Leonetti Sangiovese 2016
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Dazzling deep ruby in color. The nose is loaded with bright red fruits and a kiss of vanilla bean. The palate is creamy
and acidic like a splendidly satisfying sorbet. Refreshing and impeccably balanced, this is a stellar example of one of our favorite varieties. The 2016 Sangiovese was such a shining star that it stands alone in the blend for this vintage.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is delivered in such polished style, a signature of Leonetti’s, with cherries and wild herbs that are nicely framed in subtly spicy oak. Some stony nuances, too. The palate has such expansive fruit in a plum and mulberry guise. It holds very fresh and has the noble, long and powdery grape tannins that you usually only find in Brunello, plus abundant fruit. Superb, drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine, 100% varietal, for the first time includes fruit from the winery’s recently planted Holy Roller Vineyard. The aromas are captivating, with penetrating notes of pure black cherry along with plentiful herb, tobacco and leather accents. Beautifully pure, palate-coating fruit flavors follow, with enough acidity and tannin structure to age well in the cellar. Best after 2024.
Cellar Selection
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Jeb Dunnuck
Medium ruby-colored, Chris's 2016 Sangiovese Walla Walla Valley (100% Sangiovese aged 22 months in 25% new French oak) has classic notes of dried cherries, old cabinet, baking chocolate, and spice. With good freshness and purity on the palate as well as nicely integrated acidity and fine tannins, this balanced effort will benefit from short-term cellaring.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The rich, red-fruited 2016 Walla Walla Sangiovese is a more robust style of Sangiovese. The nose wafts with subtle savory tones and complex earthy aromas of forest floor and fallen black raspberries. Medium-bodied in the mouth, the wine shows a good line of acidity through to the back end, exuding a tart black cherry and mineral core over soft red spices. It ends with thoughtfully balanced tannins, food-friendly acidity and lingering oak tones, which add to the complexity on the finish. Just over 900 cases were made.
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Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.