Maryhill 2004 Sangiovese

Sangiovese, in my opinion, is a funny grape. It has a varietal character so different from any of the other grapes in the vitis vinifera family that it takes a very different kind of drinker to enjoy a single-varietal wine made from it. Among Maryhill’s various wines, the sangiovese is a complete departure.

When I think of Maryhill, I think of lush cab sauv and zinfandel. The winery does both really well. Both are your prototypical northwest wine – fruit forward, tannic, rich.

The sangiovese, by contrast, is relatively pale. It has fairly little structure and almost no fruit. I’d compare its flavor to meat, like a pot roast or a roast beef. I’d also say it has a barnyard flavor, as if it were contaminated with brett. (If you want a rundown on brett contamination, this article provides an incredibly in-depth discussiom on the subject – http://www.wineanorak.com/brettanomyces.htm.) I don’t think brett is the issue, though – I think it’s just the flavor of the grape itself – I’d describe most chianti’s the same way, but in lesser magnitude due to the blending.

Maryhill is a great winery. I belong to their wine club, and almost everything they produce is incredible. They’ve recently released a Winemaker’s Blend which is extremely good and very reasonable in price (part of a general trend by all Washington winemakers to do a generic red blend that can be priced in the $10-$15 range).

The sangiovese, in my opinion, is their sole misstep.