2018 Annesanti Rosso 'Salto del Cieco'

Umbria, Italy

"Amici, this is a BRAND NEW vintage of this tasty wine from one of our favorite Girasole producers, Francesco Annesanti. We featured the 2017 vintage back in January of 2020. Just to remind you…This is a producer in the Girasole portfolio – and we are extremely excited and proud to be working with this talented and unique artisan. Paula and Marc were referred to this producer by one of their close friends and contacts in Italy. He met with them on one of their last trips to Italy and told them they HAD to try the Annesanti wines and “do whatever it takes” to sign him up. Though they trust this person implicitly, they had a healthy level of caution when they finally got to taste some of the wines. They were immediately blown away and set up a meeting with Francesco. Since he eschews the usual “fanfare” of wine shows and such and so does NOT attend Vinitaly, the biggest wine expo in Italy, hosted in Verona every April, he made special plans to drive the 3 hours from his farm up to the area to meet Paula and Marc for dinner. They hit it off and shook hands on a verbal agreement with him before they parted ways. Of note is the fact that Francesco secretly paid the bill ahead of time, so when Paula and Marc went to ask for it, the waiter politely told them it was “taken care of.” Francesco refused to take any money or any other type of repayment. When the Girasole team tasted the Annesanti wines for the first time a few years ago, after they had landed here in California – we too, were blown away by the purity, honesty, freshness and drinkability of these small production wines. Francesco even hand dips the bottles of his “high end, limited bottling” wines in wax himself! Folks, this is exciting stuff. We are bringing in some of the most unique and interesting wines from Italy here to our little home in Los Gatos/San Jose. Again, this man and his wines have NEVER been available anywhere on the West Coast ever before!" ~Mike Guerra, Advanced Sommelier

Whereas the 2017 vintage of “Il Rosso” was predominantly Barbera with a little Merlot, this wine is…100% Merlot! Fermented in “traditional” method: keeping the skin cap submerged, with daily pumping over. Wine is aged in stainless steel tanks, left to settle and clear naturally and bottled without filtration or stabilization during the waning phase of the moon, always on clear days.

Medium-bodied with soft, evident tannins and bright acidity. Loaded with dark, tart fruit, herbs, with subtle leather and floral notes. Flavors are bright, intense and pure. This is a minimally-manipulated, “natural” wine that offers a true glimpse into the grapes and their terroir, without influence of winemaking techniques or wood character.