2016 Sangiovese, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Deep and profound, almost brooding, our 2016 Sangiovese offers a broad spectrum of flavors including cherry, strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry, with mocha and a hint of sage on the pleasantly lingering finish. The wine is mouth-coating and structured to mature beautifully and grow in complexity for many years.
This wine will beautifully complement spring carbonara, pizza with olives and capers, flank steak with arugula-almond pesto, aged Pecorino and Saltimbocca alla Romana.
Vintage and Winemaker Notes
Despite the ongoing statewide drought, Napa Valley received close to average rainfall in 2015-16. More than 12” fell in March 2016, ensuring that the vines had ample water as they emerged from dormancy. The growing season was considerably cooler than in the previous two vintages, allowing us to harvest beautifully ripened grapes at the end of a long growing season.
We produce our Sangiovese from a variety of clonal selections, enhancing the complexity of the finished wine. In the winery we handle the fruit gently, destemming without crushing the berries. We adjust our cap management techniques—punchdowns and pumpovers—to get the desired structure and color without overextraction.
Specs
Blend Composition: 97% Sangiovese, 3% Syrah
Appellation: Estate St. Helena Vineyard
Harvest Date: September 18
Finished pH: 3.92
Finished TA: 5.3 g/L
Alcohol: 14.1%
2015 Collins Holystone Zinfandel, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Big, briary nose displaying blackberry, black raspberry and baked cherry, with a hint of caramel. Bold and spicy on the palate, the wine offers juicy notes of black fruits such as cherry and plum, and hints of herbs such as thyme and rosemary. The soft tannins beautifully support this delicious wine, which has good acidity and a long finish.
This wine will pair beautifully with prosciutto and melon, cracked Dungeness crab, grilled halibut, or a pasta primavera with peas, fava beans and asparagus.
Vintage and Winemaker Notes
The 2015 growing season started early in Napa Valley. As California entered its fourth year of drought, we were fortunate to receive spring rains sufficient to fill our reservoir and saturate the soil. Consistent sun and warmth throughout the growing season led to an early crop of high-quality grapes.
Grapes for this wine come from a neighboring vineyard owned by the Collins family. These gnarly vines, planted on a cobbly swale in 1923 were hand-picked and gently destemmed without crushing, and then fermented in open-top fermenters for three weeks, receiving two or three punch-downs per day. It then aged in French oak for 16 months.
Specs
Blend Composition: 100% Zinfandel
Appellation: St. Helena Vineyard
Harvest Date: August 25
Finished pH: 3.62
Finished TA: 5.9 g/L
Alcohol: 14.1%
2017 Sorridente Red Blend, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Designed to “make you smile”, this wine is quite serious nonetheless. Notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, dark and milk chocolate, nutmeg and cocoa powder make this quite an intriguing wine. Each of the four varieties contributes something special to the blend, and the result is a wine of harmonious complexity. On the palate, it is lush and rich, with fine, smooth tannins leading to a clean finish that will surely bring a smile to your face.
Enjoy with pasta and pesto, baked ziti, pecorino Toscano or Asiago, or simple sip and smile with friends.
Vintage and Winemaker Notes
Sorridente means “smiling” and that is what we do while assembling this blend. Once the component wines have settled in the cellar to reveal their character, we select the brightest, cheeriest barrels from each lot and make many trial blends until we find the one that will leave a smile on your face.
We had a wet start to 2017, so welcome after 5 years of drought. The bulk of the rain fell in January and February, but rains continued into April, ensuring that the vines would have ample water throughout the growing season. The harvest started more or less on time with average to slightly low yields. What started in water ended in fire. Fortunately, we had harvested most of our fruit before the October fires. We will not be using any fruit harvested after the fires.
Benessere is the Italian word for “well being” or “living the good life” and the name reflects a dedication to producing fine, Napa Valley-grown, Italian varietals and a penchant for providing warm, casual hospitality.
