Sansonina 2004 is a truly remarkable wine. Not just beautiful wine but a quite remarkable concept right from initial idea through to production. It is the pet project of two of Italy’s foremost female wine producers, namely Carla Prospero and Nadia Zenato, the wife and daughter of the late great Sergio Zenato. Sergio was one of Veneto’s and Italy’s best producers making stunning Amarones amongst his other great wines. Zenato is a very successful winery.

Carla and Nadia bought a small vineyard in the Lugana DOC famous for white wines of course, which contained some old Merlot vines. They then planted some new Merlot too. They set out to make the best red wine in Italy to prove that two women could accomplish this feat! Obviously it helps that they didn’t need to make it a commercially viable venture as they were already well funded, so this meant they could dedicate more time, equipment, expertise and money than would have otherwise been possible. The result is quite spectacular.

What’s it like?

Sansonina 2004 is a stunning wine. The grapes were hand picked into small boxes then soft pressed to avoid extracting too much tannin. After fermentation the wine was aged in oak for 18 months then further aged in bottle before release. It’s a complex wine with flavours of fruit, cocoa and mint,  full bodied from the oak ageing. It’s both powerful and elegant, very smooth with a really long finish. I would describe it as a “feminine” wine. Presentation is lovely too. This really is something special.

How much? Where from?

Sansonina 2004 is only available in the UK from one retailer at the time of writing – www.goodwineonline.co.uk for £40.