Antonio Camillo Ciliegiolo Vallerana Alta 2010 from c.50yo vines in Maremma is a lovely varietal Ciliegiolo. There is a very, very slight stinky edge to otherwise pure cherry aroma - but I love such a slight stink. It is only 13% abv so not among the bigger Maremmas. It is still relatively smooth if compared to Sangiovese but that doesn't mean this lacks structure. It has adequate acidity and tannin and is in fact perfectly moreish. I would perhaps prefer to call it gentle and fruity rather than understructured. Anyway, if this is the quality the grape can produce I'd like to explore more varietal versions. Are there any?
Podere Santa Felicita Sempremai Sorte Sortirà Cuna 2006 - Toscana IGT; 100% Abrustine
Ciliegiolo, one of which I recently wrote a note on, is a Tuscan grape some might have heard of. But Abrustine is almost extinct - AFAIK only the oenologist of this estate, Federico Staderini, grows any "serious" amount commercially and he has just under one hectare (2,4 acres). He has this plot of Abrustine in Casentino, the forest area in eastern Tuscany not so well known for wines.
I haven't really managed to find anything much about this wine or grape so if anyone knows anything, do let me know! Is it the same as Abrusco (which has a synonym Abrostine)? Because then there would be a whole 7ha in total of this grape variety. There is one producer, Le Tre Stelle, who is trying to revive Abrostine (Robinson & Vouillamoz's Wine Grapes). But the Internet says that there is one producer, this Sta. Felicita that I'm now sipping, who is trying to revive Abrustine. Robinson&Vouillamoz don't mention Abrustine at all as a synonym for Abrusco so I'm a bit confused.
It's a dark, bruiser of a wine. At first it smelled weird: like milk and coconut. Then such lactic aromas disappeared and a bitter dark fruit and herbaceousness started showing. I was afraid this was one of these wines made by a cult-oenologist that is just oak juice. But then I started to wonder if this really is oak: such a bitterness can come from excess oak but then it usually masks all the other aromas and sensations but it didn't in this wine. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid about oak - it wouldn't be the first time. Anyway, the palate is wonderfully tannic and has some very ripe fruit that gladly doesn't become dried in character (and only 13% which I'm a bit surprised about). It is very concentrated and I have to be honest, not extremely moreish. It is a genuinely interesting wine and not only for its obscurity; but I'm not so sure it's made in a style I really enjoy.
