Seeing Western Cape stars: A guide to Cape Wine 2022

Hemel-en-Aarde

Regenerative and creative farming, old vines, new frontiers, 80 recommended current releases and braai brekkies

The phenomenon known as “seeing stars” is a common description for disturbances of vision, in seeing bands of light, prisms, sparks or flashing lights. The scientific name is photopsia, a fleeting state most often caused when temporary pressure is placed on the eye, like what happens when you sneeze or bump your head. Seeing stars has also become a symbol of positivity, happiness or renewal. A recent trip to South Africa’s Cape Wine 2022 brought about the literal meaning of the saying as it pertains to celebrity. Wine celebrity that is — and while most Cape personalities carry themselves in complete opposite character to that of an Afrikaans bekende persoon (famous person), their wines on the other hand might bring on that condition called photopsia. The individual flashes of light called phosphenes may cause dreaminess, giddiness and being weak in the knees. Spend nearly two weeks in South Africa for the Cape Wine fair and you are more than likely to find yourself seeing Western Cape stars.

Old Vines FMC Vineyard, Stellenbosch

The Old Vine Project

In today’s Western Cape, discussions must begin with the entity known as The Old Vine Project. Over the past 20 years viticulturalist Rosa Kruger has focused on discovering, classifying, cataloguing and certifying heritage vineyards. It was a great pleasure to chat with Kruger at a Wines of South Africa ceremony and tasting at Cape Wine 2022, which celebrated her 2022 Decanter Hall of Fame Award. And also with the legend André Morgenthal, orchestrator of the tasting of old vines wines. It is remarkable to see how many estates and producers have come on board — to celebrate and show off the wines they are making from 35-year-old (and older) dry-farmed bush vines. Many vines are even pushing or exceeding the century mark.

He is in fact larger than life – André Morgenthal, The Old Vines Project

“The old method is always the best, because…how did it get so old?” The words of La Motte’s Edmund Terblanche — and yet South Africa is really all about balancing the past with the present. This is why the PIWOSA group — Premium Independent Wines of South Africa — chose the thematic “something old and something new” for their event at Klein Constantia. Old will always be new again, reiterates Andrea Mullineux when she describes the Leeu Passant Old Vine Cinsault Lötter as “a national monument — that must be ripened. Either that or it’s sauvignon blanc and apricots.” Or worse — just apricots.

Preservation is key to the South African wine industry and heritage sites are the assets and the advantage. Chris Alheit is adamant about protecting heritage sites. “I mean, how can you not see this as a Cape treasure? As an ancestral site?” Thus, Alheit’s sémillon, once called La Colline, is also worthy of “monument” status — and though it may not seem to represent the literal definition of a “memorial stone or a building erected,” it does pay homage “in remembrance of a person or event.” In this case, the farmer — and every season of sémillon attempting to seek its fruition for the past 85 or more. Francois Haasbroek of Blackwater uses the term zeitgeist and, yes, the definition is equivocated through the idea of Western Cape single-vineyard wines from off the beaten path, small-parcel sites.

John Szabo MS, Roas Kruger, Godello and the photo bomber

So why are old vines important? Simply put, they are valued for acumen and complexity. They have moved past the imbalance and gawky stage, having achieved life experience, and now possessing profound things to say. Ten years ago, the Old Vine Project considered one per cent of planted vineyards as old, but the truth is 50 percent of old vineyards can be rejuvenated. Most are set into decomposed granite soils, in some instances colluvial as well. These tracts are really old and weathered, predating microbial life. The vineyards dot a landscape occupied by granite plumes exposed above the surface; where below the surface magma cooled ever so slowly and so there is now much more diversity in the life and texture of the rock. Some will wonder how the wines grow on the granite. Physically, the decomposed granite is very friable, and the soils are sandy, two to three meters deep. Roots can dig down, resulting in a bigger canopy — and under that dappled light (as opposed to daytime/nighttime sun), the grapes are able to retain acidity.

Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc and decomposed granite soils

The artist formerly known as Steen, now simply “chenin,” is as complex as chardonnay, with acidity like sauvignon blanc but never searing. For a passionate winemaker like Andrea Mullineux, the grape holds nostalgic qualities. In the Western Cape there are 17,000 hectares planted, more than double that of the Loire. From the 1960s to the ’80s, Lieberstein (a mass market, kitsch wine that launched a sort of South African renaissance) was the most successful wine brand. So much so the government put out a call to plant more chenin in the 1990s.

“When you have old bush vines, you’re going to get chenin blanc that harnesses sunlight, a thickening of the skins and an accumulation of full phenolic character — a taste of sunshine,” says Mullineux with that wry and sly smile. “Granite is the only soil that can give you this super reductive style with great energy,” explains Donovan Rall, who picks his chenin blanc early. “What we learned through the drought years is you don’t have to pick things as you were traditionally taught.”

Andrea and Chris Mullineux

As for recent vintages, 2019 had warm days and cool nights, allowing vines to relax and recover acidity. Then 2020 was very temperate with little diurnal temperature fluctuation, leading to quick yet relatively even ripening. In 2021 the season was cool but dry, though not with drought-like conditions seen in 2018. Veraison only finished in the second week of — quite opposed to previous years when picking was completed by the second or third weekend of that month. Yet 2021 allowed for more precision picking and quite a relaxed harvest.

In 2021 and 2022, vineyards in the Swartland achieved that elusive ideal of full phenolic ripeness. “We say phenolic ripeness, but we call it psychological ripeness,” notes Mullineux. “At least with respect to basing on numbers.” The ripening schedule follows a path starting in Roberston (which is inland), followed by Paarl, Franschhoek and the Swartland, then the coastal regions with Stellenbosch being one of the last, just ahead of Elgin, Wellington, Hermanus and Hemel-en-Aarde.

As for the Hemel-en-Aarde and chardonnay, Chris Albrecht from Bouchard Finlayson indicates that elevation on their side of the valley where fog and humidity settle at the lower levels play a direct role in viticulture and especially the ripening seasoning. Shallow shale soils overlaid with heavy clay is also a factor in determining grape maturity. The Valley has a plateau with an underbelly delivering unique sets of tannin, structure and acidity that, when mixed with sandstone and clay soils, makes for this aspect of how chardonnay sets up for individualistic display.

Fynbos, Vergelegen, Stellenbosch

The venn diagram of organic, biodynamic, sustainable and regenerative farming

Soils in South Africa are ancient and varied. There are three main types along with derivatives:

Decomposed granites (oakleaf, tukulu, hutton and clovelly)
Malmesbury, bokkeveld or witteberg shale (glenrosa, swartland, klapmuts and estcourt)
Table Mountain sandstone (fernwood, longlands, westleigh and dundee)

Still other soils are major contributors to farming styles and the wines they beget. Alluvial, koffieklip, silica quartz, kaolinite clay, river gravels, klipheuwel conglomerates and shales, limestone and malmesbury clay are but a few. Then there are the plutons, dome-like intrusions of igneous magma into the earth’s crust which occurred at great depths and consequently cooled slowly, resulting in a coarse crystalline (granitoid) texture. These plutons have subsequently been exposed by erosion, resulting in mountains or hills such as those in Paarl and Perdeberg and the hills in Darling. In some cases, the exposed domes have been flat-topped by erosion and then covered with sandstone deposits, and have then again been eroded, resulting in sandstone on a granitic base, such as can be found in the Table and Simonsberg mountains. We must also point out the incredible Breede River Region’s characteristic calcareous loam soils and their association with bokkeveld and witteberg shales, dwyka tillite and enon conglomerate. In this part of the Cape it is Malgas that is the only South African wine area with significant alkaline soils.

Johan Reyneke, Stellenbosch

Between the 1970s and ’90s, many of the old vineyards in the fancy regions like Stellenbosch and Costantia were ripped out to plant cabernet, merlot and pinot noir. This was not the case in the “sleepy” Swartland where many old vines, especially of the bush variety, remained untouched. Today a less obtrusive pruning method is employed on “goblet,” which means smaller canopies, lower yields and less water requirements. This method reduces susceptibility to wood rot and also Esca, one of the complex of “trunk diseases” (along with Botryosphaeria dieback, Eutypa dieback, and Phomopsis dieback) caused by wood-infecting fungi.

