One could easily believe sangiovese intended to defy winemakers.
The grape becomes stubborn when transplanted from home, even to more favorable grounds. It mocks the growing season by ripening late and tempting frost. And it delights in aggravating those who dare to continue. The many clones of sangiovese peak at different times in the field and show inconsistent flavors in the bottle.
For a time, sangiovese held the advantage over those who sought to refine it.
“There were some early sangioveses that were not that impressive,” observed Kelseyville winemaker Nick Buttitta.
The wine was so resentful of its new home that sangiovese remains a limited planting in the U.S. For a time it even frustrated even Robert Mondavi’s effort to bring more Italian varietals to the new world.
Because of his experience tasting the first efforts, Buttitta resisted planting sangiovese. But Rosa d’Oro is dedicated to Italian wines. Eventually he turned over a plot of the Kelsey bench to the grape — but only after he learned the reason for the varietal’s defiant attitude.
Buttitta spent time at an Italian vineyard. He picked up on the few clones favored by old world vintners for their quality, settling on four for Rosa d’Oro. And he followed their time honored process.
Actually, he went a step further, planting three of the vine clones in an east-west orientation, while turning the oldest clone north-south.
“The idea was to get that mix like the Italian guys are doing,” Buttitta said.
Like winemakers on the peninsula, who take advantage of the varietal’s difficult nature by harvesting at different ripeness levels, Buttitta picked the 2014 vintage on the same day. He ignored the science of sugar and acid calculations.
The result is a bright, fresh and wonderful wine.
On the nose Rosa d’Oro’s 2014 sangiovese is almost timid, as if reluctant to reveal its charms. Work the glass awhile, however, and genteel hints of ripe cherries and red plums begin to hover over the rim. It’s like a faded still life, hung in a shaded room adorned with forgotten roses, drying herbs and a trace of potpourri.
It is the varietal’s character to be deceitful, however. Take a sip and the wine springs to life, breaking with the cheerful chirp of red cherries and the glint of dew on ripe tomatoes. Plums sway in a light breeze. As the wine begins to gleam, it reveals a distant herb garden. This raspy contrast allows more nuanced impressions space, so you begin to glimpse cured figs in a weathered wooden bowl, clay tiles and tanned leather.
The strokes are deft, filling in the scene without distracting from the jubilant color of cherry.
Buttitta harvested the grapes in September of 2014. After pressing, however, he held on to the juice, fermenting in cooler temperatures, waiting until almost the new year to send it to barrels.
“We went low and slow with this one,” he explained. “The slower fermentation gave it more color.”
Rosa d’Oro’s sangiovese is indeed a pretty wine. But it has grace and charisma to support its appearance. And serves as a reminder that persistence can win over a reluctant grape.
“I’m not afraid of sangiovese anymore,” Buttitta said.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
