Your cellar, your trips, and the wines you've been tracking are right where you left them.
New here?
Free, always. Education first, we'll never sell you anything you didn't ask to see.
Already have an account?
Enter the email you signed up with and we'll send a link to choose a new password.
Fonte Della Vigna
A 70/30 Sangiovese-Merlot blend from the Romagna hills, vinified in steel without oak ageing. Ripe cherry and plum lead a medium-bodied palate, with the savoury Sangiovese edge softened by Merlot's plummier weight. Genuine entry-level character at su
Open and approachable. Crushed red cherry leads, with a darker thread of damson plum and a clear violet floral lift. Sangiovese's nervy fruit is softened by Merlot's rounder weight, with no overt oak character to obscure the varietal signature.
Coffee
Violet
Blackberry
Cherry
Plum
Tobacco
Leather
Black pepperMedium-bodied and gently brisk. The acidity is the first thing you notice, that Sangiovese tang that gives Italian reds their hunger for food, followed by ripe blackberry and a savoury, almost umami undercurrent of tobacco leaf. Tannins are present but smooth, sanded down by the Merlot proportion.
Medium length. The fruit fades cleanly into a dry, mildly peppery exit, with a faint mineral note typical of clay-grown Romagna Sangiovese.
An honest, unforced everyday Italian red. It does not pretend to be a Brunello, but for under £10 it is a properly balanced Sangiovese-Merlot blend with the structure to carry red sauces, grilled meats and aged hard cheese. Best drunk now and over the next two years.
Sub-£10, drink-now, food-first. The exact profile of a Tuesday-evening Italian red.
Bright Sangiovese acidity plus Merlot-softened tannin is what tomato pasta and grilled meat were written for.
£8.48 for a balanced Italian red with named varieties and an Emilia-Romagna IGT pedigree is among the best price-to-structure ratios we track.
Recognisably Sangiovese (sour cherry, savoury edge) but rounded by Merlot. A Chianti Classico is the next step up.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Rubicone denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Compare tracked offers from verified retailers at a glance. Stock is shown only where the retailer exposes it. Logos, sale pricing, and the strongest offer are surfaced first.
A warm, even Romagna growing year for entry-level Sangiovese-Merlot blends. Soft tannins, ripe red fruit, mid-weight build. Drink in the next two years; not built for laydown.
A warm, even Romagna growing year for entry-level Sangiovese-Merlot blends. Soft tannins, ripe red fruit, mid-weight build. Drink in the next two years; not built for laydown.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Rubicone is in the IGT tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Rubicone falls within Emilia Romagna , covering Bologna · Forlì-Cesena · Ravenna · Rimini.
Dishes that complement this wine
Sangiovese's high tartaric acidity meets the natural acidity of tomato. Wine and sauce balance instead of fighting; the wine refuses to taste sour against ripe tomato sugars and the sauce no longer flattens the wine.
Try with: pasta arrabbiata · margherita pizza · puttanesca · ragù alla bolognese · pasta al pomodoro · More pairings →
Protein and fat from grilled meat bind to the wine's medium tannins, smoothing them on the palate while the wine's acidity cuts through animal fat. Reach for a tighter Sangiovese for fillet; this blend handles everyday cuts cleanly.
Try with: bistecca alla fiorentina · lamb chops · grilled rib-eye · tagliata di manzo · More pairings →
The same Sangiovese acidity that handles tomato slices through dairy fat and salami fat, resetting the palate between bites. A young Sangiovese is built for the cheeseboard.
Try with: 24-month Parmigiano · pecorino · prosciutto crudo · finocchiona · culatello · More pairings →
Sangiovese carries a savoury, dried-herb note that runs alongside grilled, smoked or rosemary-rubbed cooking. The dish does not need to be Italian; it just needs that herbal-charred edge.
Try with: aubergine parmigiana · porchetta · grilled portobello · sausage and lentils · More pairings →
A medium-bodied red sits comfortably alongside food that is neither delicate nor heavy. Mushroom, lentil and bean dishes get a savoury lift; nothing gets crushed by alcohol or tannin.
Try with: lentil ragù · mushroom risotto · ribollita · pasta e fagioli · More pairings →
Capsaicin amplifies tannin and burns harder. Sweet sauces (teriyaki, hoisin) make the wine taste sour. Oily white fish clashes with Sangiovese's red-fruit character on a metallic note.
Skip with: vindaloo · sweet-and-sour pork · grilled mackerel · sushi · Pairing guide →
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.
Built for early drinking. Holds two to three years from vintage; no structural reason to lay it down.
£8.48 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 13 Jul 2026, 20:01 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighA style read drawn from the grape and the appellation, not from this exact bottle. We mark these notes openly so you know what you are reading.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumA medium-bodied Italian red with bright Sangiovese acidity and Merlot-softened tannin. Expect ripe red cherry and damson plum on the nose, a savoury palate of blackberry and tobacco leaf, and a clean, mildly peppery finish. No oak ageing, so the varietal character shows through clearly.
Tomato-led pasta and pizza is the strongest match: pasta arrabbiata, margherita pizza, ragù alla bolognese. Grilled red meat and aged hard cheese also work well. Avoid spicy heat, sweet sauces and oily fish.
Serve at 16 to 18°C, slightly below room temperature. Twenty minutes in the fridge is roughly right; serve too warm and the alcohol pushes forward and the fruit feels jammy.
Yes. At sub-£10 for a balanced Sangiovese-Merlot blend with named varieties and an Emilia-Romagna IGT pedigree, it sits among the strongest value entry-level Italian reds in the UK market. Built for Tuesday-night drinking, not for laying down.
No. The 2024 vintage is built for early drinking; we recommend drinking within 2025 to 2028. There is no structural reason to lay it down. For a Sangiovese with cellar potential, look at Chianti Classico Riserva or Brunello di Montalcino instead.
1 retailer
Rubicone
1 retailer
£12.90
1 retailer
Rubicone
1 retailer
£11.05
1 retailer
Rubicone
1 retailer
£11.04
6 retailers
Chianti Classico
6 retailers
£29.64
£35.31
Affiliate disclosure. Some links above are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Editorial coverage, ratings and tasting notes are written independently and a retailer cannot pay to be listed or to be ranked higher.
How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
What we will never do. Imply we tasted a bottle when we didn’t. Imply stock when a retailer is out. Imply independence on links that are paid affiliate links.
Verified retailers
Price comparison
Updated daily
