Friday Sips

Located south of the town of Montalcino in the hamlet of Sant' Angelo in Colle, Col D'Orcia has been an important and well-run Montalcino property for over 30 years. The style here is one of tradition and purity, ultimately meaning that these certainly aren’t farcical, Californicated Brunello or Rosso di Montalcino wines.

Newly arrived, the 2011 Col D'Orcia Rosso di Montalcino outclasses many producers' Brunello di Montalcino. Full-on fragrant savory aromas leap from the glass. Packed with violet, red berry, sage and underbrush aromas, this wine emits its Sangiovese and Montalcino character. Typical of a Col D'Orcia wine, there is remarkable depth and personality in the mouth along with their telltale virtuosity, Italian tanginess and a well-formed finish that is full of snap and extension. Drink over the next 4-6 years.

Typical of an Italian and Tuscan operation, the naming of this estate’s wines can be utter chaos. Owned by the Peluso Centolani family there are essentially two sites and 3 labels. The offices and vineyards for the Friggiali label are close to the village of Montalcino while this wine, a separate estate is located in Sant’Angelo in Colli and is a neighbor of Col D’Orcia.

Pietranera, meaning black stone, is from unique volcanic soil in this area and puts forth quite refined and poised wines that possess beautiful fruit/soil aspects. Brunello is also produced here and the Rosso is from the estates younger vines. Class from the glass, this Rosso reveals flowing aromas of black cherry, currant, violet, licorice and tobacco that flow into a texture that is mouth filling, seductive and full of extension. Rosso di Montalcino is always a good value; however, most of them do not approach this magnitude. Very alluring now and can be enjoyed through 2018+.

The DOC of Sant' Antimo was created in 1996 to exploit grapes plated within Montalcino which are blended in addition to Sangiovese. Mainly used as an excuse to add Cab or Merlot to Montalcino Sangiovese, top-level Brunello man Flavio Fanti thumbs his nose at this notion and rebelliously blends this wine with 50% Sangiovese and 50% Colorino as following his steadfast refusal to use small barrels.

Combining Hearty black fruit from Colorino along with pulsating red notes from Sangiovese, this 12 buck wonder is bursting and sneaky deep with ample texture, fruit and luminous aspects throughout. Lots of Montalcino soil character is present within this delectable red and best of all is its fantastic price, which allows one to drink it all week long.

Located in the northern sector of Montalcino, Canalicchio is a sleeper producer who produces wines from an exquisite terroirs that provide immense polish and breed but there is also no shortage of depth, structure or power behind these wines. This Brunello convincingly takes on the traits of its maker, holding its cards close to his chest, very debonair and revealing things on a need-to-know basis.

2008 is fast becoming more than just a sleeper vintage for Montalcino and is one that I prefer to the heavier, more flamboyant wines of 2007 due to them really being the essence of what Montalcino is and should be. The 2008 Canalicchio is not a darkly colored wine because of its traditional vinification and aging in large botti, but is one that reveals complex, alluring scents of dark cherry, raspberry, violet powder, lavender, rosemary, sage and licorice. This beautiful expression of Sangiovese Grosso still displays youthful exuberance spine and structure with underlying concentration of fruit that hits the palate with richness and concentration of flavor yet calls you back with its smoothness and moving finish. There is an engaging sexiness to this wine now as the shell is starting to be cracked on its window of drinkability, but beneath the surface lurks plenty of structure for it to continue to develop for another decade-plus.