“We’re figuring this out and it’s getting fun now,” says Callie Louw. But Louw is the anti-hero, the man who focuses on one large entity. “Working with all these little bits of grapes here and there is not sustainable,” he says, and so 90 hectares produces 850 tonnes of grapes with 85 per cent going into (Boekenhoutskloof) Chocolate Block. “We don’t need to offset climate change with varietal adaptation. We just need to farm better. The problem doesn’t go away. Cover cropping, activate your place, get things growing, the whole profile is run in the top four inches. Below is the bank, the reservoir, the thing that makes the money is on top. Stop tilling! Leave that stuff on the top of soil. It just burns. Keep the active things alive. Increase the carbon in your soil by one per cent and the water will increase by 50.”

With Callie Louw, Porseleinberg

At Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West it is environmental manager Eben Olderwagen who shows how abrasive yellow vine trunk wraps are employed to repel geckos and slugs in lieu of spaying. This sustainability action is part of Vergelegen’s track record as a wine estate renowned for its biodiversity and commitment to environmental sustainability. (Vergelegen is owned by mining company Anglo American.) The recent completion of an extensive programme to rehabilitate eroded watercourses is now the stuff of Western Cape legend. Five sites saw the removal of invasive alien species like Blue Gum trees (between 2004 and 2018) and the replanting of some 15,000 indigenous plants that were housed temporarily while the programme was underway. The 12 million Rand project has saved rehabilitated wetlands and Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos vegetation, which could have been badly affected by sediment washing onto the area. In addition, it has halted sediment contamination of the Lourens River, part of which runs through the estate. Rare vegetation discovered by botanists on the property thought to be extinct has been preserved within the hills and valleys of the 2,000-hectare nature preserve. In 2009 a major fore swept through and burned much of the vegetation, but this is actually beneficial to the fynbos which needs a good burn every 12-15 years for proper rejuvenation. No municipal water is used on the property as water from the Helderberg Mountain is captured in two damns. Vergelegen lays claim to now being the most leaf-roll virus free in the Western Cape.

Johan Reyneke

“Land caring, land sharing and making quality wine” is Reyneke’s tripartite platform and both story and also that of the cows is like a tree with different branches. The animals graze in high density, moving throughout the year from block to block. They graze and return microbes back into the soil, through their waste and create humus. Vines are fed by this regenerative activity. Dandelions are planted to attract pests so they will leave the vines and roots alone. Downy mold is managed with metabolic enzymes of copper, not always successful on its own but fighting alongside the humus offers a much better chance of control. Not to mention brix levels are raised because of this type of farming. Land sparing essentially means that if you have ecologically endangered endemic plant species you must leave them to live in conjunction with your vines. Don’t reduce them. And for goodness sakes don’t till.

Chenin Blanc, Reyneke

Thankfully by this point roughly 90 percent of farmers in the Western Cape have converted to no-tillage systems to improve the efficiency of crop production. Reyneke also plants new vineyards on contoured angles to control winter water flow but also erosion so that the flow will reach the property’s two dams. There are the fynbos “corridors,” between the blocks to allow wild animals a chance to remain in nature. This all adds up to creative farming mixed with regeneration and sustainability. The first seven years of this policy have all been about renewing the soils and each year the goal is to plant between five and seven new hectares, with 30 on schedule to go in over the next five years. “It begins with organics (which is sustainable), then graduate to biodynamics (which is self-sufficiency) but there is a constant struggle between caring and common sense.”

In other words decisions have to be made, economic ones, to support family, workers and the farm. “People have different tools during different epochs to deal with reality. Science is not about being certain and sometimes it’s about being doubtful. I’m never sure 100 per cent.”

These are the words of Jolandie Fouché of Wolf and Woman Wines: “As shared custodians of the lands that house these vineyards, we also ensure that we partner with growers who farm sustainably in order to produce top-quality grapes without compromising the environment, and the vineyards themselves, in the long run.” And there is Marlise Niemann who recreates the taciturn through gestures so befitting her Momento wines. They like so many of the Western Cape endure for their balance between place and adventure, as well as remaining grounded through their maker’s independence and relationship with the tracts they choose to interpret.