That has been the Benish Family mission since 1994 when thirty vineyard acres surrounding the St. Helena winery were planted primarily to Italian varietals. Their distinctive Italian wine portfolio includes two varieties not found at any other Napa Valley winery - Aglianico and Sagrantino. Oter featured wines include: Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio, Rosato di Sngiovese, Old Vine Collins Holystone Vineyard Zinfandel, Moscato di Canelli, and our proprietary red blend - Phenomenon.
The eclectic, high-quality wine collection combined with a picturesque, vineyard-side setting provides a wine tasting experience unique to the Napa Valley.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
So happy I was chosen as a lab rat! I was super confused when the FedEx guy showed up with a small box that required signature. Opened the box and let the wine come to room temperature. Opened at around 9pm, used an aerator pourer into a Bordeaux glass.
Nose: Earthy with berry and plum, maybe a little leather as well. There is also a scent that reminds me of… cotton candy?
Taste: Nearly perfect balance. An intense flavor of cocoa nibs, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that flavor in a wine. A little jammy with plum and blackberry. Finish is long and fairly smooth. Alcohol a little more noticeable on day 2 oddly enough.
Overall: If this comes in at around $18 it will be a good QPR. Thanks Casemates, this was fun!
Good morning, everyone. Here I am: Matt, the winemaker for Benessere. My tasting notes and other details on the wines are already posted, but I’m happy to go into more detail, or answer any questions you have about the wines, Benessere, this wacky weather, or anything else you want to know.
@BenessereMatt
Hi Matt! Thanks for joining us. Can you give approximate drinking windows for these wines?
Also, I notice that the Zin has a little more acidity than the Sangiovese and the Sorridente blend. What factors determine the pH and TA levels in a wine and as winemaker, do you have much control over it?
Finally, I am wondering why Benessere doesn’t use the “Old Vine” designation on the Zin for those 1923 vines? I know that “Old Vine” often means about as much (or as little) as phrases like “All Natural” but I have to admit that it catches my eye when browsing wines and in this case, it certainly seems appropriate.
Hi there, @BenessereMatt ! I hope you don’t mind some cheeky questions but I love learning about these things. Do you deacidify your wines, or are the low acids and high pHs just a product of how they’re grown? At pH 3.9, I imagine there’s some extra finesse in warding off spoilage considering the difficulties with so2 once you hit that range. What are the tricks of the trade when managing high pH low acid wines?
Hi, @novium. I don’t mind cheeky questions or geeking out. It’s funny, but I don’t consider TAs above 5 to be that low. I guess I am just getting used to Napa Valley winemaking, where “four-square” wines (pH 4, TA 4.0) are pretty common.
I am not opposed to doing anything to make a better wine, but I don’t deacidify. I don’t think the wines need it. Yes, I think the numbers reflect the growing conditions, in particular the high soil potassium levels which result in high potassium in the wines. I don’t have those numbers at hand, but I’d be surprised if any of these wines–or any that I have ever made in my career–are under 1000 mg/L potassium. That, as you probably know, can result in higher pH without much affecting TA.
You are of course correct that SO2 is much less effective at keeping spoilage organisms in check at higher pH. Regardless of the conditions or the wine’s numbers, I am a stickler for cellar cleanliness. I also taste ALL THE TIME to catch any problems early. Fortunately (and knocking my wooden head), the cleanliness means I almost never have any problems to catch.
@BenessereMatt thank you, that’s really interesting! I’m a bit old school so I generally think of anything below TA 6 as in the lower side. As I’ve noticed wines trending further and further towards 4.0, I often wonder about the so2 question. In my bit of home winemaking, I had one of my 15 gallon kegs of zin go VA on me from one little bit of inattention on my part. I had the flu, but let’s just say lessons were learned about double checking bungs and not skipping any tastings, and that was with a wine with pH 3.4 (TA 9. Deacidifing is something I ask about because we often debate it.) And it happened so fast.
