Antinori Toscana Santa Cristina Sangiovese

Antinori Toscana Santa Cristina Sangiovese

Origin:
Toscana - Indicazione Geografica Tipica

Vintage:
2007

Grapes:
90% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot

Climate Vintage:
The particularly mild weather in 2007 caused early foliage development and in turn affected the harvest period, which was earlier than usual. The Merlot harvest took place from the first to the third weeks of September, while the Sangiovese grapes were harvested between the third week of September and the first week of October. Generally speaking the wine obtained shows intense colour and very typical aromas, remarkably weighty polyphenolic components and nice fine-grained tannins. The 2007 wines are therefore balanced, beautifully structured and very stylish.

Vinification:
After destemming and soft crushing maceration lasted about 1 week, in stainless steel vats. During this phase the wine completed alcoholic fermentation at temperatures no higher than 25°C. After racking the wine completed malolactic fermentation. It was then aged for six months in the S. Cristina in Cortona. After blending, light clarification and filtration, it was bottled in June 2008 Alcohol: 13% Vol

History:
The first vintage of Santa Cristina, 1946, was made by Marchese Niccolò Antinori, father of Piero Antinori.

Taste:
Ruby red colour with purple hues. Intense fresh fruit aromas with pleasant floral hints. Well-structured, generous, soft and harmonious. Sweet tannin and lingering fruit in the finish.

What does the Wine Spectator have to say? (who cares?)
ANTINORI Toscana Santa Cristina 2007 (85 points, $12)
"Aromas of fresh raspberry and flowers follow through to a medium-bodied palate, with an easygoing texture and a clean finish. Drink now."

--James Suckling

What do I say? For $12.99 you'll think you're drinking a $40 vintage.

What's Important?

For years it was being quick on a bike and living hard and fast for the moment. It's taken two-plus years without the bike to peel away dozens of onion-like layers to reveal what was at the core of that obsession with cycling, and why it became so easy to resort to drastic measures to stay competitive. It's also more clear to me why the thought of leaving the sport for a normal job (if you can call being a diplomat or a spook "normal") was so unthinkable...and something so scary to contemplate. Who says running away has to be done à pied?

Perhaps more on this to come sometime in the future, either in this blog or a book. But until then - stay frosty. I'm off to Ohio tomorrow to visit a sick relative and pass spectrally through my old, old 'hood.

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Italian migration policy draws fire

From the BBC, this story on Italian migration policy. As you read through the report, keep in mind this key line: "...most have no legal right to be in Italy."

"Italy has been transformed in recent decades from a nation of emigrants to a target country for mass immigration. Aidan Lewis reports on the Italian government's response to the tensions that have ensued, and the concerns raised by human rights groups and Italy's European partners.

Edward Ampadu stands with his companions in a damp, abandoned factory that is home for the winter to more than 600 African immigrants. There is just one tap, and the men are living in shelters made from cardboard boxes, squatting while they look for work picking citrus fruit in the fields of Calabria, on the country's southern toe.

Most arrived by a dangerous route through the Sahara desert and across the Mediterranean, and most have no legal right to be in Italy.

"Everybody here is struggling," says Edward, a 42-year-old from Ghana. A poor harvest means fewer jobs to go round this year, he says, and the migrants say they need help to survive..."

Full Story.

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