Related – Around the Cape in 50 wines

Agulhas

Appellative blends in red and white

There are reasons why many Western Cape winemakers increasingly turn to accounts spoken in stacked varieties through appellative blends. Not because it can be a French thing to do in the ways of Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe but because it makes for wines possessive of immense character.

“We need these wines and to pay a lip service to them is essential,” says Adi Badenhorst. “As a winemaker or in any homestead job you are always influenced by where you grew up and who you worked with. In the Swartland these are the varieties that were there.” Badenhorst’s ideas are echoed and expanded upon by Duncan Savage. “All the wines are directly connected to their sites,” he says. “That shouldn’t change too often. The farms are big here so you can’t afford to own 50 hectares.” Thus, a winemaker and producer like Savage picks their plots and develops their relationships with their fruit over long periods of time.

After the Cape Wine trade fair, we rode over dirt and dust to what felt like The Western Cape’s version of the outback, to arrive near Malgas up above the Breede River just 15 kilometres in from the Indian Ocean at South Africa’s most southern tip. This is the remote and “insane” home of Sijnn Wines (pronounced “sane”) where visionary David Trafford saw the future a few hours away from Arniston and Cape Agulhas. The beautifully shaped and hued river stones (aka, puddings) and Bokkeveld Shale are perhaps the world’s greatest impetus for developing Rhône varieties à la Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe.

Yet this is South Africa and so chenin blanc, verdelho, touriga nacional, trincadeira and cabernet sauvignon also thrive despite the poorest of soils. Winemaking in the hands of Charla Bosman sees a prodigy and savant at one with the land so that the progression from 2015 vintage through wines resting in barrel today may as well be a decades long discovery.

With Charla Bosman

Why South African producers must sell their wines abroad

There can be no begrudging people who might imagine South Africa as a growing area of sunshine, heat, and potentially high-alcohol red wines. That is why they must be shows how so many phenolically ripe red wines lock in at a low, low 11.5 to 12.5 percent alcohol that seemingly only the Western Cape can affect for grape varieties like cinsault and grenache.

“I’ve never worked with conversion rates this low,” says Donovan Rall, and his cinsault is a testament to the excellence and magic of vintage. “With no compromise to flavour, tannin, acidity and length.” The low alcohol at 11.8 is brilliant, as no push to ripeness was needed to achieve these heights. Mick and Jeanine Craven manage to create this impossibility with cabernet sauvignon, while still delivering ripeness, generosity, and peace of mind. Another bit of voodoo magic from a place and a maker that knows what’s what.

Cape Town

The need to export, to reach as many new customers in as many countries as possible is the challenge for South Africa’s producers. The Cape Winelands are oceans and continents away from most markets and that remains a serious obstacle, not to mention being situated at the southern-most tip of Africa. The isolation was devastating during Covid, compounded by governmental decisions rooted in prohibition, isolationism, and fear. But the world has re-opened to South Africa and seeking representation beyond Europe is necessary, including finding markets in Canada.

Says Eben Sadie: “There is now a healthy competition between producers. There are vineyards that I planted 10 and 15 years ago that I can now say great things about. It’s in the glass. It’s kind of our time now. We have 3,000 people in this country buying fine wine. Guys who are willing to pay $50 to $60 a bottle for wine. We are all selling locally to the same group of guys. The local market is brutal.”

How the Western Cape was won

Cape Wine 2022 was my third trip to South Africa’s winelands between 2015 and 2022. That first congress in 2015 opened my eyes to the possibilities of a wild west experience where the planet’s most ancient soils and geography were able to host grape varieties from all over the world. It seemed like anything could ripen anywhere agriculturalists chose and winemakers wished for. Three years later it was understood that what and where you plant was the key to producing great wines of a sort being made nowhere else in this world. This last journey changed everything again and now it is the coalescence of heritage vineyards, magical conversion rates, sustainable and regenerative agriculture that separates South Africa from all the rest. The Western Cape may be an isolated wine industry and exporting the most challenging of any wine producing nation, but these wines must make it onto our shores. They are too good to miss, not just a handful but hundreds of outstanding examples. Quality has risen exponentially, virtually across all places of origin, including new frontiers. The stars are out, and they are aligned.

