INSIDER'S PICK: 2015 S.A. AMPELEIA 'UNILITRO' COSTA TOSCANA IGT 1LIRTE

This is a wine that ticks off so many boxes on the 'fun wine' checklist it isn't even funny. High quality, great value, 'new' to most people yet remarkably traditional, and you get an extra 25% to pour around! While the vast majority of people think of Chianti when talking Tuscan wines, we often forget that a large portion of the region sits along the Mediterranean and has a very different climate than that around Florence and Sienna. The wine industry here is quite different as well, built mostly around everyday drinking without much of an eye for international markets. The style is more akin to the Rhone or Sicily/Sardinia, robust and warm fruited, and the grapes featured are Cannonau (or Grenache) and Carignan among others. In recent years producers like this are gaining more attention among consumers looking for 'Natural' wines as so much of their style is influenced by older traditions (neutral barrels or amphorae aging, native yeasts, lower sulfide usage) and there is enough production taking place that there is still value to be found.

A deep red in the glass but more transparent than most Cotes Du Rhone ones, the nose is all sun baked Mediterranean soil and dried cherries, which gain a bit of cranberry and cured meats as it opens up. On the palate the fruit gets even more savory and gamey, loaded with tart cherry and a dusty earth finish. This tastes absolutely nothing like your typical Tuscan wine, but even with grapes we usually connect with French wines the profile is distinctly Italian. This is a wine that DESERVES food, something hearty and loaded down with spicy sausage or a flavorful meat of some sort.

---