When Jarkko Peränen went to Chianti about 30 years ago the plan was to work a harvest and then return to his native Finland with his wife Josaphin. Instead they fell in love with the region, and in 1999 purchased a little farm in Panzano where they’ve been ever since. Chianti, and its primary grape Sangiovese, is their passion, but they also have some lovely parcels of Merlot, Syrah, and Petit Verdot, so . . . why not do their own “Super Tuscan” blend? Of course this isn’t a super slick, point chaser, it’s a robust, soulful, complex wine that has now aged to perfection. Named for a dog who lost an eye to a porcupine, “Ciclope” has so much character and aromatic pizzazz for the money it’s down right shocking–this is one of the most complete red wines that is sub $40 I’ve seen in ages. Grab as much as you can!
Although Josephin and Jarkko Peränen purchased their beautiful property in 1999 (releasing their first wines in 2002), the estate is a former podere (sharecropper farm) dating back to Roman times. Josephin and Jarkko are avid organic farmers tending 12 hectares of vines right in the heart of the above-mentioned conca d’oro, a broad bowl extending south of Panzano that is home to some of the biggest names in Tuscan wine: Castello dei Rampolla, Fontodi, La Massa…the list is long, and Candialle has risen to an elite level in a relatively short amount of time. The rest of the 42 hectare property is planted to olive trees, forests, and fields. The Peränens are true believers in polyculture and biodiversity, and as such they also maintain cover crops in the vineyards that complement the flora and fauna that exists throughout their estate.
Soils in the Candialle vineyards, most of which sit at about 300 meters of elevation, contain a high percentage of galestro, a friable clay marl with a high limestone content; there is also some pietraforte (hard sandstone) and alberese (hard chalk). This soil composition, combined with wide diurnal temperature shifts, imbues the wines with the kind of lively energy and perfume that sets the best Chianti Classico wines apart. While most of their wines are 100% Sangiovese, they do have some small parcels of Merlot, Syrah, and Petit Verdot that they blended together, along with a healthy portion of said Sangiovese, to create the deliciously unique, and very small production, blend called “Ciclope.”
Similar to their Chianti bottlings, the “Ciclope” was fermented in steel and cement tanks and then racked into mostly used barrels of 350 and 600 liters to age for about 18 months before bottling without fining or filtration. It then aged in the bottle for many years before being shipped out here to their California importer. Treat this wine like a properly aged “riserva,” with a gentle decant off the sediment followed by service at cellar temperature in Bordeaux stems. The initial notes of Damson plum, Morello cherry, cassis, and dried blueberry are quickly followed by savory whiffs of sagebrush, leather, cigar box, dried rose petals, and a bit of fresh porcini. It’s a shockingly complex wine, especially given the price, and could easily be enjoyed with just a bit of aged parmigiano or pecorino, but it still has plenty of structure so I would highly encourage you to try it with the below recipe for Tuscan wild boar stew made with a bit of chocolate (aka Cinghiale in Dolceforte). Buono appetito!
