Rocca di Frassinello Ornello – The Best of France AND Italy

40% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 20% Syrah from Maremma, Tuscany, Italy.

SRP of $29 and available for as low as $19.99.

From the bottle:

“Tasting Notes: A wine of outstanding personality. Deep ruby red in color, with pleasant notes of chocolate and vanilla. Intense and full-bodied with a long finish. It is the perfect accompaniment to all kinds of red meat dishes and aged cheeses.

13.5% Alcohol”

Today’s wine comes from the Rocca di Frassinello winery in Tuscany which was created as a joint venture between Castellare di Castellina and Lafite (Barons de Rothschild), two renowned wineries — the first from Italy and the second from France. This isn’t necessarily a guarantee of good wine, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

The 2009 Rocca Di Frassinello Ornello begins with nice floral aromas of lavender, violet and sage plus other dried herbs, vanilla and ripe red and black cherry. Tasting the wine reveals a good amount of oak, so you’ll want to give this one some time to open up. You’ll also find soft tannins along with lots of juicy fruit (blackberry and black cherry) mixed with cola and vanilla flavors. The juicy fruit continues on the dry, long finish and turns into mocha notes at the very end. Excellent!

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.

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