1. Cantine Leonardo, Trebbiano Toscana 2007

Pale lemon coloured wine, with a touch of pear, citrus and floral notes.

Crisp, clean, some tartness on the finish. Leonardo leaves the grapes on the vines for an additional 4 days to promote extra ripeness. Despite this the wine still tastes a little tart on the finish.

Solid entry level white, but the tartness takes it down a couple of pegs for me.

Robertfranciswine - 86 Points

Available: The Vineyard Galway

Price Bracket: €13.95 [approx]

2. Da Vinci, Chianti Classico 2006

Lovely ruby purple coloured wine - Deep colour concentration.

Lovely Cherries, blackfruits and some floral components on the palate. Good fruit concentration and balance on the nose.

On the palate, plums, blackberry, with good concentration. There are some oak and spice characteristics which are really well integrated into the wine. Solid finish with some dryness.

Overall a solid wine, which hails near Sienna, which would be good with light Italian meat dishes. Very solid Chianti Classico.

Robertfranciswine: 89 Points

Available from: The Vineyard, Galway

Price Bracket: €19.95

3. Cantine Leonardo, Chianti 2006

This wine is produced in the small hilly area in the commune of Vinci in Tuscany.

This wine is a blend of 85% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot, and 5% Colorino, it is also totally unoaked which gives the wine a much lighter fruity style.

This is Leonardo's entry level Chianti which Giacomo said is meant to be an everyday "lunchtime" style of wine.

Quite a fruity wine, with some bramble fruits on the nose and palate. The fruit was a touch green, with some green tannins. New world fans will probably hate this wine as the ripeness of fruit and sugar that you love is not here!

There were some cherries, and red fruits on the palate. The wine tastes kind of simple [which is probably what they were going for] has decent acidity, with a solid finish.

Robertfranciswine - 87 Points

Available from - The Vineyard, Galway

Price Bracket - €13.95

4. Cantine Leonardo, Chianti Riserva 2004

The bigger brother of the entry level Chianti, coming again from the Vinci region.

This wine is 85% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot and 5% Colorino- Solid ruby red colour, with decent colour concentration.

Fuller bodied then the entry level, with good fruit and spice. Solid berry fruit, mostly strawberry and black cherries on the palates.

Overall a decent wine, with good fruit, concentration and a solid finish. A little expensive at this price, there are better options at this price bracket.

Robertfranciswine - 88 Points

Available from: The Vineyard

Price Bracket: €19.95

This wine hails from a different area to the Chianti's - with the fruit being sourced from the Commune of Cerreto Guidi near Florence.

This wine is 85% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot and 5% Colorino.This wine was much more New World in Style then the other wines reviewed so far.

Lovely purple red colour, with excellent colour concentration. On the palate there were nice red fruits with some oak characteristics.

Very good fruit concentration on the palate. The wine had good structure, and a pretty solid finish. Overall an enjoyable wine would go well with most red meat dishes, but it isn't a huge blockbuster but would be able to handle most foods - pasta etc would be great with it.

Robertfranciswine - 89 Points

Available From: The Vineyard

Price Bracket: €22.95 [approx]

6. Cantina Di Montalcino, Poggio Del Sasso, 2006

Made from 100% Sangiovese Grosse which is a thicker skinned grape then regular Sangiovese. This gives this wine an extra dimension.

Fruit is sourced from the small hilly area of Montalcino. Solid ruby red coloured wine, with cherries, red fruits, and floral notes on the nose. Wine was very inviting on the nose.

On the palate, the fruit is rich and really well balanced! The red fruits come through in spades on the palate which has the extra richness to make it appear a little more new worldish.

Loved this wine, and at this price you are practically stealing it. Hit the pavements, wine searcher, find this wine and buy a case. Trust me your next dinner party, house party this wine would be a fantastic change of pace. Pasta with tomato sauces, anti - pasta dishes, most Italian dishes would be great with this !

Take a bow son ! Take a bow

Robertfranciswine: 90 Points

Available from: The Vineyard

Price Bracket: €11.95

Fruit sourced from the same area as the Poggio Del Sasso. This wine is 100% regular sangiovese, which is matured in large Slovenian oak casks for 7-8 months before bottle.

Lovely elegant, smooth rich fruit on the nose. There are cherries, blackfruits, and a touch of spice. Really well balanced with nice concentration, fresh and inviting on the nose.

On the palate, the fruit is juicy, well balanced with some supple and rounded tannins. Really good fruit concentration on the palate. On the finish the fruit is soft, with a lovely touch of spice.

I have always been a huge fan of Rosso's, and while they are referred to as Brunellos poor brother, I believe that there is huge scope for value purchases especially when dining out !

I loved this wine, it has the finesse and elegance that you would expect from a Brunello but at half the price.

Robertfranciswine: 90 Points

Available from: The Vineyard, Galway

Price Bracket: €17.95

Fruit sourced from the small hilly communes near Montalcino. Cantine Di Montalcino sources their fruit from throughout the commune. That way it gives them a blend of all different characteristics that the region has to offer .

On the nose there were nice notes of blackberry, and liquorice. The nose has the distinct elegance that you expect from Brunello. On the palate the fruit is soft, rounded, with a touch of plum and spice.

As required in Montalcino, it is 5 years after the vintage that the wines are released with three years in Slovenian Oak and two years in bottle. So this was a young brunello. However the alcohol level was a little high for me on this wine, making the wine taste a little hot on the finish.

So while this is a solid wine, at the price point I would have to give it a miss. As at this price there are a lot of other wines that I would consider first.

Robertfranciswine: 88 Points

Available from: The Vineyard, Galway

Price Bracket: €37.50

Amber, almost golden syrup, coloured wine. Fantastically aromatic nose.

Aromas of dried fruits, figs, almonds and honey. There was a lovely high grade marzipan taste on the finish. Had great acidity, balance, and mouthfeel. The finish was lengthy. Would be fantastic with dried fruit based deserts, or some smelly cheeses !

Really loved this wine, one of the best Vin Santo I have ever had.

Robertfranciswine - 92 Points

Available from: The Vineyard, Galway

Price Bracket: €26.50