Castagna Sauvage 2003

The Castagna description of the makeup of this wine: "Made from single-vineyard, estate-grown shiraz, with a touch of viognier and a dollop of sangiovese."

I recently had my last bottle of this, which is essentially de-classified Castagna shiraz from the smoke-hit 2003 vintage in Beechworth. Unlike most of the smoke-year wines I've had, this did improve with age. There are smoke characters here, but they thread and fold through a wine of real interest. A meaty wine, wildness with a spit-shine.

Not until this last bottle did I really have a sense that there was sangiovese at work here, but I am now thinking that perhaps the savoury note it provides, as well as the different line of tannin and acid, played a crucial part in balancing out the pretty characters of shiraz-viognier and the smoke below.

Anyway, my few bottles of this, drunk over several years, have been fascinating and thought-provoking, including to my preconception that smokey wines are best used as marinades.

Beechworth, King Valley, Glenrowan: 3 parts Italian

Got back last night from a weekend in Northern Victoria. The major drawcard was the first open day at Castagna in Beechworth. I consider the Castagna La Chiave straight sangiovese and the Un Segreto 'super-Beechworth' syrah-sangiovese blend some of the top Italian wines in Australia and have been purchasing Castagna wines for several years.

But the trip also meant I could look at the Italian wines of Chrismont at their new cellar door in the King Valley, and then cross the Hume Highway to look at the 1919 vines trebbiano from Booths Taminick Cellars at Glenrowan.

Highlights for me:
- the 2004 La Chiave sangiovese from Castagna has developed beautifully with years of growth still to come, though the Genesis syrah and Sparkling Genesis were the standout Castagna wines
- the Chrismont prosecco had all the dangerous drinkability of good cava, but their Barbera was the most impressive Italian in the range
- at $14 a bottle, sourced from trebbiano vines planted in 1919, with some attractive fruit and flesh on the midpalate, the 1919 Taminick Cellars trebbiano seriously over-delivers.

Each visit deserves a separate write-up, but the two days as a whole confirmed the prospects of three northern Victorian regions to make distinctive and interesting wines from Italian grape varieties.

The image, taken by Tammy, is of the 2008 Genesis syrah, looking out to the Castagna vineyard.

Pizzini Sangiovese 2008

To me, there is a kind of triangle of styles with sangiovese in Australia. There is Coriole's well-made and well-marketed sangiovese from McLaren Vale, priced at under $20 rrp a bottle. There is the small-volume and high quality boutique sangiovese from Castagna in Beechworth, in the over $50 rrp bracket.

At the third point in this triangle is Pizzini, with their entry level sangiovese in the $25-$30 price range. Pizzini also do a super-premium Rubacuori version of their sangiovese at a super-premium price.

In the past, I have enjoyed vintages of the basic Pizzini sangiovese, but have never quite been convinced that it offers good value for money compared to the Coriole basic wine. With the 2008 Pizzini release, from a challenging King Valley vintage, I think I am changing my mind.

The wine opens attractively, with bright red fruits to smell. The fruit has real depth of flavour, especially through the somewhat sweet mid-palate. The acid and tannin profiles are varietal and settled, as is the oak presence. The fruit built in weight and length on the second night. For $27 a bottle, this is Australian sangiovese of genuine interest.

On the first night, this matched well with a 1kg t-bone steak done in bistecca alla fiorentina style. As the fruit put on weight for night two, the wine then matched well with a wet-roast of organic lamb leg, borlotti beans and rosemary.