Well… not entirely, as this so called “Super Tuscan” is composed of only 50% Cabernet with the remainder being 20% Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot and some 10% Cabernet Franc. Using these Bordeaux varietals in Bolgheri has become pretty standard nowadays; it used to be revolutionary 35 years ago when Antinori initiated this movement illegaly (read the story here). Podere Sapaio is an estate that has only been founded in 1999 by a bunch of passionates wanting to express the best of a land composed of quaternary and flood deposits with sandy beds and calcarous soils. The estate has quickly established as a bargain Supertuscan (although it still costs around 40 Euro a bottle) – I managed to get my hands on a bottle of 2008, let’s see how it showed.
When I popped the cork and took a quick sip, I already knew I committed infanticide with this bottle. The wine showed quite closed with tannins not overly harsh, but still far from mellow and in harmony with the rest of the wine. It is a muscular wine, a compact wine I’d say. There’s good balance in a whole and a lot of matter. With some airing, more fruit aroma came through, but it never really unfolded as you would expect it from a ready wine. So if you open one bottle right now, make sure to drink it with the right food: An intense an somewhat fatty lamb shoulder for example. But it would still be better to wait another couple of years. I was a bit over-motivated in opening some good bottles for Christmas I guess… +-
