Tolaini Mello 700 Sangiovese 2020

Ruby red with purple nuances. The nose displays hints of raspberry, red cherry and violet. Tannins are smooth, the structure is medium bodied with a long persistent finish. The acidity gives a bright freshness to this wine, typical of high altitude wines. Mello is a pure expression of Sangiovese from this remote hilltop terroir, pristine and untouched for over 20 years. Smoked herbs and fine, baking spices to the blood oranges and roses on the forest floor make it a rather pinot-esque sangiovese. This is textured on the palate with medium body and a mouthful of fine, neat tannins. You immediately sense the ripeness but it remains dry and taut. The fresh, mineral delivery of airy berries, stones and subtle nutmeg make you want to refill a glass. Very unique for sangiovese, which has a lot of similarities with a fine and tense Casablanca pinot. Delicious now, but can hold, too. Here's an exciting new entry in the Tolaini portfolio. Taking a microscope to Tuscany's headline grape, the 2021 Sangiovese Mello 700 is an earthy and open-knit expression with plenty of red and dark fruit aromas. There is a pretty sweetness that recalls Bing cherry or perfectly ripe watermelon, like the kind you find at the height of summer. The wine is very silky in texture with an almost invisible tannic structure that plays an important background role. The freshness and the crunchy quality of fruit is what sets this inaugural vintage apart. Fruit for this wine comes exclusively from a cool site at 700 meters in elevation in Gaiole. Only 4,000 bottles were made. An earthy red highlighted by sour cherry, strawberry, iron and leafy underbrush flavors. Elegant, with a lacy texture and fine-grained tannins, giving an overall sense of balance. Subtle, lingering finish of fruit, earth and mineral elements. Drink now through 2030.