If you are visiting us for the first time, Welcome! The Wine Spies feature one exceptional wine each day – and we only bring you wines that we ourselves seek out and love. Always, the wines are great. Sometimes even better than that, as is the case with today’s wine from Deerfield Ranch Winery.

Mission Codename: Tuscany, California

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Investigate California wineries and locate a perfect Sangiovese

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Deerfield Ranch Winery

Wine Subject: 2003 Deerfield Ranch Sangiovese

Winemaker: Robert Rex (Michael Brown, Assistant Winemaker)

Backgrounder: The most widely planted grape in all of Italy, Sangiovese is used in everything from blended inexpensive table wines like Chianti, to the finest Super Tuscans. Italian immigrants introduced this varietal to the U.S. in the 1800’s. It is even reported that this grape was first planted near Geyserville, California, at the Segheshio Family’s “Chianti Station”. A few miles to the north, in Lake County, the Roumiguiere family grows Sangiovese for Deerfield Ranch Winery. This magical pairing was rumored to have created some great Sangiovese and we sent Agent Red to investigate. Read his tasting noted and his mission report to learn more about today’s old-world-in-California wine

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Shimmering burgundy with concentrated color at its heart and out to its edges, with a very bouncy-looking surface and fat, widely-spaced legs that take their time moving down the glass

Smell – Deeply perfumed layers of blueberry, strawberry, orange rind, plum and violet with a mild stemmy note

Feel – Bright and cool, sliding quickly across the from palate, then the wine coats the mid-palate, focusing the majority of its effects and flavors there

Taste – Bright again, with sweet fruit flavors of strawberry, white cherry, white plum and blueberry that sparkle up-front. Then, theslightest tartness sets in with violet, tart cherry and sweet wood set in

Finish – A slightly dry long and lingering finish with flavors that go ofrom sweet to tart, making your mouth water

Conclusion – Robert Rex, you’ve done it again. You have demonstrated to us your ability to bottle superb wine after superb wine. With this Sangiovese you have crafted a wine that blends the best of both worlds, delivering an old-world Italian wine with California flair. This wine is fruity, but not a fruit bomb. It is refined and balanced, but not boring, subdued or dull. The wine is bright and fun, with loads of character and delicious aromas and flavors.

SPECIAL NOTE: For best results with this wine, be sure to follow these two simple guidelines: 1) Decant this wine for 4 or more hours. Trust me, this is a very different wine on first-open than it is after time spent in the air. 2) After you receive your shipment, allow at least a week before opening as this is a very sensitive wine. It does not like to be jostled. According to the winery, allow up to two weeks for best results. If you follow these two pieces of advice, you will get much more pleasure from this wine.

Mission Report:

EYES ONLY INTERNAL MEMO. CLASSIFIED: LEVEL OMEGA

Rival factions have attempted to infiltrate Wine Spies ranks in order to prevent us from bringing our Operatives the best wines. Particularly irksome to these entities is the fact that we also continuously secure only the best wines that are available.

As an Operative, you know that our secret is simple; Our love for great wine, and the care and detail with which we sleuth out our wines matter greatly – to both you and to our wineries. As an Operative, this is why you joined us; you value our ability to find you only the best wines.

For our wineries, offering our operatives their best wines assures them that the people enjoying their wines are dedicated wine lovers that will, in turn, share these wines with other Operatives and assets. While we hesitate to use the word “fad”, we do know that The Wine Spies, along with you, our Operatives, have spurned more than a few wines on to great success. We are proud of that fact and we are proud of you for doing your part – with enjoying incredible wines.

On the subject of incredible wines, today’s wine is the most recent example of our ability to procure exceptional offerings. This Sangiovese from Deerfield Ranch Winery, is a beautiful mix of old-world authentic Italian, and California. “Calitalian”??

Robert Rex is a master winemaker and his experience shows with each sip you take of his 2003 Sangiovese. While some winemakers approach their trade as a chemist would, developing wines in a lab, Robert take a more artistic approach. Robert himself, told us that, “Wine making is more like cooking than chemistry”.

When we opened a bottle of this wine with him recently, Robert told us, “My Sangiovese is made from an Italian grape variety, with California know-how. It is a bright and fruity wine that goes well with most foods. Try more dairing pairings and give the wine time to breathe for maximum enjoyment! Most of all, enjoy!”

We thank you, Robert (and all of the great folks at the winery!), for making this wine available to our Operatives.

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Deerfield Ranch Winery region can be seen in this satellite photo.