Aia Vecchia - 2011 Lagone "super Tuscan" (Italy)

Today's review is of an Italian blend that's been hanging around my cellar for a few years, courtesy of friend and wine merchant Charles Bissell. I served this wine when I had some friends over for dinner; I made pan-fried pork cutlets battered with lemon juice, flour, and cracked black pepper.

The Aia Vecchia winery is a relatively new winery located in Tuscany, Italy. Their website touts the "wonderful climate" and "cool spring breezes" of Tuscany; I don't know how much wine they've had while writing that because when I was Tuscany, during the spring, it was so hot I felt like I'd melt into the ground.

Anyways, since I don't review Italian wines too often (I'm a French red man, myself), it bears discussing a bit about Italian viticultural naming conventions. This wine is indicated as Toscana IGT, which stands for Indicatzione Geografica Tipica. Remember what I said in previous posts about the protected labels? IGT is Italy's version of France's AOC or the US's AVA. It's like a trademark for wine, so when you're drinking a true Toscana IGT you know you're getting the real deal from Tuscany, produced under a certain set of regulations.

This wine is what vintners call a "super Tuscan" - that is, a blend of various Tuscan wines into one blend. It can be made from any number of Tuscan wines, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sangiovese, or Merlot, and even some rarer, non-Itlaian grapes like the French Bordeaux varietal Petit Verdot. Today's wine is 60% Merlot, with a smaller contribution of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

According to Wine Spectator, a "super Tuscan" is a term coined by Tuscan wine producers who wanted to escape the restrictive legal rules surrounding Chianti production, and to create a blend using a variety of non-canon grapes. They needed a term "to distinguish their wines from the inexpensive, low-quality wines that were associated with the term vino da tavola, or "table wine", that they were [otherwise] forced to put on the label." 

Some of these wines can get pricey. I believe I spent around $24 for this bottle; some fine "super Tuscans" can push $250. But anyways - the wine:

Look at that red color! There was a noticeable aroma of alcohol and berry flavors right in the glass. I did the usual thing, and let it sit for a few minutes in the glass to it can open up. I'm also amending a previous habit - in the past, I used to uncork the wine, pour a little out, and then recork it and gently give it a few shakes before repouring. I'm now told that method is only good for certain wines, since shaking in that manner could disturb the delicate sediments of some wines. So, I didn't shake this wine, I just let it open up in the glass.

I really like how ripe the wine tastes. Lots of full flavor here, no thinness whatsoever and no overpowering alcohol flavors. It's got a good balance - not like the overly-berry R|Collection field blend (although that was good in its own way!) but also not thin or acidic. The finish has a nice little bite of tannins that I like as well. The flavor is nicely balanced, and I found it paired well with the meal I served. This is my first adventure into an Aia Vecchia wine, but I'm sure to seek it out again. In fact, recently at a work happy hour, I tried a Vermentino by Aia Vecchia and really liked it.