Castellare di Castellina, Sodi San Niccolo, IGT 2018

The 2018 I Sodi di San Niccolò is the most elegant Sodi I have ever tasted, and I have tasted them all. Sodi can be quite the bruiser in its youth, as the tannins are often imposing, but the 2018 is impressive because there is more than enough fruit to balance things out. Dark cherry, plum, lavender, spice and gravel build in a Sodi endowed with mind-blowing purity and exceptional finesse. Superb!

Lovely abundance and expression on the nose, you get that perfect clarity of fruit - black fruits and blackcurrant laced with violets. Strong, round and rich - this is densely concentrated with power and punch. Gorgeous texture - dry with firm firm tannins and a direct fruit profile - tension and linearity yet there's plushness and ripeness here too. It's round yet direct but also sweet and succulent. I love that immediately juicy perfumed hit you get on the tongue, such brightness and energy here, the sweet red cherry edge is so delicious. Supremely charming but also fun, such playfulness going on with the flavours and the textures.

This is warming, welcoming, layers of campfire smoke, clove spice and fresh raspberry and red cherry juice. An enjoyable wine with character, sweet salty caramel notes, sappy and balanced, and full of Tuscan warmth. The aromatics come in waves, prolonging the experience. What a lovely wine to share with friends and to prolong conversation around a table, with a sense of life and freshness. This is the first vintage on the Place de Bordeaux for a wine that was one of the original wave Super Tuscans (and originally a partnership with DBR Lafite), with Alessandro Cellai as consultant. Note Sangiovete by the way, not Sangiovese. Hold +2 years or carafe 1 hour