I’m sorry to hear about your lost keg of Zinfandel, @novium. I started as a home winemaker myself and it can be heartbreaking how quickly things can go south.
Regarding drinking windows, of the three I would hold the Sangiovese the longest. This is the Sangiovese I am most proud of in my tenure at Benessere thus far. We made a Riserva in 2016 as well, but honestly I think the whole vintage could have had that description. I think the wine will grow in complexity for at least six more years, and will hold easily for another four.
The Sorridente is also built to last, and the Zinfandel has the acidity (which see more of below) to help it age, but with these two I don’t know that they will grow in interest much with age. Both are delicious now, and I expect them to hold for at least five years, but not necessarily grow more complex.
As for acidity, TA is a lot easier to control than pH (so many factors influence the latter), but I pretty much let the wines do what the grapes dictate in that regard. One thing we see with Zinfandel is that the raisining concentrates the acid as well as the sugar, resulting in higher TAs.
Thanks for your question and comment regarding the old vines designation. I’ll have to ask why we no longer use it, because I believe we used to do so and I don’t know why we stopped. While “Old Vines” has no legal meaning, I think few would disagree that vines planted in 1923 are legitimately old now. That vineyard is absolutely gorgeous. I’ll see if I can dig up a picture of some of the see-through trunks out in it.
Seems like everyone is busy enjoying their Saturday. Wonderful! I’m off to pour at a fundraiser for my daughter’s former preschool, so that’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow if anyone has questions or wants to talk wine.
Have not had a ton of recent vintages, but have always enjoyed the wines. Have made a few visits there as well, quality stuff. Which, yes, I know, is not particular to these wines.
2015 Collins Holystone Zinfandel, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley lab rattage…
Had a snafu that I won’t get into that made this report later than I had liked.
I gave the wine the proper time in the wine fridge, and opened it. 3 sips in, the berries are there along with currants, and a slight accent of spicebomb cologne, if you are familiar with it, or maybe cedar and would qualify as a “spicy” wine. I let it decanter for 20 minutes, and it still had a big nose, and more cherry and plum than I noticed before.
Typically, I don’t have luck with the acidity and tannins of Italian varieties but these were soft enough, and played well with the overall complexity of the wine. I’d expect this bottle to be $40 at the winery if I had to guess.
We were lucky enough to get picked for the Sangiovese on this offering. Popped it open last night and went for the classic pairing…pasta and meatballs. We’ve had a long week and a busy start to the weekend so we were more than happy to take the easy way out.
Right off the bat, the nose on this wine was full of cocoa and spice. Not at all what I was expecting from a Sangio. First sip produced more of the same. Less acidity than a typical Sangio but definitely elegant. Now we try to not fall to the power of suggestion but it’s amazing how accurate the notes on the bottle fall in line with what we tasted: black cherry and molten chocolate with blueberry and a hint of spice. Spice and chocolate definitely took the day on this one. And a really silky finish. It held up to the food just fine.
For those that like comparisons, we found Vino Noceto’s Sangio to be more fruit forward and acidic than the Benessere. The VN needs food to go with it but I see the Benessere equally at home with food or just to drink on its own.
Rat Reports are sounding interesting and the discount is favorable; but I can’t store or drink a full case.
Could retain 3 or 6 if others want the overage.
SoCal/San Diego
2016 Sangiovese, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Deep and profound, almost brooding, our 2016 Sangiovese offers a broad spectrum of flavors including cherry, strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry, with mocha and a hint of sage on the pleasantly lingering finish. The wine is mouth-coating and structured to mature beautifully and grow in complexity for many years.
This wine will beautifully complement spring carbonara, pizza with olives and capers, flank steak with arugula-almond pesto, aged Pecorino and Saltimbocca alla Romana.
