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The stunning 96 pt. 2019 Caiarossa is an artful, elegant Super Tuscan blend balancing fresh layered dark fruit and refined, smooth tannins with powerful structure, showing “impressive depth and textural richness” according to the Wine Advocate’s Monica Larner from a "gem of an estate," available in limited quantities and a sure bet for lovers of bold Italian reds at value pricing.
Located a few miles north of coastal Bolgheri in the Cecina River Valley, the Caiarossa estate boasts a hilly terrain covered with the brilliant red or “rossa” gravelly soil for which it is named, enjoying a steady rise in quality since its purchase in 2004 by Dutch businessman Eric Albada Jelgersma, also owner of Château du Tertre and Château Giscours in Margaux. Divided into distinct parcels and located at around 600 meters of altitude, Caiarossa’s 31 hectares of vines are spread across three sites on the wooded 70 hectare estate, planted with eight different red varietals including Bordeaux grapes Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, Rhone’s Syrah, Grenache (Alicante), and Mourvedre, and Tuscany’s native Sangiovese, all farmed biodynamically. Changing the blend according to the vintage while maintaining a consistent style, each varietal for the 2019 Caiarossa was fermented separately with indigenous yeasts before blending, then aged for 14 months in barriques, about a third new, with 6 months more in concrete tanks before bottling, yielding a balanced combination of “drinkability and complexity” that makes Caiarossa one of critic James Suckling’s “go to” Tuscan reds.
In an excellent Tuscany vintage producing wines of “consistently high quality” according to the Wine Spectator’s Bruce Sanderson, the outstanding 96 pt. 2019 Caiarossa is at the top of its game, an elegant Italian red blend with subtle, integrated power and long-lived tannic structure, standing shoulder to shoulder with its Super Tuscan competitors and ready to enjoy for over a decade for a fraction of the price |