2013 Helix Cima Piccola

Well, I am back to the wine blog, I hope you missed me!  The first two weeks of December were a crazy travel time for work, I was in Louisville, Boston, New York, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, but now I'm home for a while, with the rest of the month off and nothing to do but cook and enjoy wine!  Tonight, I've opened a bottle of 2013 Helix Cima Piccola, a super Tuscan style blend that's modeled to be a junior version of the Reininger Cima.  This wine is a blend of Sangiovese (50%) from from the Stillwater Creek Vineyard, as well as Merlot (30%) and Cabernet Franc (20%) from the Columbia valley.

The wine is a lovely deep ruby color in the glass with a nose full of cherry, leather, cedar and spice, with just a hint of lavender over the top.  The taste is a lovely blast of ripe berries that fill your mouth with joy, very reminiscent of the wonderful red wines I've enjoyed in Tuscany.  The ripe fruit is layered with dried Italian herbs and a bit of mineral graphite on the finish.  The tannins on this youthful wine are supple, but still create a nice, long and very smooth dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's really one of my favorite Helix wines!  This wine would be perfect with a wide variety of Italian dishes, but tonight I am doing my poor man's version of bistecca Fiorentina, a nice rare grilled New York strip cooked on my cast iron steak pan, as it's only 4 degrees (!) and I can't bring myself to go out and grill!  Along with the steak I'm enjoying a baked potato loaded with butter, sour cream and chives, and some fresh green beans with sliced almonds.  Cheers!