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Winery
Aldo Rainoldi
Varietal: Sangiovese
In its native Italy, Sangiovese is the most widely planted red grape varietal, and has been for several centuries now. It has since spread to several other countries around the world, but will probably always been most readily associated with the rolling hillscapes of Tuscany. It isn't difficult to understand why it is so revered; alone, in single variety bottles, young Sangiovese is lively, full of fresh summer fruits flavors and beautifully drinkable in its lightness. When aged, it has the special ability to soak up the oak and vanilla or chestnut flavors from the barrel, and delights wine drinkers with its complexity and many layers of character. However, the grape does occasionally cause some difficulty for wine makers, as it is one which holds a high acidity, whilst being light on tannins and body. As such, wine makers have experimented greatly with the Sangiovese grapes, from harvesting very low yields to blending it and aging it in different ways in order to make the most of its unique properties. The results are rarely short of spectacular, and Sangiovese is widely recognized as a grape varietal to look out for if you are searching for quality.
Region: Lombardy
The beautiful north westerly wine region of Lombardy in Italy is home to many of the country's most characterful and well respected wines, most of which are grown on the shores of the stunning Lake Garda. The lake itself plays a vitally important part of the region's viticulture, as the climate around the river is cooler than in surrounding areas, thus tempering the heat of the vineyards and allowing the vines which grow there to ripen more slowly. For centuries, Lombardy wines have been considered amongst the finest in Italy, and today, the wine industry of the region is doing very well indeed. With wineries in Lombardy utilizing a successful blend of traditional and modern techniques, they are continually producing wines which express the excellence of the terroir the vines are grown on, and which contain fascinating and unique flavors and aromas.
Country: Italy
For several decades in the mid to late twentieth century, Italy's reputation for quality wines took a fairly serious blow. This was brought about partly due to lack of regulation in certain regions, and too much regulation in others. This led to several wineries in the beautiful and highly fertile region of Tuscany making the bold move to work outside of the law, which they saw as responsible for the drop in quality in Tuscan wines. They believed that they had the expertise and the generations of experience necessary with which to make truly excellent, world class wines, and set about doing just that. These 'Super Tuscans', as they came to be known, quickly inspired the rest of Italy to improve their produce, and now, Italian wine producers in the twenty-first century are widely recognised to be amongst the best in the world. Regulation and law began to change, and wine drinkers across the globe woke up to the outstanding wines coming out of Italy, which are continuing to improve and impress to this day.