Straight Canaiolo, in Australia? Tuscany has a new address, and it’s in the King Valley.

Canaiolo is normally a blending grape that adds a bit of fruit weight to Chianti, and was more widely planted than Sangiovese in late 1800s Tuscany. There’s an Italianate charm here to this Pizzini Canaiolo 2016 too. It smells oakier than it is (20% new oak) but really it’s a wine shaped by acidity and tannins, the tannins ferrous but contrasted with inviting choc berry fruit. Charm. Rusticity. Imagine Sangiovese, but with more berry fruit through the middle and a slightly more grainy tannin profile. I like.

Best drinking: now to ten plus years. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.8%, $26. Would I buy it? Worth a few glasses with some prosciutto.