Sangiovese Wine Facts

Video Transcript

"I'm going to tell you about a grape called Sangiovese. If you've never heard of Sangiovese don't worry, I don't expect you to have heard of it. However, I know that you've heard of the most famous wine made from the Sangiovese grape, because it is Italy's most famous and probably most beloved wine. And the wine I'm speaking of is Kiante. Kiante is made there, in Italy's Tuscany region, very famous, they've been making it for hundreds of years, maybe thousands of years. Kiante is almost always, at least 90 or 100 percent Sangioves, and it's a very interesting wine. Besides Kiante, Sangioves is grown throughout Italy, and is probably a lead player in most of the Italian red wines that you like to drink. It's also grown a little bit in California, and a little bit in Texas, and it hasn't really spread to too many other parts of the world besides that, so we'll concentrate on Italy. So, if you take a Sangiovese based wine, and you hold it up, one of the first things you're going to notice is that it smells very, very earthy. As a matter of fact that's one of the hallmarks of a Sangiovese based wine, is the primary aroma is earth. Now, that can come across as wet dirt, dry leaves, smoke, cigar, cigar box, a little bit of mold a little bit of must or maybe a little bit of bramboli forest floor. If that doesn't sound like something you want to drink, don't worry, it's not going to taste that way, but you will definitely notice that on the aroma. The next thing you're going to smell in a glass of Sangiovese is cherries, I can guarantee you, cherry, followed by blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, followed by something a little bit spicy, maybe nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. Sangiovese makes a medium bodied wine. This is not a big bruiser type of red wine. It's nice and medium bodied, may be a little bit subtle. It will be dry, it will have mild tannins and will be very easy drinking. Serve this wine up with Italian food of course, it's made for that. Also serve it up with simple grilled meats. Also it grows very well with lighter foods, maybe even turkey, or chicken or duck. It's an interesting wine, a little bit complex, but it's not going to knock you over the head with its strength or its brutality. So enjoy a Sangiovese. If you want to try a Sangiovese have a Kiante, and maybe even look for a wine that they make in Texas. There's a wine they make in Texas named a Super Texan. And a Super Texan is a little play on words from a wine called Super Tuscan, which is the home of Sangiovese. But a Super Texan is a Texan wine made from Sangiovese. So either way, Super Texan, Super Tuscan, Kiante, or just about any one of Italy's red wines, you're going to find based on Sangiovese, and it'll be something that you're going to learn to love."