2014 Redigaffi

Of the wines tasted in this historic retrospective, this is the bottle that most surprised and delighted me. The Tua Rita 2014 Redigaffi is a real showstopper with an assembly of fresh and especially aromatic fruit and floral details. The wine is medium lean in consistency, as you might expect from one of the coolest (and wettest) vintages that coastal Tuscany has seen in our lifetimes. There is wild cherry, cranberry, violet, lavender, mint, white pepper, dried spice and the list could go on. I'm giving it a higher score than I gave on the occasion of my first tasting many years ago.

The 2014 Redigaffi attractive if somewhat slender wine. Lavender, dried flowers, mint and sweet plum infuse this very pretty, refined edition of the flagship Redigaffi. The 2014 has fleshed out nicely over the last year, especially on the mid-palate and finish, where the wine was once much less fully formed. There is more than enough pedigree to support at least a handful of years of fine drinking.

The 2014 Redigaffi is a challenging wine. There is no way around it. There is good power and density at the outset, but the wine narrows considerably through the mid-palate and into the finish. Black cherry, tobacco, smoke, licorice and game are all pushed forward, but the 2014 doesn't have the sheer density and texture of the very best years. Today, I see a wine with only modest depth and complexity.