Il Paradiso di Frassina house spotlight
The official il Paradiso di Frassina channel presents the Montalcino house Carlo Cignozzi built as Mozart's Vineyard, the same family behind this 12 Uve Maremma blend.
2016 il Paradiso di Frassina Twelve Uve Rosso Maremma Toscana Tuscany, Italy
Carlo Cignozzi's twelve-grape Maremma red, blackberry and tobacco after two years in wood, a 2016 you can open at ten dollars.
The 2016 12 Uve blends Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cesanese, Ancellotta, Alicante, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Carmenere, Canaiolo, and Ciliegiolo from Cinigiano: blackberry, black plum, chocolate, tobacco, and black pepper, now $10.
A twelve-note Maremma blend, not a leftover Super Tuscan slogan
Carlo Cignozzi plays Mozart to his Montalcino vines. In Cinigiano he planted twelve grapes, six Tuscan and six Bordeaux, and named 12 Uve for the musical scale: one grape, one note. Four harvests, four groups of three varieties, then two years in wood before the blend. The 2016 is that wine: concentrated black fruit, chocolate, tobacco, vanilla, and pepper. Wine Enthusiast, on the 2013, found scorched earth, black berry, Marasca cherry, licorice, and vanilla on 40 percent Sangiovese plus eleven other organically farmed grapes. This is the bottle that makes a unique Tuscan idea pourable at ten dollars.
The house
Carlo Cignozzi founded Il Paradiso di Frassina in Montalcino as Mozart's Vineyard. 12 Uve is his Maremma idea: twelve grapes, twelve notes.
The wine
Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cesanese, Ancellotta, Alicante, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Carmenere, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo. Two years in oak.
The vintage
2016 is a strong Maremma red year. CellarTracker community average about 89. Powerful, fresh, built for the table.
The drinker
Blackberry and tobacco first. Decant 20 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Steak or a slow ragu.
Blackberry and plum, then chocolate, tobacco, and pepper
Remedy's note on the 2016 is powerful, intense, and round: concentrated blackberries and black plums, chocolate, then wood notes of tobacco, vanilla, bay, and black pepper. Kerin O'Keefe's 2013 12 Uve found earthy scorched earth and black olive, then Marasca cherry, licorice, and vanilla on fine tannin. The blend changes as it airs, which is the point of twelve grapes.
A Tuscan red year with enough fruit and freshness to drink now. 13.5% alcohol. Two years in wood, then the blend. Open it. The wine changes through the bottle.
Blackberry, black plum, Marasca cherry, chocolate, tobacco, vanilla, pepper.
Full, 13.5% ABV, two years oak, fine to firm tannin, twelve-grape depth.
Licorice, bay, length. Decant 20 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Four harvests, two years in wood, then one twelve-grape blend
On the house page, the twelve varieties do not ripen together. Harvest runs mid-August to mid-September in four groups of three grapes. Each lot ages about two years in wood. Only then is the final mix made, so percentages shift with the year. Sangiovese is the Tuscan spine. Bordeaux grapes and rarer locals (Cesanese, Ancellotta, Alicante, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo) supply the other notes.
Organic farming. Cinigiano hills south of Tuscany, without the Mozart speakers of the Montalcino estate.
Decant 20 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Grilled meat, stew, aged cheese.
Mozart in Montalcino, twelve notes in the Maremma
Cignozzi wanted music in the vines. In Cinigiano he wrote the scale into the blend instead.
Il Paradiso di Frassina is the Mozart Vineyard of Montalcino, studied by Pisa and Florence, wired with Bose speakers.
The Maremma site at Santa Rita was planted to twelve varieties so the wine itself would be a scale.
The 2016 12 Uve is that experiment in a ripe, drinkable year: blackberry, tobacco, and a changing glass, priced for a crowd.
Grilled meat, then a slow ragu
A twelve-grape Tuscan red wants char and a sauce that has seen wine. Ribeye and pappardelle ragu do that work.
Two plates. One butter-basted steak. One rustic pappardelle ragu. Both can take 12 Uve fruit and tannin.
Decant 20 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. A generous red bowl.
Butter-Basted Ribeye
A hard crust, butter, and thyme. 12 Uve's steakhouse landing.
Why it works: Fat and char cushion the tannin while browned beef pulls blackberry, chocolate, and pepper through the glass.
View Recipe for butter-basted ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Pappardelle with Rich Ragu
Wide pasta and a slow meat sauce. Twelve grapes have a savory landing.
Why it works: Collagen and tomato meet cherry, licorice, and tobacco. Acidity keeps the ragu lifted.
View Recipe for pappardelle ragu (opens in a new tab)Put this 12 Uve in the cart
Carlo Cignozzi, twelve grapes, Maremma. Ten dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the Tuscan red for a table that wants a crazy blend, not a generic Chianti slogan.
