"The 2010 A Quo is insanely beautiful. It boasts gorgeous, well-delineated aromatics and tons of energy. The vibrancy of the fruit is impossible not to admire. Red plums, raspberries, berries and graphite give the wine a cool intensity and minerality that are striking. Layers of fruit build to the vinous yet structured finish. This is a great wine that captures the full personality of the 2010 vintage in Tuscany.  It also happens to be a steal. In 2010 the blend is 30% Montepulciano, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese, 10% Marselan and 10% Alicante Bouschet." 

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  Here is Kirk's review:

"MATURE WINE FROM FRIULI"

The 1998 Ros di Rol (Red from wood) from Sant'Elena winery is perhaps my favorite wine in the store for the price, hands down. Let me tell you: I am a "Bordeaux hound". I started getting into Bordeaux in the early 80's and I ended up filling my cellar with 1985, 1986 and 1989 wines. I am still drinking them today, and enjoying the heck out of them (I won't tell you what I paid for them; you'll be jealous).

 

OK, so older wines are not everyone's thing.   First of all, not all wines can age... they need certain components to last: structure (tannin), acidity, depth of extraction (e.g., low yields, strict selection). I would say that 90% of all wine produced is not going to improve with age/time. What happens as a wine ages? Well, you are going to lose some fruit, but you gain other elements (complexity). How to describe an older/mature red wine?   Soft, resolved  tannins.  Full integration: everything in the base components of a wine comes together and is balanced. Acidity holds up but does not take the "upper reign". The color of the wine turns a garnet red (not brown: you can tell a lot about the age of a wine by its color). Older wines need a decant, but often just a quick one. Usually, older wines need to be consumed upon opening, they often do not hold well over night, so drink that baby up.

 

The '98 Ros di Rol - earthy, loamy, soil...  dirt folks!   Ya gotta like this component or you will not like this wine. Tannins totally resolved. Smooth as silk. Herbs, wood, smoke, tobacco, cocao, leather... that is the general idea. There is not the complexity (layers) as in great pedigreed mature Bordeaux, but this wine has definitely aged gracefully. There is still fruit (black currants).  Just lovely. This, to me, is what wine is all about. Wine is like people. We age, we get wiser and more experienced. We develop. We mature. We have a certain starting point given, but we evolve and our components eventually are greater than the sum of our parts. Oh, stop. Sorry.

 

This wine is absolutely well-kept and drinking fantastically NOW. I have sampled several bottles with consistent impressions.   This wine is as good as some much higher-priced wines I have pulled from my cellar. It is easily worth $30-50 and we are selling in for a stupid $14.40 by the case. You need to at least try this to decide if you like this profile of mature wine.

Oh yes, as with most older wines, there is some sediment. Personally, with older wines, I recommend setting the bottle upright for a week before consuming.