ONLINE TASTING: Spotlight on Sangiovese

PLEASE NOTE: If you book after 12pm on Thursday 7th July, tasting kits are not guaranteed to arrive in time for the live event (U.K. addresses only). They will be posted out as soon as possible. As a reminder, anyone registered for this tasting will also have access to the tasting recording (from the next working day), so if you are worried about not receiving your kit in time, rest assured you will be able to watch the recording at any time that is convenient for you.

Enjoy a rather special evening discovering the most important black variety from Italy - Sangiovese. We have expertly selected a range of world-class wines crafted from this famous variety from its spiritual home of Tuscany, plus Umbria, Emilia-Romagna and even France (Corsica) and the new world. Included in the tasting is the supertuscan Tignanello which is majorly crafted from Sangiovese, and famed for being one of the original supertuscans. As always on these tastings, wine school founder Jimmy Smith will be including full WSET examiner’s tasting notes.

Rather attend an in-person tasting? We are hosting this same tasting again at our flagship venue in West London on Tuesday 20th September 2022 at 7:00pm.

Sangiovese

Sangiovese is and has always been THE dominant grape of central Italian red wines, and Chianti in particular. Because in the mid-20th century Chianti was frequently lightened with the addition of tart, pale-skinned Trebbiano grapes and stretched by the addition of fuller reds imported in bulk from the south of Italy and the islands, it was far from easy to determine what Sangiovese's innate qualities were. It has been only in the last couple of decades, thanks to a systematic research programme by producers in the Chianti Classico heartland of the greater Chianti region, that the myriad clones of Sangiovese grown all over central Italy have been studied and assessed.

Sangiovese's dominant viticultural characteristics are that it can vary as much as Pinot Noir in its sensitivity to place and that it ripens relatively late. Today, fine Sangiovese is an altogether nobler wine. It will be the product of much lower yields so that there is real concentration of colour and savour. As for the elusive flavour of pure Sangiovese, it ranges in a spectrum somewhere between mulberries, prunes, spice, tobacco, sometimes leather and chestnuts (there seems to be some common thread of colour here!) It tends to be savoury rather than sweet, and if not fully ripe can smell distinctly farmyard-like.

Tasting Date: Tuesday 12th July 2022 at 7:30pm (the tasting will last approximately 2 hours)

TASTING FEE STRUCTURE:

For this special two-hour tasting, a wine tasting kit is included in the listed price which includes a 50ml tasting sample of each wine. Note: Tasting kits will be despatched to attendees within the week leading up to the tasting. 

Tasting kit delivery can be made to anywhere within the UK. Deliveries may be available to other European destinations for an additional cost - please email us at info@westlondonwineschool.com if you are interested in receiving a tasting kit to a destination outside of the U.K before purchase.

DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE A TASTING KIT? We understand that not everyone will want to receive the wine samples, and would rather just register to participate in the online evening without the wines. That is absolutely fine! The fee to just register for this evening without receiving a tasting kit is £10. Just enter the promotional code: 65REGONLY when checking out to ensure you just pay the registration cost. 

TASTING FORMAT:

We will host this exclusive tasting live at 7:30pm on Tuesday 12th July 2022. This single-evening tasting will be approximately 2 hours in length. 

Unable to commit on the evening? No problem! Anyone registered for this tasting will gain access to the video recording of the live event, so you can always revisit any of these at anytime in the future - whether its because you missed participating in the live evening or if you want to revisit the presentation at a later date.

Wines Included in Tasting Kit (8 wines):

Tuscany

• Villa Antinori Tignanello, IGT Toscana, 2016 (Supertuscan)
• Villa Caffagio, DOCG Chianti Classico, 2018
• Villa di Ventrice, DOCG Chianti Rufina, 2015
• Campogiovanni, DOCG Brunello di Montalcino, 2016 (96 Decanter)

Umbria

• Lungarotti, Rubesco, DOC Rosso di Torgiano, 2015

Emilia-Romagna

• Armigero, DOC Sangiovese di Romagna, Riserva, 2016

Corsica

• Domaine Alzipratu, Cuvee Fiumeseccu, AOC Corse Calvi, 2020

New World

• TBC

RATHER ATTEND THIS TASTING IN-PERSON? We are hosting this same tasting again at our flagship venue in West London on Tuesday 20th September 2022 at 7:00pm.