Alessandro Stefani La Vignola Sangiovese 2024

La Vignola is almost weightless when first poured, pale cherry carrying the tartness of fruit before it softens, freshly cut rhubarb, a faint rosewater perfume, tomato water, dried herbs somewhere further away. It is so light initially that I wondered whether there was enough vinosity here, the fruit almost suspended through the palate rather than filling it, acidity rushing underneath and tannin barely perceptible. But it keeps building as I drink. Slowly. 

This is the later ripening of Alessandro Stefani’s two Sangiovese selections, brought to Australia from his great-aunt’s vineyard in Casentino, the mountainous valley behind Florence where his father grew up. Her family tended an old mother block from which people in the village would come for vine material; some of those vines are thought to be well over a century old. Alessandro’s father brought the cuttings to Australia in 2003, followed by three years of quarantine and several more of propagation before there was enough material to plant around 2009. 

It is an unusually sensitive vine. Alessandro says days above 33 degrees can make the leaves curl, a little water or nutrient stress becomes visible almost immediately, and the fruit ripens around ten days behind Boccolo. The wine somehow carries this disposition with it. It is easily pushed into reduction, too delicate for stems, unwilling to absorb much extraction. So Alessandro doesn’t force that: 100% destemmed but left as whole berries, around three weeks in tank with only the occasional pump-over when reduction needs lifting, then two years in a 1500-litre old Slavonian cask with a little press lees. 

2024 gave him the season for it. Heat through the first part of vintage brought flavour, then from around mid-March autumn arrived and stayed, allowing this late fruit to continue ripening while holding onto its acid and modest alcohol. 

The following day makes more sense of everything. The perfume has expanded, almost  crystallised; cherry is clearer, the palate more generous, and that very fine tannin has moved closer. What seemed almost too slight on opening now has shape. Still aloof, though.  

We reduce grapes to benchmark expressions so easily, particularly Sangiovese. With classic Chianti expectation of sour cherry, leather, tannin but Alessandro talks instead about the many different Sangiovese expressions he loves across Italy, including lighter examples from Romagna. La Vignola sits somewhere there. Featherweight, savoury,  increasingly pretty with air, and just enough dried herb and tannin underneath to keep it from becoming simplistic. 

Chill it on a hot afternoon. Salumi nearby. You probably finish the bottle. But you could also drink half and get back to it after a few days to see how a living wine like this can evolve. 

Liinaa Berry

Liinaa Berry is a Melbourne-based wine critic and consultant with over a decade of experience as a sommelier and wine buyer across Australia and around the world where she has built award-winning wine programs and championed independent producers with conviction. Now focused on reviewing and writing, Liinaa brings a floor-trained palate and commercial insight to her assessments. She is also the Melbourne Ambassador for Star Wine List and serves on the committee of Sommeliers Australia. An advocate for site-driven wines and thoughtful farming, Liinaa is particularly drawn to producers who articulate a clear sense of place. Her tasting philosophy centres on structure, balance and context — always asking not just how a wine tastes, but why it matters.