Caiarossa, Toscana IGT (Tuscany, Italy) “Aria di Caiarossa” 2022 ($44, Misa Imports)

Tasting second wines after first having had the estate’s top wine brings with it some sense of expectations – will it fall into a truly secondary category or will it surprise us as being almost as good as the first wine at about half the price? This one from the hills of northern Maremma is a little of both, with very good flavors of ripe blackberries and raspberries and well-integrated tannins, but the finish is too subtle and has trouble standing up to food, perhaps too gentle in its extraction. The grape blend is three-quarters Bordeaux varieties and a quarter Rhône.
91 Roger Morris