Rocca di Frassinello 2008

Intense ruby red in color. The nose has fruity notes of red berry fruit, plums, blackberry, balsamic notes, sweet spices, tobacco leaf and licorice. The taste is warm, soft, intense and balanced, with elegant tannins, good acidity and a long finish.

Deep ruby. Initially reticent nose hints at deep red and black fruits complicated by aromatic herbs and flowers. Silky and sweet on entry then rather powerful in the middle with a firm spine of acidity giving lift and cut to the wine's black fruit tar and spice flavors. This really spreads out to saturate the palate and features noticeably smoother higher-quality tannins than the other two wines made at this estate. The long finish features a saline quality.

Intense ruby red in color. The nose has fruity notes of red berry fruit plums blackberry balsamic notes sweet spices tobacco leaf and licorice. The taste is warm soft intense and balanced with elegant tannins good acidity and a long finish.

Here’s a mature red wine from Maremma, Tuscany with ripe notes of cherry, chocolate, prune and black plum followed by exotic spice and spicy mesquite flavors. The wine is sweet, round and slightly jammy in the mouth but washes over the palate with generosity and intensity.

Here’s a mature red wine from Maremma Tuscany with ripe notes of cherry chocolate prune and black plum followed by exotic spice and spicy mesquite flavors. The wine is sweet round and slightly jammy in the mouth but washes over the palate with generosity and intensity.

Deep ruby. Initially reticent nose hints at deep red and black fruits complicated by aromatic herbs and flowers. Silky and sweet on entry, then rather powerful in the middle, with a firm spine of acidity giving lift and cut to the wine's black fruit, tar and spice flavors. This really spreads out to saturate the palate, and features noticeably smoother, higher-quality tannins than the other two wines made at this estate. The long finish features a saline quality.

The estate’s top bottling, the 2005 Rocca di Frassinello, is 60% Sangiveto, 20% Merlot, and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in French oak. It opens with gorgeous aromatics that waft from the glass, inviting the taster to discover the wine’s layered expression of crushed flowers, raspberries, spices and sweet toasted oak. This feminine wine reveals a restrained style of winemaking. It offers outstanding length and balance, although like all wines in this vintage, the tannins are a bit of an issue. Still, all things considered, this is a fine, polished effort from Rocca de Frassinello. Anticipated maturity: 2010–2020.