Opening up a ray of sunshine- 2004 Querciabella Palafrena

I love to get excited about a wine. And a great Italian red is squarely in my wheelhouse when I need a wine to be excited about.

Delivering on this promise is a beautifully vibrant wine made from 100% Merlot, and grown in the biodynamically-farmed marlstone soils of Greve in Chianti Classico. Querciabella’s Palafreno was first made in 2000, and since then it’s become one of the estate’s top wines.

The production is intensive – low yields are harvested and destemmed into stainless steel and concrete tanks for long and slow fermentation. After 12 months of élevage in new and one-year old barriques from Allier, Tronçais and Vosges – top lots are assembled and put back into barrel for 6 additional months.

Mine was a bottle of Querciabella 2004 Palafrena, Toscana IGT; received as a gift from a friend and brought along to a great little Italian restaurant where I live for a special occasion dinner. With 2004 being a top recent Tuscan vintage, I hoped to find this coming into its own. What was readily apparent upon opening was the beautiful tension between rusticity and refinement.

Dark and dense in the glass – it featured aromas of cedar, black olive, black cherry and dried lavender. It quickly came to life with a palate of generous dark fruit of the Merlot along with the dusty earthy mineral and dried floral notes reminiscent of Chianti Classico. It had vivacious, rich, and rustic characteristics – finishing with sharp acid and leathery gritty tannin, along with good length and concentration.

This had great flavor, depth, nerve and structure. It showed the highlights and excitement of Bordeaux varietals in Tuscany along with that salt-of-the-earth realness that is so awesome in the great reds of Italy. I loved it – definitely one to get excited about. ($85, still some availability online, drink/hold). 

Oh how I've missed you

In my past life I worked for a wine distributor. There's plenty not to miss- namely participating in the evils of the three tier system, schlepping wine in the hot summer, unrealistic quotas on wines that customers don't want, and crazy bosses (and buyers). What I have missed is the variety of wines that I was able to taste- most specifically Italian wines.

I'd been craving Sangiovese and was able to fill the void with a nice little Chianti Classico on the wine list at Cecco in Solvang CA. At $10 by-the-glass and $32 by-the-bottle it looked like the perfect dinner companion.

Principe Corsini Le Corti 2007 Chianti Classico comes from Corsini's Villa Le Corti hillside vineyards in Chianti Classico; 95% Sangiovese and 5% Canaiolo from alluvial and rocky soils. Fermentation begins with selected indigenous yeasts and the wine is aged 12 months in cement tanks and large wood casks prior to bottling.


Upon opening, the wine had an aggressive earthiness and angular acidity, but there was enough fruit to suggest that the wine would come together. With a little air and the wonderful vibrant flavors of the food, the fruit really came to fore and very pleasantly rounded out the wine. It showed nice structure with balanced flavors and fine tannins. It was a very nice Chianti Classico that was well-priced and well-chosen for the list. 


I'd rate this is a solid (I like!) with extra consideration for value (retails between $15 and $20).