A grape with so much history and a crazy back story of its renewal, not quite popularity, but certainly a resurgence in its primary growing area. Cesanese is a low yielding, late ripener (late October harvest) … back in 2000 there were less than 2500 acres planted and most of that was in the Lazio region of Italy. Its resurrection as a grape of choice is due to an American porn star, Natalie Oliveros, aka: Savanna Samson (Sogno Uno wine), whose move into the wine industry included a Cesanese based red blend – which put the spotlight back on this grape and the Lazio region. This 100% Cesanese is wild fermented with indigenous yeasts found on the grapes with a long maceration that helps extract those rich tannins the grape is known for.  Ripe red berries grab the imagination and the olfactories first followed by plum and cherry-mocha … so delicious – yet another Italian grape that needs some exposure and exploration.  Rating: ****