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Poggio Argentiera Finisterre
Poggio Argentiera Finisterre 2006 and Poggio Argentiera Principio 2007 are the 2nd of 3 sets of wines I’m reviewing for Poggio Argentiera. If you read yesterdays blog you’ll have seen that I was blown away by one of Morellino di Scansanos of Poggio Argentiera and kinda “h’okay” about the other. If you didn’t read it, curious sorts can do so by click here. First off the bat, these wines are nothing like the MdS wines, we are talking chalk and substance quite a lot less like chalk. These are Italian wines from the same vineyard so we still have some Italian characteristics, high acidity for example, but really these wines are no place close to Morellino or even each other. I had my Riedel in hand, my hard Italian cheeses getting softer by the second and the wines decanting nicely so lets settle into the story of these two vinos.
The Poggio Argentiera Principio 2007 is a wine made from 100% Ciliegiolo, a Tuscan grape pretty much unknown to all except Italian wine fans. Grown close to the town of Manciano the 2007 production was 13,000 bottles.
Poggio Argentiera Principio 2007 – BUY – €15
Deep purple in the glass, beautiful cherried nose, hints of vanilla and raspberries, sweet to the smell. Mid-full bodied, silky smooth mouth feel, well balanced tannins, good structure, a little more acidic than expected, loyal to type, decent finish. 88 Points
This is a really enjoyable wine that I imagine would appeal to all my girlfriends. It comes across as feminine in the flavour profile yet the mouth feel was more masculine. It’s a wine that can be drunk by itself which isn’t something I can say of the second wine, the Finisterre.
Poggio Argentiera Finisterreis a 50/50 blend of Syrah and Alicante (Grenache) grapes, fermented in french oak, coming from low yields I was prepared for a torrid love affair.
However, this wine is a real puzzler. I am not sure where I stand with it. On the one hand it has a good balance and structure and on the other it wasn’t packed with flavours I enjoy. It gave me the impression of that class mate at school who you didn’t really like but was a favourite of the teachers. The teacher would always be throwing him questions and nods like they had some kind of secret understanding between them. 10 years later you look him up on Facebook and he is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Wirral South*. This wine clearly has something to say, I’m just not sure what it is, or if it’s profound or interesting yet it’s giving off hints that it could be destined for greatness…. or maybe not. I need to make a date with this wine on the 16th September 2018.
Poggio Argentiera Finisterre 2006 – PASS – €35
Deep purple in the glass, vibrant. Aromatically a little tight then comes a chocolate nose, some blackcurrant too. Really quite tannic with a full bodied mouth feel, complex, nice structure, lacking fruit on the mid palate also quite bitter, backward, get the feeling I‘m drinking this wine far too young. 89 Points
Given a little more time to breath and pairing it up with the Italian cheeses the wine took on a softer character and was much more enjoyable. My final word on this wine – if you want to buy it and drink it today pair it up with some chunky meats or hard cheeses and give it several hours breathing space. I do believe this wine will show something more subtle and refined in 10 years time. I must PASS the wine for drinking today at that price point though. What I would like is an older vintage as this simply doesn’t feel like a wine you should be judging today. *hint hint*
Where can I buy this wine? (Principio)
Only one retailer I can find “Vinmonopolet” from Denmark. – €15
Leave a Comment
Any experience of the Ciliegiolo grape? Favourite wine out of Tuscany? Is the current financial climate giving you the wine worries? Favourite Italian cheese? Is it insulting that we English named a biscuit (the worlds most boring biscuit too) after Italys most celebrated hero?
*This has not happened to me.
Luckily the financial climate has not affected my very reasonable wine tastes. It does, however, affect my desire to get my hands on a Yquem. Who am I kidding? I can’t even afford a Chateau Rieussec!
This happens and when it does we’re forced to look outside the usual areas for quality wine. Every time recession fears hit us we find a new wine to drink, then the price of this wine increases. It’s a time to be creative.
very happy you liked the ciliegiolo. We are really working hard on this one, 2006 had the freshness of fruit that I’m looking for, the 2007 has the structure and the body. I hope the 2008, which I’m harvesting right now, will have both. If we have a very good lot we’ll try a second passage 500 Lt tonneaux with it, to be relased on year after this, but we’ll still make the Principio of course.The Finisterre is really very young and I’m sure it’ll show much better in one year time (don’t they all say that?), but I’m not 100% convinced too with the blend. Alicante is not consistent through the different harvests, and in 2007 we started to blend 1/3 Cab franc and 1/3 Syrah with it. We’ll see.It’ll be nice to taste the same wines again in one year and compare the notes.
I have never heard of a half-half Syrah/Grenache blend out of Tuscany so would be excited to try it.
Ciliegiolo makes superb wines I’ve had a few recently including the much hyped Sassotondo. There may be something feminine about these wines in a beaujolais sense perhaps.
I had luch yesterday with Edoardo Ventimiglia of Sassotondo [http://sassotondo.it/]. He’s been probably the first to believe in this indigenous variety. He makes a different kind of Ciliegiolo though, the wine (called San Lorenzo) spends more than 1 year in barrique and is very complex and structured and made for ageing. We choose to follow the “freshness” approach and make a young Ciliegiolo which I believe is one of the possible choices with this grape. However we’ll explore that kind of route (the more complex and barrel-aged one) this year if the fruit allowed it.
GianpaoloJust tasting thru these last two bottles now and I adore the Fonte 40, aromatically it’s fantastic.These wines would rock out in the better Italian restaurants in London. I think there might be an opportunity to discuss something in the next few days with this.I’ll write these last two up tomorrow.
How many girlfriends do you have?Can I get in on this?
Limited knowledge of Ciliegiolo but what little i’ve had I have enjoyed. Shame there is no US seller listed it’s not exactly in surplus over here.
@moonkin. The first Ciliegiolo shipment to the US is due on november. I’ll try to make available where the wine will be sold via my blog.
Vinmonopolet is from Norway….