2015 Sangiovese Maramia

I first tasted the wines of Tenuta Mara in 2013 and came away impressed by their high quality; simply put, similarly outstanding wines made by following biodynamic principles are hard to come by in Italy (the estate owns three horses to help farm the vineyards.) Tenuta Mara owns thirty-five hectares (eight under vine), and is totally devoted not just to biodynamics but to Sangiovese especially (save for fifteen rows of Pinot Noir). Tenuta Mara’s owner, Giordano Emendatori, loves red Burgundies and wanted to try his hand at making a wine with Pinot Noir. To date however, the estate has made only 100% Sangiovese wines (the Pinot Noir has not yet been used to make wine.) Tenuta Mara’s first vintage was the 2010 and in 2014 a second wine was introduced (called Guiri, the nickname of Emendatori’s daughter Elena) to allow for stricter selection of grapes to be used for the Grand Vin. The estate is a truly beautiful one, with art work distributed everywhere in the vineyards, in the cellar and winery, not to mention the over 800 bird houses and ten insect sanctuaries dispersed throughout the vineyards. Currently only 28,000 bottles a year are made, but the estate’s goal is to reach 40,000 a year. The vines are not especially old (they range from 6-11 years of age) but the quality is remarkable.