Went to a great taste-through of Podere Sapaio‘s beautiful Bolgheri wines. I so often have wines with Petit Verdot in them and they’re just too inky and like a punch in the face, but these really showcase how it can work incredibly when used correctly in a blend.

The Volpolo line is a blend of Cab, Merlot and Petit Verdot. We tasted the 2016 and the 2021, a nice comparison of how the powerful Petit Verdot can mellow over time. Most are around $30. 

Then we graduated to the Sapaio wines, which have Cab, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot. These are Toscana IGT so that they can incorporate grapes from outside of the Bolgheri appellation as needed to create more balance. We tasted the 2020, 2019, 2015 and 2008 which really started to show tertiary notes of fresh leather. Most are around $75-95. 

We then stuffed our guts with an Italian feast of arancini, margherita pizza and pasta Genovese.  I’d never had Genovese with red sauce (my mom makes it just with red wine and onions) but this version was at least great with these fantastic wines. 

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