Below is the July, 2006 Featured Wine for the Wines by Jennifer Cellar Club:

2000 Signano San Gimignano, Rosso Tuscany, Italy From the heart of Tuscany, made with Sangiovese (85%), Merlot (8%), and Cabernet Sauvignon (7%), this "Super Tuscan" has a superb color, rich and vibrant. Intense, seductive fruit, very complex and full-bodied. Perfect with meat, game, and aged cheeses. The agricultural estate “Signano” was purchased by the Biagini family in 1961. At present, the estate covers 30 hectares (about 74 acres) with a beautiful, direct view of the town of San Gimignano. The boutique winery produces only about 20,000 cases of wine, half of which is Tuscany’s legendary white, Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Other products include Chianti Colli Senesi, Vin Santo and extra-virgin olive oil. Today the high-tech family winery is managed by Manrico Biagini. The family also has a wine shop Enoteca Signano in San Gimignano and country apartments, Agriturismo “Il Casolare di Bucciano” just outside of town on the road to Volterra. The Sangiovese vine is the backbone of the region’s production, and is virtually synonymous with the fine wines of Tuscany. It is the sole grape permitted for Brunello di Montalcino and provides the base for Chianti, Montepulciano and most of the Super Tuscans. When used alone it requires much effort to produce a full-flavoured rich wine, so it is most often blended with other grapes – principally Cabernet Sauvignon. A new breed of Tuscan red wines are the Super Tuscans, which are made in a more international style using French wine varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. With most of the Tuscan landscape hilly or undulating, hillside vineyards at relatively high altitudes provide the majority of better quality wines in Tuscany. These provide the necessary hours and concentration of sunlight for grapes to ripen, and growers also value the significant temperature fluctuations between day and night. Classed as Mediterranean, the Tuscan climate is harsh in winter.

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