Vintage and Winemaker Notes
Despite the ongoing statewide drought, Napa Valley received close to average rainfall in 2015-16. More than 12” fell in March 2016, ensuring that the vines had ample water as they emerged from dormancy. The growing season was considerably cooler than in the previous two vintages, allowing us to harvest beautifully ripened grapes at the end of a long growing season.
We produce our Sangiovese from a variety of clonal selections, enhancing the complexity of the finished wine. In the winery we handle the fruit gently, destemming without crushing the berries. We adjust our cap management techniques—punchdowns and pumpovers—to get the desired structure and color without overextraction.
Specs
2015 Collins Holystone Zinfandel, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Big, briary nose displaying blackberry, black raspberry and baked cherry, with a hint of caramel. Bold and spicy on the palate, the wine offers juicy notes of black fruits such as cherry and plum, and hints of herbs such as thyme and rosemary. The soft tannins beautifully support this delicious wine, which has good acidity and a long finish.
This wine will pair beautifully with prosciutto and melon, cracked Dungeness crab, grilled halibut, or a pasta primavera with peas, fava beans and asparagus.
Vintage and Winemaker Notes
The 2015 growing season started early in Napa Valley. As California entered its fourth year of drought, we were fortunate to receive spring rains sufficient to fill our reservoir and saturate the soil. Consistent sun and warmth throughout the growing season led to an early crop of high-quality grapes.
Grapes for this wine come from a neighboring vineyard owned by the Collins family. These gnarly vines, planted on a cobbly swale in 1923 were hand-picked and gently destemmed without crushing, and then fermented in open-top fermenters for three weeks, receiving two or three punch-downs per day. It then aged in French oak for 16 months.
Specs
2017 Sorridente Red Blend, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley
Tasting Notes
Designed to “make you smile”, this wine is quite serious nonetheless. Notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, dark and milk chocolate, nutmeg and cocoa powder make this quite an intriguing wine. Each of the four varieties contributes something special to the blend, and the result is a wine of harmonious complexity. On the palate, it is lush and rich, with fine, smooth tannins leading to a clean finish that will surely bring a smile to your face.
Enjoy with pasta and pesto, baked ziti, pecorino Toscano or Asiago, or simple sip and smile with friends.
Vintage and Winemaker Notes
Sorridente means “smiling” and that is what we do while assembling this blend. Once the component wines have settled in the cellar to reveal their character, we select the brightest, cheeriest barrels from each lot and make many trial blends until we find the one that will leave a smile on your face.
We had a wet start to 2017, so welcome after 5 years of drought. The bulk of the rain fell in January and February, but rains continued into April, ensuring that the vines would have ample water throughout the growing season. The harvest started more or less on time with average to slightly low yields. What started in water ended in fire. Fortunately, we had harvested most of our fruit before the October fires. We will not be using any fruit harvested after the fires.
Specs
Included in the Box
Price Comparison
$538.69/case (including shipping) at Benessere Vineyards
About The Winery
Benessere is the Italian word for “well being” or “living the good life” and the name reflects a dedication to producing fine, Napa Valley-grown, Italian varietals and a penchant for providing warm, casual hospitality.
That has been the Benish Family mission since 1994 when thirty vineyard acres surrounding the St. Helena winery were planted primarily to Italian varietals. Their distinctive Italian wine portfolio includes two varieties not found at any other Napa Valley winery - Aglianico and Sagrantino. Oter featured wines include: Sangiovese, Pinot Grigio, Rosato di Sngiovese, Old Vine Collins Holystone Vineyard Zinfandel, Moscato di Canelli, and our proprietary red blend - Phenomenon.
The eclectic, high-quality wine collection combined with a picturesque, vineyard-side setting provides a wine tasting experience unique to the Napa Valley.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Friday, June 14th - Tuesday, June 18th
Benessere Trio of Reds
3 bottles for $64.99 $21.66/bottle + $2.67/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $199.99 $16.67/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2016 Sangiovese
2015 Zinfandel
2017 Sorridente
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
Benessere Trio of Reds - $60 = 23.06%
2017 Sorridente Red Blend
So happy I was chosen as a lab rat! I was super confused when the FedEx guy showed up with a small box that required signature. Opened the box and let the wine come to room temperature. Opened at around 9pm, used an aerator pourer into a Bordeaux glass.
