The 2018 Sangiovese is composed of 77% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot. Medium garnet-purple in color, it leaps from the glass with bold expressions of kirsch, baked plums, black raspberries and fragrant earth plus suggestions of dried Provence herbs and tobacco. The medium-bodied palate is refreshing and vibrant, delivering mouth-coating red and black fruits with loads of herbal sparks, finishing earthy. 362 cases were made.

The 2017 Sangiovese is blended of 77% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Merlot made without new oak. In the beginning, when Steve's father planted, there were only two rows of Sangiovese that survived, so it was bottled in 500-milliliter bottles. This is the first vintage bottled in 750-milliliter format. Medium garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with notes of black cherry compote, black raspberries and mulberries with nuances of dried herbs, lavender and underbrush. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with red and black fruit flavors, sparked by herbs and textured with well-played, chewy tannins, with a long, vibrant finish. 265 cases were made this year.

Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Sangiovese (also containing 12% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petit Verdot) reveals exuberant Bing cherries, red currant jelly and black raspberries notes with suggestions of dried Mediterranean herbs, tobacco leaf and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, the palate gives energetic red berries and herbal layers, supported by chewy tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long and earthy. 266 cases were made.

Pride has always made one of the finest wines from Sangiovese, but they don’t make a whole lot of it and only bottle it in 500 ml formats. It is fermented in stainless steel but aged 12 months in 40% new French oak. There are 216 cases of the delicious 2014 Sangiovese, which exhibits the classic spicy cherries, new saddle leather, licorice, dusty, loamy soil notes and touch of tobacco leaf in a medium to full-bodied, dense purple-colored format. It doesn’t cut a huge swath across the palate, but its fruit is intense, pure and provocative. Drink it over the next 4-6 years. The $60.00 price is for 500 ml.

One of the best – if not the best – Sangioveses made in all of California seems to emerge from Pride every year. They only make a small amount of it (about 200 cases, and all 500 ml bottles). In the 2013 Sangiovese the final blend was 76% Sangiovese and 24% Merlot. Deep ruby/plum/purple, its notes of sweet cherry, licorice, pepper, spice and earth are followed by a full-bodied, gorgeously fruity, lush, velvety-textured wine with decent acidity and sweet tannin. This luscious, sexy style of Sangiovese makes a mockery of the frequently disappointing ones that California produced for so many years. Drink it over the next 5-7 years.