By Fergal Gleeson*
Tua Rita Perlato del Bosco
Rosso Toscana IGT 2007

The front label features some decadent revellers in costume getting boozed. The words “bacchanalian orgy“ come to mind. Just another Friday night in the suburbs then!

I might have trouble with this bottle, purchased at a Langtons auction. The metal cap looks battered. When removed I see that the top of the cork is purple. It comes out OK but the sides of the cork are stained. There’d been some leakage.

An old wine should be left for a while to settle down but I was over eager so pour myself a taster. Far out Brussel sprouts the tannins pack a blow like a foot in the face from Conor McGregor. I park it and go about some chores. Where’s that harlequin outfit got to?

Some background while it settles down. The owner is an old Italian granny Rita Tua who along with being handy in the kitchen, also produces one of the world’s greatest merlots Redigaffi, which sells for about $300 a bottle. Well played!

Her family pioneered wine making in the medieval town of Suvereto in the 1990s and Tua Rita wine is now considered a “Super Tuscan”. Wine lovers will know that a Super Tuscan is not a costumed crime fighter who likes ragu and talking with their hands but the name given to a group of winemakers who broke out of the classic Tuscan regions like Chianti to make powerful (and expensive) wine.

The Perlato del Bosco is their entry level wine made up of 60% Sangiovese 40% Cabernet and no lightweight at 14.5% alcohol.

Fully kitted out, an hour later I return for another cautious sip. It had all come together- fruit, acid, spices, leather all beautifully integrated.

The metal foil, the last line of defence for wine under cork, had done it’s job. There was still some sweet fruit after 9 years.

You could say it had the “Moo-oo-oo-oo-oooves like Jagger”. Old but unbowed, a great example of how age improves a good red.

Get a bottle of Perlato del Bosco or a Chianti Riserva. Put it in the dungeon for a few years and enjoy. Bacchus will smile on you.

Rating: 4.5/5. C. $30. For more Wine Reviews read and follow www.greatwineblog.wordpress.com  Drink and be merry!

*Finalist New Wine Writer of the Year 2016- WCA Gourmet Traveller WINE