2015 Tenuta di Capezzana Villa di Capezzana Carmignano DOCG Tuscany 750 ml

Tenuta di Capezzana’s Carmignano is a Super Tuscan that boasts everything we love in the category: the bright elegance of a great Brunello and the grip and mineral tautness of a Left Bank Bordeaux… minus the super-sized price that usually accompanies the “Super Tuscan” label. 

With 95 points from Decanter and heaps of praise from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, this full-bodied, powerful red is a miraculous deal. 

The Carmignano DOCG is Tenuta di Capezzana's signature wine, a Tignanello-like blend of 80% lithe Sangiovese bolstered by 20% brawny Cabernet Sauvignon. Marvelously pure and compact on the nose, it seduces first with aromas of crushed black raspberry, black cherry, sweet spice, and smoke. We love this wine for its crystalline focus and finely delineated texture, not to mention its value, which inspired Parker’s normally-reserved publication to be blunt: “You get great value in this easy-drinking mid-weight Tuscan red.”

The spice box aromas give way to a rich palate of brandied Morello cherries and red raspberries seasoned with anise and camphor spice, which will thrill lovers of Montalcino and dazzle fans of Pauillac. And since it punches so far above its weight, you can delight in your own savvy every time you pull one from the cellar.

Tenuta di Capezzana is nestled just above the village of Carmignano, one of four Tuscan areas set aside by the Medici family in 1716 as the world's first legally protected winegrowing regions. Capezzana's own vineyard sites have produced wine grapes for more than 1,200 years, with surrounding properties dating back to the ancient Etruscans. While it’s safe to say this land is steeped in tradition, that tradition doesn't get in the way of creative license. 

The region’s days are cooler than nearby Chianti Classico, and nights are warmer, making Carmignano ideal for growing rich, broad-shouldered Cabernet. In fact, this is the land where Cabernet Sauvignon was first blended with Sangiovese in the 1800s, blazing the trail to what we now call Super Tuscan wines. 

Villa di Capezzana Carmignano DOCG has been produced continuously since 1925, and the titans of modern Tuscany who have made their names on big, bold Cab—names like Solaia, Vigorello, and Tignanello—find their roots in these more humble traditions from farther north. But instead of cashing in on inflated market prices, the Capezzana flies blissfully under the radar.

When we visited Capezzana, we lingered for hours on the balcony over a simple lunch of salumi and farmer's cheese. The vines stretched out below us, across southeast-facing limestone hills that rise from the long, shimmering Florentine Valley. Never mind the criminally low pricing of this little stunner. At that moment we were swept away, intoxicated by the beauty of the place but even more charmed by the rustic elegance of the wine in our glasses.