2013 Ampeleia ‘Kepos’ Costa Toscana

Region: Maremma < Tuscany < Italy
Grapes: Grenache, Carignan, Alicante Bouschet
Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming, limestone soil, minimal added SO2
Winemaker: Elisabetta Foradori

A Rhone-inspired blend, grown in Tuscany, by a bad-ass female winemaker from Alto Adige. What?  The only thing Tuscan about this red is where the grapes were grown, but that hardly matters considering how interesting and delicious this wine is, from vineyards near the sea in Coastal Tuscany. Ampeleia is a new-ish project from Elisabetta Foradori, one of Italy’s leaders in holistic, low-intervention winemaking, created with the goal of representing the diversity and huge potential of this particular area of Maremma. This is a juicy, complex blend that smells like the wild Mediterranean scrub surrounding the vineyards, and tastes like a harmonious jumble of raspberries, rose petals, and spice, with silky, plush tannins. I visited the estate in Roccatederighi a few years back, and was blown away by how different the terrain was from the Tuscany I knew. Super rocky, high-altitude vineyards, rough and unpolished, with the scent of the sea. It’s a really cool project from a truel lady boss, and the wines are better and better each year.