Braai Brekkies, Franschhoek

Godello’s 80 recommended current releases

Cap Classique

Anthonij Rupert L’Ormarins Cap Classique Blanc De Blancs 2017, WO Western Cape

Drought vintage no matter nor adversity for this 100 per cent chardonnay aged four and a half years on the lees. Palate presence and texture synthesis but also a really sharp bubble of aromatics in lemon zest, ginger and spice. Elegant and sensory, of sips drift worthy for daydreaming and calm. A blanc de blancs of sanguine personality, extroverted, social and active so that you don’t have to be. Good times when a Cap Classique can do it all, leaving you to enjoy, relieve stress and relax. Seventh iteration heaven from a program that began back in 2017. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

With Johnathan Grieve, Avondale Wines

Avondale Armilla Blanc De Blanc 2015, WO Paarl

From the tradition of Méthode Cap Classique Armilla is a Blanc de Blancs in 100 percent chardonnay, seven years total on the lees, 90 percent in stainless steel, (10) in big French for one year in barrel. Two of the years on the coarse lees were in tank and all is natural. First vintage was 2003. The only thing that has really changed is the extended lees aging but not the moorish acidity extending the freshness and eliciting a keen sense of brioche. The 3 g/L dosage is negligible and so from start to finish Armilla retains its aridity, is never stark but always balanced. More sugar would make it big and fat and see it lacking brightness which frankly is this B de B’s calling card. Resides at the upper echelon for Cap Classique. Cracker stuff. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted October 2022

Jordan Wines Blanc De Blancs Special Cuvée 2017, WO Stellenbosch

A brilliant all in chardonnay Cap Classique from 22 year-old vines growing on Glenrosa and Hutton soils abutting the Stellenbosch Kloof. A Mediterranean climate here, only 24 kms from the ocean at False Bay. Breezes channel in from the West Coast’s Benguela current and it’s not just a repeated adage to say that the Atlantic winds translate into crazy open-air freshness in Jordan’s scintillant of a white sparkling wine. Spends a nurturing 54 months on lees and this bottle is from the second disgorgement, just now in October of this year. First vintage was 2015 and this is just the second for a B de B bubble that will join the ranks from MCC through to CC’s finest. Sharp yet delicate, intensely focused, precise, with citrus squalls and in the end a treat and a dream. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2022

Le Lude Brut Reserve Cap Classique NV, WO Franschhoek

I mean, just classic. Citrus juiced and a ripeness in this particular cuvée, always ahead of the curve and also the Rosé. Nothing taking for granted, sharp and superlative acids causing the chardonnay to flourish, intensity heightened as far as one could wish. Even keeled, never expressing highs to high or lows to low. Last tasted October 2022

The blend is with pinot noir but in this sister cuvée to the Brut Rosé it’s really about what chardonnay is going to bring to the MCC table. The dosage is just slightly higher than the Rosé, here at 6.5 g/L and 24 months on its lees. Here the shift is towards more richness, almost counterintuitive when you think about blanc vs. rose but Paul Gerber is on to something big. There is a plum compote luxe note stirred into the citrus and so both ends of the fruit spectrum are involved and incredible. “You must taste the sun in the fruit,” insists Gerber, sparkling wine or not and so with verve, intensity and balance this travels to terrific and back. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted September 2018

The Drift Estate Penelope Cap Classique 2017, WO Overberg Highlands

Penelope by Bruce Jack is 100 percent touriga nacional, first ever in existence as sparkling wine, likely not just in South Africa but anywhere in the world. Also a single vineyard Cap Classique and as crazy a perfect storm of variety and methodology as there has ever been, almost outdone by Jack’s ice bucket and Penelope story when the earth stopped. Go to the website for more details. This CC is raging though the specs are not exceptional and so some sort of Cape voodoo is happening here. The farm is too cold to really get a ripeness converting above 11.5 percent alcohol so sparkling it is and the 20 year-old vines deliver the necessary fodder for top notch sparkling Rosé. Goes all currants and ginger, rooibos and fynbos. As it must. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2022

