We blended the Sangiovese with a Cabernet Sauvignon at bottling and eventually called the blend Romance Red. These being my first two red wines, I was very concerned about thepost-fermentation smell and taste, especially after oaking them. I tried a bottle periodically, and was never very impressed. In fact, I was all but certain that my first effort with reds was a failure.
Well, it took a year, but my concerns have finally been laid to rest. This wine has developed into something very good.
I always struggle with expressing how a wine tastes, so forgive me for my lack of eloquence. But here goes. It's dark and viscous, has wonderful smells of cherries and other berry-like fruits, with just a hint of oak and tannin. Still has a slight edge initially that fades to a smooth finish. My kids really like it, and that means the world tome.
Some interesting observations- First, my experience with oaking this wine really scared me. After only three weeks with medium toast French oak cubes, both of these wines smelled and tasted terrible.
Now, however, I wish I had left the oak in much longer. There's a hint of it left in the flavor and bouquet, but not enough in my opinion. Second, I put ten bottles of this wine in my wine fridge where it aged at a constant 57*. The remaining bottles aged on a wine rack in my bedroom closet with temps ranging from 70* to 80+*. Now I've read that storing wine at room temps causes it to age faster, but the reality of this is really surprising. While the bottlesI stored at room temp areready to drink now, the ones in my wine cooler are not.
I'm not advocating storing wine at higher temps to make it age faster. It's just an observation.
