Wine Region: Emilia-Romagna

(2025) Emilia-Romagna’s version of a Super Tuscan? That's according to Laithwaites for this Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese blend that is £17.99 as part of a mixed dozen. The wine was aged in French oak barrels for 11 months and, having left the grapes on the vine for a month later than normal, it has an almost Amarone touch. Chocolaty, spicy, a prune-like (but most definitely not stewed) character has sweetness and intense blueberry richness. The palate too has an Amarone intensity of dried fruits, spices and mocha, and that hit of sour cherry acidity. The barrel ageing has added softer, vanilla and cocoa touches in a big, bountiful wine with enough structure to offset the fruit sweetness.

(2024) I've slipped in this Charmat method wine just because it is a bit different and lot of fun. From the hills of Emilia-Romagna at around 350 metres this comes from an organic certified estate that prizes biodiversity. Several variants of the Lambrusco grape variety are used including Sorbara, Graparossa and Salamino. There's something joyous about the foaming, day-glo purple colour as this pours, the nose showing bitter cherry and chocolate, then the palate juicy but the tannins, as always with sparkling reds, giving that very dry, crisp finish.

(2024) It's fair to say I probably enjoyed this a little more than the fruity and pert Fiano in the same range, that feeling just a little bit too 'manufactured' for my tastes. This Sangiovese from Emilia-Romagna comes across as more straightforward and honest, plenty of cherry and red berry aromas, a hint of spice and smokiness, and a decent balance of acidity gives it freshness. Tannins also add a touch of rustic grip on the finish to make it quite a satisfying, if not terribly distinctive Sangiovese of good quality. Watch the video for more information.

(2022) A wine made from the Lambrusco grape, but not DOC Lambrusco. It is a fully sweet, deep red sparkling wine with 83g/l of residual sugar and only 7.5% alcohol. Classic chocolaty berries on the nose, with typical herbal edges that have a raspberry and pomegranate lift. Fully sweet on the palate, with easy-drinking sweetness and just the right balancing acidity. Try with a chunk of Parmesan.

(2016) A gentle, very nicely approachable wine, this is Sangiovese from Emilia-Romanga, and a fine expression of Sangiovese at its most Pinot-like, all tobacco and cherry, a touch of light gaminess, and mellow to the core. In the mouth it is medium-bodied and fresh, so nicely walking the line between sweet fruit openess and really quite a tight structural framework.

(2009) Spending about six months in oak tonneaux gives this wine a nicely cedary and pencil-shaving character as well as refined black berry fruit. There's just a touch of game too, in a subtle but complex nose. On the palate the impression of intelligent restraint and classical Sangiovese elegance structure continues, with a supple tannic edge and plenty of juciy cherry acidity sweeping through the ripe red fruit of the mid-palate. Finish with tang and savoury appeal, a very nicely made wine.

(2009) Though the name of this Sangiovese perhaps loses something in the translation, it is a real powerhouse of a wine from vineyards not far from the seaside resort of Rimini. It has a saturated colour and extremely dense, sinewy nose of meat-stock and savoury, olive-tinged black fruit. Intense, tight and concentrated on the palate too, this is a very serious wine at its modest price. The wine spends only a short period in older oak, so the muscular, grippy finish is all fruit and tannin. A real mouthful but noteworthy indeed at the price.

(2009) There is a freshness and cherry-ripe appeal on the nose of this wine, with a touch of something violetty and floral and a little vanilla softness. On the palate it is nicely balanced, with that bittersweet tension between ripe, cherry and bramble fruit and the edgy spice of the tannins and highish acidity. This makes the wine lively and firm on the finish, with a crisp, savoury appeal.

(2009) Dark and vinous, there are notes of cherry and crushed blackberry and blueberry to this wine. On the palate the fruit strikes more sweetly than the nose suggests, with and intense kirsch-like fruitiness before a really dark and liquoricy bittersweet twist begins to grow on the mid-palate. Sinewy and even verging on the austere, but in a good way making this a food-friendly, savoury wine that seems honest and forthright with grippy tannins and good acidity.

(2009) In the hands of the Drei Donà family since the 19th century, this estate has been moved steadily upward in quality under current owner Count Claudio Drei Donà, and this top wine is made from old-vine Sangiovese aged in French oak tonneaux and barrique for 18 months. It has a lovely nose, with dark, cherry, raisin and blackcurrant fruit infused with incense and a touch of tobacco. On the palate the fruit is really very sweet and elegant, a firm, fine tannin structure keeping an edge through the mid-palate and balancing acidity extending the finish. There's a real vivacity to this wine.