2022 Casale del Giglio, Cesanese, Lazio IGT Rosso, Italy.
The dark garnet hued 2022 Casale del Giglio Cesanese is a beauty and full of rustic charm, it shows off a supple full bodied palate of dusty plum, cherry, brambly spiced wild berry and earthy currant fruits, along with dried flowers, a touch of truffle, leather, anise, raw cedar, thyme, and minty herbs. I have long been a fan of this winery and this grape with this edition being one of the most complex and rewarding to date. The rare Cesanese Comune grape, which is more commonly known as just Cesanese, has been around since Roman times, it is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown and is mostly likely native to the Lazio region, just outside Rome. Cesanese has three Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) regions dedicated to it, these are Cesanese di Affile DOC, which habits own distinctive clone similar to wha you see in Brunello with Sangiovese, Cesanese di Olevano DOC and Cesanese di Piglio DOC, by Casale’s version is labeled just as an IGT Rosso. The organic vines, up to 30 years old here, are well above 300 meters up and set on a complex mix of volcanic soils and limestone, which adds to the mineral note, lift and spicy notes here.
As I said in my first reviews of this estate more than 15 years ago, the winery Casale del Giglio was founded in 1967 by Dino Santarelli in virgin territory, after falling for the Agro Pontino valley in Lazio’s south called Latina near the ancient city of Satricum. He found a perfect place for viticultural exploration and Casale del Giglio has never looked back, making some of the most interesting wines from a vast selection of native and non-native varietals, like Cesanese and Bellone as well as Viognier, Syrah and Petit Verdot. Casale del Giglio makes an eclectic array of whites and reds all of which are worth checking out, and all are fabulous values. The Cesanese, which has been around since 385 B.C. at least, grown on quite hilly slopes, is late ripening and soaks up the Roman sunshine and keeps healthy acidity, it has small clusters, but medium sized berries that are slightly elongated or oval shaped. For vinification, Casale del Giglio does a native yeast fermentation with a submerged cap, giving the Cesanese up to 30 days of maceration on the skin in total and uniquely matured in a combination of cherry wood tonneaux and oak barrels. This is a fine effort, focused on authentic character and again, is a killer bottle for the price
($24 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive