When you consider that Italy’s wine history goes back thousands of years, Bordeaux blends are a pretty recent arrival. In the 1950s, some Italian winemakers in Tuscany started experimenting with Bordeaux grapes rather than traditional ones such as Sangiovese. The results were spectacular, though these blends had to be labelled as lowly table wines because they operated outside of Tuscany’s wine rules. That has changed now, as these wines, sometimes referred to as Super Tuscans, have their own appellations and rules. Il Fauno di Arcanum, from Tenuta di Arceno, is one of my favourites. A Merlot-dominant blend, it is a consistently impressive wine. This vintage blends 72 per cent Merlot with 20 per cent Cabernet Franc and four per cent of both Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Look for flavours of earth, leather, violet, raspberry, black cherry, redcurrant, plum, white pepper and vanilla. The tannins are plush, the acid fresh and the finish lingers.

Great Wines for your Summer Party

Gold Medal - Decanter World Wine Awards 2017 Ripe black fruit, graphite notes, gentle, spicy, ripe tannins and well-integrated oak. The palate is ripe, juicy and floral, with layers of blackberry fruit, fantastic complexity and great length.

Wine Pick - Can Tuscany rival Bordeaux The closest to the Arcanum was the 2011 Valadorna, 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, aged 1 year in 80% new French oak. It also had the rich concentration I typically associate with a fine, age worthy Bordeaux.

Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of cherry and tobacco and espresso. In the mouth, beautifully bright flavors of cherry and cedar mix with a touch of tobacco leaf and cola nut. Supple but muscular tannins wrap around the palate and gain strength in the finish. Excellent acldity and balance. Very delicious. A blend of 56% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot. 9.0-9.5

Very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of licorice, dark chocolate, and black cherry fruit. In the mouth, gorgeously supple flavors of black cherry and plum have a juicy brightness to them thanks to excellent acidity. Wonderfully well-integrated oak hangs very much in the background, letting flavors of cherry cola, plum, and cocoa powder wash over the palate and linger for a long time in the finish with a touch of licorice root. Excellent. A blend of 85% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9.5.

What To Drink Now: Balanced Red Blends Some of the world’s finest wines are blends, and here are a few standout options to consider. (Some were sent for editorial consideration.) Cheers… Grown in the heart of Tuscany, il fauno di Arcanum blends Bordeaux varieties from rolling hillsides for a unique expression of fruit. Textured and well-rounded, with raspberry, plum, lilacs and lavender.

Then came the 2011 Arcanum, an Italian Super Tuscan with 77 percent cabernet franc. Ryan decided to test us by serving it to us blind. I was able to guess that it was red. Ryan was blown away by my skills of perception. Terry had to show me up, of course. She opined that it was an Italian wine, not sure of the varietal. As is often the case with European wines, it will shine with food, especially something hearty like a ribeye steak.

What to Drink Now: Cabernet Franc In Sonoma, Tuscany and Bordeaux, celebrated winemaker Pierre Seillan reveals the beauty and structure of the grape while allowing each individual micro-climate to shine. With Arcanum ($100), he showcases how the rolling hillsides of Tuscany, Italy are the ideal place for growing earthy Cabernet Franc.

What to Drink Now: Savory Summer Red Wines Though Cabernet Sauvignon is always going to be a standard go-to wine for Texans, here are a few lighter options to enjoy now through the fall. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.)… Cabernet Franc shines as the dominant variety in Tuscany’s Arcanum ($75, wine.com) with wild rose and ripe red fruit when young, but when aged the wine takes on the earthiness of the rolling Tuscan hillsides their fruit thrives in with black fruit, anise, and a forest floor quality that makes it ideal for pairing with roasted pork dishes.

Wine Pick - Can Tuscany rival Bordeaux You can imagine my pleasure in receiving a sample of the 2011 Arcanum so I could taste this wine in a more relaxed, non-blind setting. This 2011 blend is made up of 77% Cabernet Franc, 14% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petite Verdot and aged in new French oak for a year. Though the 14.% abv was comparable to Bordeaux, as was the concentration and nuances of new French oak, the wine seemed like a warmer climate than Bordeaux and the voluptuous nature of very ripe Cabernet Franc. The wine is black and dense with an aroma of black fruit, prune, spice, leather and black olive aromas.

What to Drink Now: Savory Summer Red Wines Though Cabernet Sauvignon is always going to be a standard go-to wine for Texans, here are a few lighter options to enjoy now through the fall. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.)… Cabernet Franc shines as the dominant variety in Tuscany’s Arcanum ($75, wine.com) with wild rose and ripe red fruit when young, but when aged the wine takes on the earthiness of the rolling Tuscan hillsides their fruit thrives in with black fruit, anise, and a forest floor quality that makes it ideal for pairing with roasted pork dishes.

Very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of cherry, plum, and green herbs. In the mouth, gorgeously plummy flavors have a wonderful brightness and a gorgeous floral overtone of violets above a dark cherry and cocoa powder core of fruit. Thick, powdery tannins muscle in for some attention as the wine soars through the finish. The oak hangs nicely in the background letting the fruit and earth do its thing. A blend of 68% Cabernet Franc, 22% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9.5.

What to Drink Now: Savory Summer Red Wines Though Cabernet Sauvignon is always going to be a standard go-to wine for Texans, here are a few lighter options to enjoy now through the fall. (Some selections were sent for editorial consideration.)… Cabernet Franc shines as the dominant variety in Tuscany’s Arcanum ($75, wine.com) with wild rose and ripe red fruit when young, but when aged the wine takes on the earthiness of the rolling Tuscan hillsides their fruit thrives in with black fruit, anise, and a forest floor quality that makes it ideal for pairing with roasted pork dishes.

Following up on my last column, we had covered four wines from our tasting at the Spire Collection. Here are the final five we enjoyed. Ryan Hughes then presented a great opportunity to compare and contrast. He poured us the 2014 Anakota Dakota Vineyard and the 2014 Anakota Montana Vineyard side-by-side. Both vineyards are in Knights Valley. Dakota runs southeast to northwest; Montana is northeast to southwest. Robert Parker preferred the Dakota to the Montana, rating them 98 and 93, respectively. I agreed with his assessment while Terry flip-flopped on the two. I got eucalyptus and berry on the nose, finding some tasty tannins that need a lot of air time to make it approachable. The Montana, for me, featured heavy tannins that will take considerable cellar time to dissipate. As is to be expected, my bride disagreed with me. She found the Montana smoother and less tannic. We concurred that both wines had blackberry and black fruit on both the nose and the palate. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the strong tannic presence in both wines. Pierre Seillan, Anakota’s winemaker, also crafts one of Spire’s crown jewels, Verite. I’ve always found hulking tannins in Verite that do mellow after 10 years, akin to fine Barolos, some of which need 30 years before they are drinkable.

Following up on my last column, we had covered four wines from our tasting at the Spire Collection. Here are the final five we enjoyed. Ryan Hughes then presented a great opportunity to compare and contrast. He poured us the 2014 Anakota Dakota Vineyard and the 2014 Anakota Montana Vineyard side-by-side. Both vineyards are in Knights Valley. Dakota runs southeast to northwest; Montana is northeast to southwest. Robert Parker preferred the Dakota to the Montana, rating them 98 and 93, respectively. I agreed with his assessment while Terry flip-flopped on the two. I got eucalyptus and berry on the nose, finding some tasty tannins that need a lot of air time to make it approachable. The Montana, for me, featured heavy tannins that will take considerable cellar time to dissipate. As is to be expected, my bride disagreed with me. She found the Montana smoother and less tannic. We concurred that both wines had blackberry and black fruit on both the nose and the palate. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the strong tannic presence in both wines. Pierre Seillan, Anakota’s winemaker, also crafts one of Spire’s crown jewels, Verite. I’ve always found hulking tannins in Verite that do mellow after 10 years, akin to fine Barolos, some of which need 30 years before they are drinkable.

Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of rich black cherries, cassis, and blueberries. In the mouth black cherry, cassis, and blueberry flavors have a slight herbal note as they are wrapped in powdery, fine grained tannins. Good acidity and length.

Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of black cherry and tobacco, with cassis and cola overtones. In the mouth powdery, chalky tannins wrap around a core of black cherry and tobacco tinged with earthy savoriness. Good acidity and length.

Very ripe black fruit, oaky, elegant, very sappy, smoky note, dense on the palate, velvety, very good potential, zesty finish.

Very rocky volcanic, dry soil; a warm site that ripens grapes into a plush, exotically perfumed cabernet.

A cool site with clay-laden volcanic soils; picked later than Montana, so more depth, more punch; dense, packed, powerful, many-layered.

An indigo-dark, velvet-soft red, this Cabernet Sauvignon broods with dark chocolate and espresso that bespeak its mountain terroir.

Next up was the Alcance Carmenère 2014. Sánchez started by questioning how the grape could have been confused with Merlot in Chile for so long. His own experience has shown how very different the two grapes actually are from both the appearance of the leaves and the grapes and even more telling the difference in the ripening schedule. He mentioned that the Merlot is typically harvested in mid to late March while the Carmenère is picked in the middle of May, over a month and a half difference. He discussed how he finds the grape somewhat difficult to work with as picking too early can create a wine with heavy green notes and despite his best efforts it can also have a bit of a hollow feeling mid-palate that requires an added bit of Cabernet Sauvignon for more substance. I found the wine to be nicely spicy with no green notes, primarily aromas and flavors of ripe blackberries with a black pepper note through the lengthy finish. This wine was also sourced from the El Maitén Estate Vineyard.