| Il Granaio Rosso Toscano IGT |
| 2009 |
| Savignola Paolina Winery |
Il Granaio, or “The Barn” is a very precious thing in all dimensions.
If you want to have a wine maker that has a good handle on its Sangiovese and Merlot, you should go to Savignola Paolina just outside Greve in Chianti, southeast, on the road to Lamole. This farm had been a property of the Fabbri family since 1780. The owners used to be Ludovica Fabbri together with her husband Antonio and her dad Carlo Fabbri, who took it over in 1998 from Ludovicas famous grandaunt the entrepreneur Paulina Fabbri. Ludovica Fabbri later sold it to the Swiss couple Manuela and Luzius Caviezel, who passionately runs this estate today. By the way, Paulina Fabbri was the first to put her Riserva into a Bordolese bottle. Savignola is the geopgraphical name of the farm, a name with Etruschian origin. Besides growing Sangiovese and Merlot, they do also grow Colorini, and Malvasia Nera.
Savignola Paolina has about 6 hectars in total of vines in southeast and southwest orientations, with 4 hectars of vines within the Chianti Classico appellation. Altitude is 330-350 m above sea level.
The Granaio 2009 is probably about time to open now, getting closer to its peak. This bottle that I got has been ageing good, it has a wonderful distinct dark garnet-orange red color. The wine has a bold and structured presence in the glass, with lots of dark fruit, liquorice, leather, vanilla and caramel in the nose. Il Granaio is dry, intense and persistent, with very smooth tannins. After a sip, or two, or actually three, I had some impressions of flavors like blackberry, black currant, dark cherry, liquorice, violet, juniper, dark chocolate and black pepper. Fermentation in steel tanks, ageing for 14 months in tonneaux and new barriques of french oak.
Some food pairings I would like to recommend is beef stews, venison steak, salsiccia sausage with white beans, pappardelle pasta with wild boar ragù, pasta with mushrooms or black truffle, salami, prosciutto and aged cheese like Parmesan.
Recommended serving temperature is 18-19° C.
Why wait, go for it now, before it disappears! (Only 2000 made.)
Vino-Velos (1-5):
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