Old Vines

Alheit Vineyards Sémillon Monument 2021, WO Franschhoek

The artist formerly known as “La Colline” received a name re-branding in the previous vintage yet the source and the song remain the same. That being the 1936 planted (and registered) heritage sémillion vineyard but the farmer passed away in 1938 so the block could actually be as much as two decades older. “Diversity is a matter of having the genetic material to do it,” explains Chris Alheit “and though there may be drifts away from the original DNA, there will always be that connection.” Oldest indeed within the quadrangle composed of Paarl, Wellington, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. “I mean how can you not see this as a Cape treasure? As an ancestral site?” Thus the new moniker and though it may not seem to represent the true definition of a “memorial stone or a building erected” it does in fact pay homage “in remembrance of a person or event.” They being the farmer and every season of sémillon attempting to seek its fruition for the past 85+ seasons. As for 2021 the imprint just feels like a culmination, of fruit speaking in historical terms and bound to structure, of acid, tannin and extract all constructed as confidentially as ever there has been afforded the opportunity. The 2021 Monument is a rock as profound and important as any sémillon anywhere. “Yeah, people don’t you listen now? Sing along, Oh. You don’t know what you’re missing, now.” Drink 2024-2035. Tasted October 2022

Bellevue Estate 1953 Pinotage 2017, WO Stellenbosch

A remarkable wine to have the opportunity to taste from vines aged 64 at the time of this vintage and interpreted by winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger. Bush vines, their yields less than one tonne per hectare (in drought years, of which there are many), upwards of 1.75 in the best of times. The location is Bottelary in Stellenbosch and Bellevue seeks gradual extraction, not quite a full on délestage but the whole lot is transferred from vessel to vessel. The normal press time is seven days and this rare pinotage is always fermented fully dry. Sees 23 months in well versed and rehearsed wood for what is tops in terms of experienced and developed pinotage. Secure in character, prepped and purposed in personality, in delivery of the bloody and the iodide, part soil and part ocean water. A metabolic wonder, converter of energy, meticulously made. Total pro with a whole lotta good dark salted chocolate upon the finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2022

Penny Noire, Cape Town

Boekenhoutskloof Sémillon 2019, WO Franschhoek

Tasted with Lynton Kaiser of Boekenhoutskloof and this three vineyard sémillon blend out of this vintage elicits the kind of looks and gestures requiring no words. The 1936 Franschhoek planted La Colline provides half the fruit (with a good portion having mutated into sémillon gris) and the other 50 percent coming from a 1942 site set into the ancient Franschhoek Riverbed, but also including a few points of muscat out of a block planted in 1902. Concrete eggs house 30 per cent of the ferment and neutral barrels do the yeoman work to keep this cuvée in a primary state for what will likely be a minimum eight to 10 years. The bones are hard and unbreakable to indicate structural propriety and so seeing a decade pass is a near guarantee before next level complexities and brilliant complications will appear. For now there is intrigue, the promise of lemon curd, beeswax, toasted lemongrass and the sort of exotic herbs you’d tear into a bowl of aromatically charged southeast Asian broth. Top and benchmark in so many ways, easily deserving of its reputation. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted October 2022

David And Nadia Wines Chenin Blanc Hoë Steen 2021, WO Swartland

Hoë-Steen is one of four single vineyard chenin blanc from a terroir in the “which one of these things is not like the rest” set of propositions. Planted in 1968 to see it recently cross the half century mark and soils are unique, especially as it pertains to chenin blanc. They are red iron oxide clay, rich and deep, location west of Malmesbury direction Darling. The label reads chenin but truth is a few other surviving vines here and there are in the yard, including discoveries of riesling (crouchen blanc), false pedro, palomino, sémillon and clairette blanche. And who does not appreciate the heritage and concept of a field blend? They’ll call them zinfandel in Sonoma but many are layered of a similar ilk, with the likes of grenache, alicante bouschet, petite sirah, mataro and others playing in the band. Hoë-Steen’s adept water retention and cool temps below the surface put this dry-farmed SV in a place of slower phenolic development and longer growing seasons. The effect on chenin is enchanting, divinatory even and never what you fully expect. Round is not the thought because the trinity of fruit, acid and tannin touch all points, in sequence and exact intervals. The wine can keep time and also plays in fills between the lines. It is symphonic, the whole package, in synch. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted October 2022