Nose: Earthy with berry and plum, maybe a little leather as well. There is also a scent that reminds me of… cotton candy?
Taste: Nearly perfect balance. An intense flavor of cocoa nibs, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that flavor in a wine. A little jammy with plum and blackberry. Finish is long and fairly smooth. Alcohol a little more noticeable on day 2 oddly enough.
Overall: If this comes in at around $18 it will be a good QPR. Thanks Casemates, this was fun!
@kevo152 thank you for the notes.
@CorTot @kevo152 May I ask why you felt compelled to put through an aerator?
@kaolis because I was going to bed at 10 and didn’t have time to decant.
@kevo152 Why did you feel it needed a decant? Sorry, being a pr*ck. Not an aerator fan, that’s all.
Good morning, everyone. Here I am: Matt, the winemaker for Benessere. My tasting notes and other details on the wines are already posted, but I’m happy to go into more detail, or answer any questions you have about the wines, Benessere, this wacky weather, or anything else you want to know.
@BenessereMatt
Hi Matt! Thanks for joining us. Can you give approximate drinking windows for these wines?
Also, I notice that the Zin has a little more acidity than the Sangiovese and the Sorridente blend. What factors determine the pH and TA levels in a wine and as winemaker, do you have much control over it?
Finally, I am wondering why Benessere doesn’t use the “Old Vine” designation on the Zin for those 1923 vines? I know that “Old Vine” often means about as much (or as little) as phrases like “All Natural” but I have to admit that it catches my eye when browsing wines and in this case, it certainly seems appropriate.
@BenessereMatt @chipgreen
The Zin CT from Cesare links to a bottle described as
2015 Benessere Zinfandel Holystone-Collins Old Vines
Hi there, @BenessereMatt ! I hope you don’t mind some cheeky questions but I love learning about these things. Do you deacidify your wines, or are the low acids and high pHs just a product of how they’re grown? At pH 3.9, I imagine there’s some extra finesse in warding off spoilage considering the difficulties with so2 once you hit that range. What are the tricks of the trade when managing high pH low acid wines?
Hi, @novium. I don’t mind cheeky questions or geeking out. It’s funny, but I don’t consider TAs above 5 to be that low. I guess I am just getting used to Napa Valley winemaking, where “four-square” wines (pH 4, TA 4.0) are pretty common.
I am not opposed to doing anything to make a better wine, but I don’t deacidify. I don’t think the wines need it. Yes, I think the numbers reflect the growing conditions, in particular the high soil potassium levels which result in high potassium in the wines. I don’t have those numbers at hand, but I’d be surprised if any of these wines–or any that I have ever made in my career–are under 1000 mg/L potassium. That, as you probably know, can result in higher pH without much affecting TA.
You are of course correct that SO2 is much less effective at keeping spoilage organisms in check at higher pH. Regardless of the conditions or the wine’s numbers, I am a stickler for cellar cleanliness. I also taste ALL THE TIME to catch any problems early. Fortunately (and knocking my wooden head), the cleanliness means I almost never have any problems to catch.
@BenessereMatt thank you, that’s really interesting! I’m a bit old school so I generally think of anything below TA 6 as in the lower side. As I’ve noticed wines trending further and further towards 4.0, I often wonder about the so2 question. In my bit of home winemaking, I had one of my 15 gallon kegs of zin go VA on me from one little bit of inattention on my part. I had the flu, but let’s just say lessons were learned about double checking bungs and not skipping any tastings, and that was with a wine with pH 3.4 (TA 9. Deacidifing is something I ask about because we often debate it.) And it happened so fast.
