Wine review!  I know it isn’t craft beer, but hey, we like good wine here too, right?  I know I do.   CaseMates.com sent me a bottle of Frog’s Tooth’s 2016 Sangiovese to try in advance of today’s offer, so I figured I’d post my review here as well for readers who are interested in the wine world as well.

First – This is a young wine, significantly more so than the other 2016 Cali Sangiovese examples I’ve had recently (Benessere and Pedroncelli) and to really bring out its strengths it will need to either be laid down for awhile, or spend a few hours in a decanter.

We drink our reds warm, so after it arrived Thursday afternoon, it went into the wine fridge to be chilled to a balmy 64F.   Popped it Saturday evening and left it to sit for an hour before pouring, and then for another half an hour in the glass before trying it. I’d give the tasting notes, but really it suffices to say that it wasn’t ready, so put a stopper in and left it for another go on Sunday.

Sunday evening, tried a taste and it wasn’t noticeably different, so the rest of the bottle went in the decanter for two and a half hours or so.  That, and a bit of time in the glass made all the difference.

The alcohol is fairly high at 15.3% ABV, and it’s noticeable in all phases, though it moved  from overpowering in the first tasting to a consistently present undertone in the final tasting.

The nose has pronounced cherry, and I got some leather, my wife got some earthy notes.

In the middle the cherry notes dominate.  I also got a bit of plum and a tiny hint of vanilla. Acidity is on the high side, though it dropped a bit after the decanting.  It’s tannic, and the tannins are still firm and well structured and give it a substantial drying finish.  The body is full and robust.

Ultimately, it was a really nice, straight-forward wine, balanced and full bodied, not a lot of complexity but a cherry central theme very much in keeping with the style of a California Sangiovese.