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Unico Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva 2013
RedItaly2013
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2020-06-25 · Published 2026-09-30 · Updated 2026-09-30
At a glance
In one line
3.0/5 — lower than Vivino's 3.5 average · A Sangiovese from Romagna, not Tuscany.
Neither Wine-Searcher nor Vivino lists a critic score for this wine. Wine-Searcher has a single user rating.
Market note: Wine-Searcher currently shows neither retailers nor a world average for the 2013 (checked Sep 2026). Only the 2015 and 2017 vintages are listed under the same name.
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“괜찮은 산조베제 와인. 산조베제의 정직한 순수한 생각하는 그맛이에요. … 오래 나두면 안 될 것 같아요.”
Show original
“oak vanilla cherry blackcurrant plum 괜찮은 산조베제 와인~ 산조베제의 정직한 순수한 생각하는 그맛이예요~~ […] 오래나두면 안될것 같아요~~ㅎㅎ”
What I learned today: some bottles don't need waiting for.
Tuesday. The moment I opened the door, Master Seo pulled the cork. The glass came before I'd even taken off my coat. This bottle won't wait for you, he said. Drink it now. The sign light can go on after.
Cherry, plum, and vanilla. The oak came first and the fruit followed. Nothing complicated. In the mouth it went in one direction, straight ahead. As I set the glass down, the vanilla left on the tip of my nose settled right beside the honey I'd smelled yesterday. It was the same night.
Twenty-one, a Thursday night at the end of June, just as the rainy season began. Dad came home late in his suit. He took a bottle out of a paper bag, wrapped it in cloth, and set two glasses on the kitchen table. A bottle to open today and drink today, he said. Rain was falling outside. I took a sip and said it tasted like cherry candy. Dad nodded and slowly emptied his glass. It was a good while later that he took the little bottle out of the fridge — the little bottle from yesterday. I don't know the name of this one.
I opened the notebook to that date again. There are two lines under it. One is the Riesling I found yesterday; the other is this bottle. A decent Sangiovese, he wrote. "Sangiovese's honest, pure" taste. Better not to keep it long. Three stars. The bottle was Unico Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva. I stuck on the wine-name Post-it. What Dad said at the table that night was the same as the last sentence in his note.
Filling my glass, Master Seo said Sangiovese isn't a grape that lives only in Tuscany. Over the mountains, Romagna has its own Sangiovese — and the legend behind the name comes from there. Beside me, Minjae quietly opened the notes app on his phone.
After closing, I wrote the name on the twenty-eighth page of the new notebook. In the aroma column: 'cherry candy, rain'. What I learned today: some bottles don't need waiting for. For some, drinking them on the day you open them is how you take care of them.
What this wine is
Say Sangiovese and most people think of Tuscany: Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino are both made from it. But east of the Apennines, on the Adriatic side, Romagna has an old Sangiovese of its own. Emilia-Romagna's regional wine body, Enoteca Emilia Romagna, even says the grape's name was born here.
The story begins in a monastery near Rimini. At a banquet, distinguished guests asked the name of the red wine they had just drunk, and a monk answered, as a joke, 'Sanguis Jovis' — the blood of Jupiter — because the monastery stood on Colle Giove, Jupiter's hill. The joke stuck and became the grape's name, or so Romagna's legend goes. It is a legend that can't be proven.
The Romagna Sangiovese DOC has four types — Novello, standard, Superiore and Riserva — and this bottle is the Riserva, the longest-aged. The label says only 'unico' (Italian for 'the only one') in large letters. Who makes the brand, I couldn't confirm from the label or public sources. One Vivino reviewer called it a wine from Puglia, but the Romagna DOC is not in Puglia.
What the world says
On Vivino the 2013 averages 3.5 from 129 ratings: four fives, 45 fours, 69 threes and 11 twos — bunched between three and four. The label as a whole averages 3.4 from 785, and the 2014, 2016 and 2017 sit at 3.3–3.4, so the 2013 is a little higher. The suggested window is 2015–2025.
