Last week a bottle of Cesanese was gifted to me from a Roman friend.
Until yesterday, I had never tasted a Cesanese before, but only knew from books that it’s a red wine that has charming red cherry, spice and rose petal aromas with low acidity and tannins.
In order to verify, I decided to do a blind tasting.
Aside from the Cesanese, another bottle of red wine was also opened. They were poured into two glasses. I had no clue which was what.
First, I tasted the Vespa one:
- Appearance: pale ruby
- Aroma: pronounced red cherry, black pepper, violet, rose
- Flavour: pronounced red cherry, black pepper, rose, chocolate, slight tingliness
- Structure: dry, medium acidity, low tannins, medium body, medium finish
Based on my notes, this one was very much like the Cesanese mentioned in books. But the other one could also be Cesanese. I had to taste to be sure.
Then, I tasted the bike one:
- Appearance: medium ruby
- Aroma: muffled blackberry, wood, barely perceptible
- Flavour: muffled wood
- Structure: dry, medium acidity, medium tannins, medium body, short finish
This glass took away my smile given by the first glass. Bad wine is like food: a good mood terminator.
Aroma and flavour-wise, the first glass was more like a Cesanese, but if I called the first one Cesanese, it’d mean the second one, a mediocre red, had come from a bottle belonging to my cellar. It would be too embarrassing to admit this.
“The Vespa one is Cesanese.” So be it.
“You’re right!”
Now came the hard part, I had to guess which the second wine was.
My first guess was a French, because I’d hardly ever encountered any Italian wines this closed up when it comes to aromas.
“No, it’s Italian.”
“Any clue?”
“It’s from a region you know well.”
“A region I know well? This colour intensity cannot be Nebbiolo or Sangiovese. Primitivo?” I now based my guess completely on the colour, because the aromas and flavours were all but nonexistent.
“No.”
“Montepulciano?”
“Wrong.”
“Okay, I give up. Just tell me.”
“It’s Chianti Classico.”
“No way! Which one?”
“Castellare.”
Castellare is a famous Chianti Classico estate. A few months back, we saw a special offer at the supermarket and brought back this 2022 Chianti Classico with great expectations. But yesterday it filled us with pure disappointment.
To start with, the colour wasn’t right. 95% Sangiovese plus 5% Canaiolo and other local varieties was unlikely to make a red with a ruby colour of this intensity. Then the aromas and flavours, except for a hint of blackberry and wood, I couldn’t sense anything, which was absolutely atypical of a Chianti Classico. Castellare is such a well-known winery that they shouldn’t have made a wine like this to smash its reputation. So I thought the wine might be corked. But after tasting it again, I was certain it wasn’t corked.
Had there been only me, my judgement could’ve been a biased one, but I wasn’t alone. The other professionally-trained taster in my family also confirmed the quality of this Chianti Classico to be “meh”.
Now back to the Cesanese. Despite the relatively low acidity, the overall structure of the wine was very well-balanced, and the vivacious yet elegant peppery aroma and flavour delightfully reminded me a lot of a Ruché. I enjoyed this Cesanese very much.
Glad that my first encounter with Cesanese was a lovely one.
