La Mozza, Maremma Toscana Cabernet Sauvignon "I Perazzi"

This morning’s discovery was exhibit A for the case that Italy–long known as a bastion of its many hundreds of local grapes–can go toe to toe with the rest of the world when it comes to pitch-perfect expressions of the most famous “international” grape varieties. For exhibit B we turn to red wines, and specifically Cabernet Sauvignon. Likely the current champion for most recognized grape on the global scene, Cabernet is lauded in France, California, South America and beyond. La Mozza, a small estate owned by Joe and Lidia Bastianich, is out to prove that southern Tuscany should be on that list too, and I couldn’t agree more. The power and gravitas of Cabernet meets the savory, earthy terroir of Tuscany in a glorious way–and the price blows those other regions out of the water when it comes to value. This is one to go deep on.  The La Mozza winery is owned by Italian-American restaurateurs and television personalities Joe and Lidia Bastianich. Known far and wide for their dedication to