Pikes Il Premio Sangiovese 2022
- 93
- $75
- Drink by: 2024-2030
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This price for an Aussie Sangiovese is really throwing down the gauntlet to Tuscany. There is nowhere to hide if it does not measure up. This is the third release of this wine, since its inclusion in the Reserve range and for me, it contends as the best yet. The team have been growing Sangiovese in the Polish Hill River sub-region for more than thirty years. The final wine is a barrel selection, with the barrels, older French barriques, in wood for eight months maturation. The colour is a dark cherry red. We have notes of dry herbs, raspberries, spices, smoked meats and bay leaves on the nose. There is good freshness here and a supple and gentle palate. There is also bright acidity, silky tannins and a hint of almond bitterness on a long finish. For enjoying over the next four to six years.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
