I loved this relatively inexpensive wine from the Sesti family’s Castello di Argiano when I tasted it in London recently alongside the likes of Ornellaia and Sassicaia 2002 (see my forthcoming tasting notes on Supertuscans in great vintages on purple pages for details).
This is the same wine as will eventually be sold as Armit Italian Red 2003 once the London fine wine merchant has worked its way through its stock of, to my palate, much less toothsome 2002. It’s 100 per cent Sangiovese grown on this well-run Montalcino estate – presumably the more forward fruit that would not be suitable for Brunello – aged for six months in medium-sized oak vats. As a result all its edges are delightfully smooth, and I suppose the intensity of the 2003 summer has reduced Sangiovese’s naturally high acidity to unprecedentedly low levels. So much the better perhaps in the case of this modest wine designed for – guess what? – drinking. You could happily enjoy this wine already for its combination of life, tang, and rich fruit. It bodes well for the 2003 vintage in central Tuscany, obviously very different from 2002.
The same producer’s Rosso di Montalcino 2003 is much more backward, the Armit Italian Red 2002 much lighter. I thoroughly commend this wine at its special price (until Thursday) of £66 a dozen in bond from Armit which, according to my calculations, works out at £95.37 a case inc VAT and duty. Full price will be £126 a dozen inc VAT and duty so do not delay if you are interested. The wine has not quite emerged from the bureaucratic nightmare that is Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise so you could not walk away with a case tonight, but if you enjoy the unique charms of fully ripe, typically Tuscan red, this wine should soon be available as a delicious herald of long summer days and, especially, nights.