Oak, vanilla and chocolate lead the aroma mentions (56), followed by plum and blackberry (23), raspberry, strawberry and cherry (17), and leather and smoke (16). Structure: intensity 3.9, tannin 2.9, acidity 2.5, sweetness 1.8. Many describe it as a wine where the oak speaks before the fruit.
Wine-Searcher shows neither a price nor a critic score for this vintage. Reviewers mostly call it a well-made everyday wine for the money.
"Oak and vanilla upfront. Surprising orange-peel as well after aeration." — Vivino review, Mar 2018, 3.5
How I drank it
June 25, 2020, 3 stars. I wrote down oak, vanilla, cherry, blackcurrant and plum.
A decent Sangiovese. It had that honest, pure taste you think of when you think of Sangiovese. It didn't seem like one to keep long, so I noted it's better drunk once it's open.
The same day I gave Riverby Estate Noble Riesling 2014 a 3.5. My 3 is half a point below this vintage's Vivino average of 3.5 and close to the label's 3.4. What reviewers praised as good value I didn't put into the score. Instead I left a note not to keep it. Vivino's suggested window, too, ends in 2025.
Vivino community data
2013 vintage rating distribution (129 ratings, average 3.5)
| 5★ | 4 (3%) | |
| 4★ | 45 (35%) | |
| 3★ | 69 (53%) | |
| 2★ | 11 (9%) | |
| 1★ | 0 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Oak | 56 | oak 23 · vanilla 15 · chocolate 9 · tobacco 3 · brown butter 1 |
| Black fruit | 23 | plum 10 · black fruit 6 · blackberry 3 · blackcurrant 3 · blueberry 1 |
| Red fruit | 17 | raspberry 5 · strawberry 5 · cherry 4 · cherry cola 1 · red currant 1 |
| Earth & leather | 16 | leather 9 · smoke 4 · earthy 2 · mushroom 1 |
| Aging & yeast | 6 | cream 3 · bread yeast 1 · cheese 1 · fresh bread 1 |
Structure: Acidity 2.5/5 · Intensity 3.9/5 · Tannin 2.9/5 · Sweetness 1.8/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 785 ratings, average 3.4)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3.5 | 129 |
| 2014 | 3.3 | 212 |
| 2016 | 3.4 | 253 |
| 2017 | 3.4 | 52 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Unico Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva?
A Riserva red made from DOC Sangiovese in Romagna, Italy. Oak and vanilla come first, then plum and cherry. The 2013 averages 3.5 on Vivino (129 ratings).
How much does it cost?
Not confirmed: Wine-Searcher has no world average or retailers for the 2013 vintage (checked Sep 2026).
What food goes with it?
The Vivino community suggests beef, lamb, pasta and game such as venison. One reviewer said it made them crave pasta with tomato sauce.
Is Romagna Sangiovese different from Tuscan Sangiovese?
It's the same grape. Romagna lies east of the Apennines on the Adriatic side and has its own DOC (Novello, standard, Superiore, Riserva). Legend has it the very name Sangiovese comes from a monk's joke in Romagna — 'Sanguis Jovis', the blood of Jupiter.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Enoteca Emilia Romagna — Sangiovese
- Wine-Searcher — 2013 Unico Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva
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Tasted the same dayRiverby Estate Noble Riesling 2014
New Zealand · Marlborough★★★½☆Similar styleVarvaglione Papale Linea Oro Primitivo di Manduria 2016
Italy · Puglia★★★★☆Similar styleBraida Bricco dell'Uccellone Barbera d'Asti 2016
Italy · Piedmont★★★★☆Same grapeDomaine Leroy Bourgogne Aligoté 2014
France · Burgundy★★★★☆Same grapeDomaine de la Pinte Trousseau Arbois 2018
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