Attention FTC, this wine was sent to me as a sample, but I was not paid in any shape or form to taste, write or even read this review. It is simply a courtesy to the nice folks at Palm Bay Imports who sent it to me. Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way, onto the fun stuff.

This wine from Rocca della Macìe is an interesting blend of 60% Sangiovese and 40% Syrah. I’m always curious about these types of wine, where they blend one traditional (Sangiovese which is the primary grape of Toscana and Chianti) grape with a more international varietal, in this case Syrah. I also think of these as being opposites in many ways, with bright and tart red fruits from the former and darker fruits and peppery spice character from the latter.

Price: Approximately $18.

Aromas: You definitely get more of the Syrah (as I expected), with blue fruits and hints of pepper on the nose.

Palate: The Sangiovese shows up more in the finish, as the wine attacks with soft blue fruit flavors, with an underpinning of tart red berries and spice.  The strong dose of acid on the finish means pasta or pizza to get the best out of this bottle. As with most Italian wines, you have to eat something rich in carbs with this or the acid will make it bitter and unpleasant to drink. The acidity in the tomato sauce will also help to cancel out some of the bite in the wine.

Final word: A good bottle of wine for food, but I’m not sure I’d fork over $18 for it. While it got fairly high scores (88) in the two magazines beginning with the word Wine, I wasn’t as big a fan. I’d say it is a good wine that was well made, it just didn’t fit my personal taste preferences. While I do like the Tuscan blends where they use Merlot and Cabernet sauvignon blended with Sangiovese, this just didn’t work for me. It seemed more like a wrestling match and when I drink wine, I’d rather have grace than stilted movement. Your mileage will vary.

No haiku today.

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