Piazzano Ventoso Sangiovese 2019 (Tuscany) - Wine Review

Tonight's wine review is a lovely Tuscan red wine made with Sangiovese. A new arrival, it comes to the LCBO as part of the upcoming January 8th LCBO VINTAGES Release and is featured as a Smart Buy and a $17 solution as a great-value wine in this release.

Fattoria di Piazzano has been in the Bettarini family since 1948, when Otello Bettarini, who had a great interest in astronomy fell in love with the village and region, decided to move from Prato to the area among the hills, south of Empoli. Soon after moving, the family's main activity was winegrowing. Otello and his nephew, Riccardo, would be the first members of the family to work the vineyards and advance the progress of the estate, with Riccardo eventually managing the estate on his own.

At the end of the 1990s, Riccardo entrusted the estate to his children Rolando and Ilaria to continue the traditions, passion and tenacity that was handed down to them. Today, the estate continues to be family-run with Rolando responsible for everything related to winemaking, while Ilaria focuses on the foreign market and administration. Rolando's wife, Michela, focuses on the Italian market.

Although the family has gained great experience over the years, the family does use a consultant winemaker, Attilio Pagli, and other collaborators and technicians to ensure the wines are of high quality while also having respect for the environment and ensuring eco-sustainability to keep the land as healthy as possible. In this context, Piazzano has chosen to use only energy produced from renewable sources.

I've had the pleasure of tasting a number Piazzano wines in this past. This red wine is crafted mainly with Sangiovese, but also includes some Canaiolo, Malvasia Nera, and Trebbiano in the final blend. All of the grapes were grown on clay-loam soils with rock fragments and planted with sun exposure to the south, south-west, and north. After manual and mechanical harvesting, the grapes were sorted, de-stemmed, and pressed. It was fermented and aged in concrete tanks to preserve freshness and fruitiness. By many accounts, the 2019 vintage in Tuscany was extremely good. Although the growing season was marked by extreme heat, life-saving rains in mid-summer proved crucial. Let's see how this red wine from Tuscany is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

PIAZZANO VENTOSO SANGIOVESE 2019 - IGT Toscana, Italy (#22761) (XD) - $17.00
Mainly Sangiovese with Canaiolo, Malvasia Nera, and Trebbiano completing the blend, the fragrant nose has funky barnyard and earthy notes off the top, layered over red flowers, red cherry, blackberry, and forest floor aromas. On the medium+ bodied palate it is rustic and savoury with wet earth, red & black fruited, and clove flavours supported by fresh, well-balanced acidity and fine-grained, lightly grippy tannins. Juicy with earthy, savoury, clove, and cocoa notes linger on the long, persistent finish. Really quite nice in a rustic, savoury profile. Recommended buy! Score: 89 pts

Other lovely wines from Piazzano can be ordered through their Agent - Connexion Oenophilia.