This 100% Sangiovese from the Biondi-Santi family's Castello di Montepò estate in Tuscany's Maremma is a wine I can't stop thinking about since first tasting it in October of 2023. 'Maceone' is one of three distinct identified Crus of the 599-hectare Montepò estate. The others are Fontecanese and Poggio Ferro. I tasted all three of these forthcoming 2019 vintage releases - the first iteration of these Cru-labeled wines - which will be available in 2024. The Fontecanese (Cabernet Sauvignon-based) and Poggio Ferro (Sangiovese) are absolutely perfect, seamless wines, built for the ages, compact, and tightly knit. The Maceone is more giving and inviting today and is a viscerally thrilling red comprised entirely of the BBS 11 Sangiovese clone, planted on galestro soils between 268 and 304 metres. Native yeast fermentation and ageing in T5 barriques reveal an absolutely enticing nose that, with a bit of aeration, brings a cacophony of darkberry flavours to the surface, along with red currants, cigar box, tea leaves, black liquorice, and expressive garrigue notes. A splendid medium- to full-bodied core of crushed stone minerals supports pure blackberry and black cherry fruits, spiced plums, sandalwood, and unsmoked tobacco, all caressed by polished, satiny tannins and framed by a firm spine of juicy acidity. Seek these out. Number one of my top 10 wines of 2023.

The 100% BBS I I Clone Sangiovese that yielded this wine planted on mostly Galestro soils with some clay in the estate's east-facing Maceone plot, which sits between 880 and over 1,000 feet in elevation; it was fermented with native yeast and aged in T5 barriques. Aromas of deeply brooding blackerry, cedarwood, cassis, licorice, grilled herbs, and new leather introdude a full-bodied red featuring notes of espresso bean, cacao nib, graphite, and crushed rocks. Blood-orange acidity shows beautiful length with saline minerals and glassy, obsidian like tannins. Long, powerful finish.