I’m sorry to hear about your lost keg of Zinfandel, @novium. I started as a home winemaker myself and it can be heartbreaking how quickly things can go south.
Hi, @Chipgreen! Happy to be here.
Regarding drinking windows, of the three I would hold the Sangiovese the longest. This is the Sangiovese I am most proud of in my tenure at Benessere thus far. We made a Riserva in 2016 as well, but honestly I think the whole vintage could have had that description. I think the wine will grow in complexity for at least six more years, and will hold easily for another four.
The Sorridente is also built to last, and the Zinfandel has the acidity (which see more of below) to help it age, but with these two I don’t know that they will grow in interest much with age. Both are delicious now, and I expect them to hold for at least five years, but not necessarily grow more complex.
As for acidity, TA is a lot easier to control than pH (so many factors influence the latter), but I pretty much let the wines do what the grapes dictate in that regard. One thing we see with Zinfandel is that the raisining concentrates the acid as well as the sugar, resulting in higher TAs.
Thanks for your question and comment regarding the old vines designation. I’ll have to ask why we no longer use it, because I believe we used to do so and I don’t know why we stopped. While “Old Vines” has no legal meaning, I think few would disagree that vines planted in 1923 are legitimately old now. That vineyard is absolutely gorgeous. I’ll see if I can dig up a picture of some of the see-through trunks out in it.
@BenessereMatt
Thank you for the thoughtful reply! All three of these wines sound interesting.
@chipgreen I hope you enjoy them.
Seems like everyone is busy enjoying their Saturday. Wonderful! I’m off to pour at a fundraiser for my daughter’s former preschool, so that’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow if anyone has questions or wants to talk wine.
@BenessereMatt Weekends can be a bit quiet.
Perhaps others will wake up and join the party tomorrow.
Have not had a ton of recent vintages, but have always enjoyed the wines. Have made a few visits there as well, quality stuff. Which, yes, I know, is not particular to these wines.
Damn. This looks very interesting.
2015 Collins Holystone Zinfandel, Estate St. Helena Vineyard, Napa Valley lab rattage…
Had a snafu that I won’t get into that made this report later than I had liked.
I gave the wine the proper time in the wine fridge, and opened it. 3 sips in, the berries are there along with currants, and a slight accent of spicebomb cologne, if you are familiar with it, or maybe cedar and would qualify as a “spicy” wine. I let it decanter for 20 minutes, and it still had a big nose, and more cherry and plum than I noticed before.
Typically, I don’t have luck with the acidity and tannins of Italian varieties but these were soft enough, and played well with the overall complexity of the wine. I’d expect this bottle to be $40 at the winery if I had to guess.
I recommend going for the case.
Anyone in nyc interested in a case split?
We were lucky enough to get picked for the Sangiovese on this offering. Popped it open last night and went for the classic pairing…pasta and meatballs. We’ve had a long week and a busy start to the weekend so we were more than happy to take the easy way out.
Right off the bat, the nose on this wine was full of cocoa and spice. Not at all what I was expecting from a Sangio. First sip produced more of the same. Less acidity than a typical Sangio but definitely elegant. Now we try to not fall to the power of suggestion but it’s amazing how accurate the notes on the bottle fall in line with what we tasted: black cherry and molten chocolate with blueberry and a hint of spice. Spice and chocolate definitely took the day on this one. And a really silky finish. It held up to the food just fine.
For those that like comparisons, we found Vino Noceto’s Sangio to be more fruit forward and acidic than the Benessere. The VN needs food to go with it but I see the Benessere equally at home with food or just to drink on its own.
Good stuff!
Rat Reports are sounding interesting and the discount is favorable; but I can’t store or drink a full case.
Could retain 3 or 6 if others want the overage.
SoCal/San Diego
@rjquillin wish I could, but I’m going to Oregon in two weeks and need the cellar space in reserve.
That was fun, everyone. I hope you all enjoy the wines. See you on the next one!
/giphy rejoicing-crude-liquid
