Saggi Red 06
Inviting aromas of sweet plums and cherries, shaded by ground coffee and mellow cinnamon and bacon notes. Concentrated flavors of deep cherry, cassis, and blueberry are plush. Fine tannins emerge on the long finish featuring nutmeg, espresso, cocoa, and black pepper and beautiful earthy Sangiovese character. Fans of Super Tuscan blends will find the Saggi 06 a reasonably-priced version of Italy's "rockstar" wines.
The 2006 Saggi is a blend of 42% Cabernet, 39% Sangiovese, 19% Syrah sourced from Red Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills, and Yakima Valley vineyards.
Saggi means "Wisdom" and is tne name chosen by famed Itaian winemaking father and son Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari for their Washington State version of a Super-Tuscan red, produced in partnership with Allen Shoup's LongShadows Winery in Walla Walla.
This wine is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah from the Columbia Valley.
Previous vintage, 2005 tasting notes
A hint of sweetness introduces flavors of red raspberry and red cherry, accented by spiciness and a streak of white pepper in the finish. Fruit flavors dominate when first tasted, then darker notes of the fine-grained youthful tannins take over. A floral component accompanies the predominant raspberry fruit scents at first, then toasty oak and caramelized sugar scents mark this as a wine aged in new, toasty oak.
With a style inspired by the "Super Tuscan" wines the Folonaris helped pioneer in the 1980's, Saggi occupies a unique position in the world's pantheon of Sangiovese based wines.
MORE INFORMATION
2004 Vintage tasting Notes
"smooth, chocolatey and dark" - Paul Gregutt, Seaattle Times Saggi is a wine true to Columbia Valley terroir but with plenty of Tuscan character, made by the famed Folonari brothers Ambroglio and Giovanni Folonari. The Folonaris are among Italy's oldest and most prestigious Tuscan wine families with a winemaking history dating back to the late 1700s. 35% Sangiovese, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Syrah, 14% Barbera. Layers of black fruit aromas and flavors are woven around a spicy vanilla core. Velvety and concentrated on the palate, this is a lively, well-balanced wine with a rich and lengthy black cherry finish. The Columbia Valley's 2004 vintage required meticulous care in the vineyard and those who did were rewarded with beautifully elegant, well-balanced wines. Long Shadows resident winemaker Gilles Nicault invested hundreds of hours in the vineyards from the first of the year through harvest after a harsh January freeze left everyone anxious about damage to the vines. Gilles worked with growers to manage crop loads and canopy exposure throughout the growing season. He asked growers to prune to two buds in the early spring, despite freeze damage to the primary buds; thin at bloom; thin and drop green clusters at verasion; and finally, leaf thin in September to open up the canopy and promote even ripening. As a result, Long Shadows' blocks averaged 1 - 2 tons per acre, just slightly less than a "typical" year, Hand-picked grapes were fermented in two-ton tanks, with particular care given to the Sangiovese, a delicate grape that requires gently handling to avoid green character. Aged in all French oak barrels for 18 months.
From the start, the Folonaris sought to make a wine true to Columbia Valley terroir but with plenty of Tuscan character; and it was the dark, elegant Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon that perfectly complemented it from Alder Ridge Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills that convinced they could make such a wine. Only the Syrah (a combination of Yakima and Wahluke Slope vineyards) in Saggi is not from Alder Ridge.
