Petroni sangio when we last visited. Both the “rosso” blend and thier “Brunello” clone bottling. I think these tend to be on the upper end of cal-ital pricing so it gets passed over.
One of the berserker day’s, Castelli offered the sangio and the nebb which were both fantastic.
All the seghesio sangio’s have always be so oaky to me. Same goes for the barbera.
Garguilo makes a killer Super Tuscan blend called Aprile.