Santa Barbara Winery Mashio da Monte 2018

Ripe black fruit, bay leaf, musk and chocolate on the nose. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins. Rich and juicy with a plush texture and concentrated, fruity core. Drink from 2022.

The 2018 Rosso Piceno Il Maschio da Monte is darkly perfumed and dusty in character, with musky black cherries, giving way to brown spices, tobacco and hints of lavender. This is silky and elegant in feel, with a polished wave of ripe red and hints of blue fruit that gain a more tactile edge, as saline-minerals collect toward the close. Hints of licorice and rose linger long through the lightly structured finale, as this tapers off refined and classically dry. Il Maschio da Monte is a blend of 90% Montepulciano to 10% Sangiovese that is already quite pretty today, but it will only get better with another year or two of cellaring.