La Selva Ciliegiolo 2007

Our final bottle brought back from Tuscany...(sigh)... We were hanging on to this one for sentimentality sake when, while visiting with Roland Krebser (the winemaker himself!) in NY, we were ordered to drink it.

EXPERIENCE
The cork has a very light hint of fruit. The first nose has notes of truffle, dark fruit, and cherries. The first taste has a jammy cherry flavor on the tongue with a semi-tart dry finish. Medium body with a good balance of fruit, acid, and earthy tannins throughout the tasting. The cherry aroma that ciliegiolo is known for is ever present, but never overwhelming. Though we never talk about terroir, this is a great and obvious example for us. Here you have a very unique grape with strong characteristics, but the resultant wine has many of the same characteristics of La Selva's other wines and of the region in general. A great wine and lesson to be learned all in one bottle!

VERDICT
GREAT VALUE - This was one of our favorite wines from all of our Italian travels, and that memory holds true. A really unique grape made into an excellently balanced and interesting wine. Of course... you can't get it here in the US, but hopefully that will change soon. It looks like the wine sells for around 20 Euros in Europe... if you can find some, get it!

FACTS
This IGT wine is made from 100% organic ciliegiolo grapes at La Selva's winery near Magliano in Toscana in the beautiful Maremma region of Southwest Tuscano. The wine is vinified in stainless steel and aged in oak barriques for 8 months before being bottled. We have had the great fortune of being in touch with the winemaker, Roland Krebser, after meeting him during a tour of the winery. According to the man himself, his wines are meant to be drank young. So forget about sticking these in the cellar and buy a case to drink now!