Harenae Super Tuscan 2022

Color: Brilliant, translucent ruby with a slight purple cast at the rim. Luminous rather than opaque, the visual signature of unfiltered, unoaked Sangiovese.

Nose: Wild raspberry and red cherry lead, lifted by dried violets and rose petal. Underneath, the mineral signature insists: wet stone, crushed slate, a saline edge from marine sediments in the galestro. No oak. Just fruit, flower, herb, and stone, the four elements of altitude Sangiovese expressed without intermediation.

Palate: Precise, almost cool attack. The tannins are crunchy and granular, distinctly different from the polished profile that wood produces. High mouth-watering acidity. The finish is long and saline, with the galestro re-emerging for a remarkable seven to ten seconds. No warming alcohol, no oak-derived sweetness.

Serve: 16–18°C. Decant 45 minutes. A Burgundy-style glass, the wider bowl gives the high-toned aromatics room to express.

This wine asks for fire and protein. Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the canonical pairing. Cinghiale in umido, roasted lamb with rosemary, grilled lamb chops over wood embers, pici al ragù di cinghiale, tagliata di manzo with arugula and Parmigiano. Aged hard cheeses: Pecorino Toscano 18 months, Parmigiano-Reggiano 30 months.

Counter-intuitive but excellent: high-quality cured meats, particularly finocchiona and aged prosciutto crudo. Mushroom-forward dishes: porcini risotto, pappardelle ai funghi porcini. The wine also handles char-grilled tuna and swordfish, which is unusual for Sangiovese, the absence of oak is precisely what allows it to bridge into firm-fleshed fish.

Pairs exceptionally with elevated American grill cooking: dry-aged ribeye, lamb merguez over charcoal, restrained-rub Texas brisket. The amphora profile bridges European and American gastronomy more gracefully than oak-aged Sangiovese.

A philosophical statement disguised as a wine. The choice to age 100% Sangiovese in terracotta rather than oak is a winemaking thesis: that the variety, on this altitude, in this soil, does not need the integrative work of wood. Everything you taste comes from the vineyard, not the cellar.

Aging philosophy: Harenae is the counter-argument to the school that says Sangiovese needs oak to age. The amphora produces a wine that ages along a different curve: slower, more linear, with the mineral and fruit components remaining distinct rather than melting into a single integrated whole. In ten years, a properly cellared bottle will not taste like an old Brunello. It will taste like an older Harenae: quieter, more mineral, with the fruit receding and the galestro coming forward.