Super Tuscan From Tenuta Luce

Located in Montalcino, Tuscany, - Toscana IGT - the Luce winery specializes in Super Tuscan wines.  La Vite Lucente is the estate's second bottling, a 50/50 blend of Sangiovese and Merlot.  The 2018 vintage was marked by rains in the winter and spring, which made up somewhat for the previous year's drought.  The summer was temperate and dry.

The 2018 Lucente was aged for a year in a mix of new and used barriques.  Alcohol hits 14.5% abv and the wine retails for $30.

This brilliant red wine presents itself elegantly, with a nose that marries the fruit of Sangiovese with the smoke of Merlot.  Dark fruit is what you smell, with a bit of vanilla and spice from the wood.  The wine drinks spectacularly, with a full mouthfeel, soft tannins and a long-lasting finish.  My friendly neighborhood publicist feels that it is a great wine with which to toast a strong, bold woman on International Women’s Day on March 8, 2022.

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Well-Aged Italian Wine Delivers Finesse

Silvio Nardi made agricultural equipment and decided one day that he wanted to do more with the land than provide the tools to till it.  He bought a vineyard in 1950 as a hobby.  That hobby is now his wine company, which is run these days by his daughter, Emilia, and her brothers.

The 2007 Silvio Nardi Rosso di Montalcino was made from grapes grown in the two Nardi vineyards in the Montalcino area of Tuscany.  Nardi claims that the two estates feature completely different soils and growing conditions, and that the grapes from Casale del Bosco provide the wine's elegance and complexity, while the fruit of Manachiara takes care of structure and power.  It is a full varietal Sangiovese wine.  The grapes were destemmed before pressing and the wine was aged for 12 months in new and used oak.  Alcohol hits about 12.5% abv and it sold for somewhere between $20 and $30 a decade ago when it was purchased.

This wine is 12 years old now, and it is almost brown, with garnet only at the core.  The nose is amazing, showing dried cherry, leather and black olive aromas.  The palate is savory and lithe, with a nutty trace and tannins which are no longer youthful but still firm.  It is still a good wine to pair with a steak or Bolognese sauce, maybe a rib roast.


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