Avignonesi, Grifi, IGT

Dark with a bouquet of black berries, cherries, cassis. Grippy and powerful, fine tannins and good acid. Long lingering finish. A real crowd pleaser. No rush to drink my remaining bottles!

Black fruit and smells more "international" or more concentrated, 60% Sangiovese, 40% Cabernet. And powerful and super tuscany on the palate. Still very good, if not to my style. The Cabernet from Cortona gives a spiciness, a backbone to the Cabernet.

On day two has a bit of a dessicated fruit thing going on. But its day two. The core is still there and its still tasty.

Well balanced blend. Lingering finish but a touch hot. Blueberry and plum fruit. Would like more.

Vindredi (Bellevue, WA) : Tasted blind. Sweet, rich, dark fruit on the nose. Rich and full bodied, with dark blackberry, black cherry and cassis. Lingering finish with fine, but chewy, tannins. Quite nice with good balance.

made until '96. 60% Sangiovese, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. In '96 they had lots of requests for VN, so they stopped making this for a while, and it looks like they started again with the 2010 vintage. Sangiovese from Montepulciano and the Cabernet comes from Cortona. The Cabernet goes into new barrique. The Sangiovese gets no new oak. 18 months of aging. 1,500cs of 6pk. red and black fruit nose. palate carries med tannin, but still maintains some room to look …

I must be drinking a different wine, or perhaps not as jaded. This wine was simple but had a lot of character. Fully enjoyed it and wasn't even put off by the $16 price tag.

The 2010 Grifi was as dark as night with notes of plum, black cherry, dark soil tones and herbs. With time in the glass, hints of sweet wood spice and floral tones came forward. It was large-scaled and silky smooth on the palate, yet it’s youthful nature quickly took control with an intense, tightly wound expression of massive dark fruit, soil and minerals tones. Hints of violet, bitters and dark fruit lasted through the finish, even with this wine’s impressive …

Retailer tasting : In the bouquet good and ripe dark fruits like cassis. Also spiciness. On the palate juicy fruits, spiciness, a pleasant balance between sweetness and acidity and soft tannin. Very ok wine. Early maturity now and around 2017+ probably even a bit better.

good value in restaurant. cherry, slate and violets.

This is our current house red, and just went on red tag at Seaboard.

Retailer tasting : Not so many notes. This is a basic wine belonging to the cash cows and for a large target audience. Full bodied, juicy, fruity and supple all the way. The balance between acidity and sweetness is perfectly ok, but there is no real complexity.