Nicole Kilian, Keermont Wines

Keermont Chenin Blanc Riverside 2019, WO Stellenbosch

Keermont is the Stellenbosch farm of Mark and Monica Wraith with their four children. Alex Starey takes care of the vineyards and is the winemaker. This 2019 Riverside was tasted at the Old Vines Project evening with Nicole Kilian who happens to be an American married to a Canadian and their work is purely South African. The 1971 planted single vineyard is the third oldest chenin plot in Stellenbosch. The ’19 was barrel fermented and spent a year in well seasoned oak. The result is purity incarnate, from old vine chenin that has endured nearly 50 years and it just seems like this is the kind of wine that makes itself. The barrels add subtle smoulder and bright luminescence but nothing in terms of density or maturity. A beautiful thing when chenin glides like this and one that will surely sail slowly towards the sunset. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2022

Ken Forrester

Ken Forrester The FMC Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Stellenbosch

Really different vintage as compared to 2019, here the FMC is a matter of something definably sapid which would indicate the pH being slightly higher while the acidity is just a bit levelled. The wood elicits density and as a result there is a depth to 2021 that stands apart. Fruit concentration while special is not the solo driver because pH, natural fruit sweetness and texture are what make ’21 shine. The youthfulness will confuse the situation and it would seem that eight to 10 years will be needed to settle this score, like Kabinett riesling, Hunter Valley sémillon or any number of Cape old vines chenin blanc. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted October 2022

Leeu Passant Old Vine Cinsault Lötter 2018, WO Franschhoek

Cinsault is the grape planted after phylloxera, which started its devastation around 1900. The idea was essentially to replant all that was lost. The Franschhoek vineyard went in back in 1932, placed upon the mid-slopes, close to but not quite on the valley floor. The Mullineuxs started leasing the block in 2014 and are committed through 2034. This is higher up in these foothills facing west and produces some of the darker cinsaults in the Western Cape, relatively speaking, but especially in contrast to the Wellington (Basson) vineyard. Ethereal and elegant in spite of the shade, more fruit substance and also textural elements. Lötter is the one in this regard, effusive and generous, a wine of soul, soil, history and heritage. A cinsault in the prime time of its epic journey as Andrea Mullineux describes its host as “a national monument that must be ripened. Either that or it’s sauvignon blanc and apricots.” There are two hectares of really healthy and hardy plants, once nearly lost to the sands of time. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2022

Old Road Wine Company Sémillon Grand Mère 2020, WO Franschhoek

From the vineyard known as La Colline, a high density Franschhoek plot planted back in 1936. Chis Alheit also uses some of this sémillon and now calls his old vines “Monument.” The Old Road Company chooses the name “Grand Mère” which is precisely what the incredible heritage block is for vineyards that have stood the test of time. Crops at a mere three tones per hectare and delivers the most steely and flinty sémillon on the planet. La Colline is southeast facing at 350m, housing unirrigated bush vines and experienced to the effect that a winemaker must not try to dictate its direction. Grapes are left on the skins overnight and 30 percent are allowed to run through a wild ferment. Barrel maturation in mostly older French oak on the primary lees with regular stirring induces a coagulation of creamy texture to offset the striking metal sensation in the wine. On the boozy side but the vintage and the vineyard truly dictate the course. Will age really well, likely well into the next decade. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted October 2022

Ferdie and Elizma Visser

Olifantsberg Chenin Blanc Old Vine 2022, WO Breedekloof

From Ferdie and (winemaker) Elizma Visser in the Western Cape Breedlekloof (part of the Breede River Valley) at 450m above sea level. The soils are sansdstone and shale with rich alluvials and river rocks for a complex earth from which 1982 planted (certified) old bush vines deliver this exceptional chenin blanc. Olifantsberg was established in 2003 and in just two short decades this producer has connected with their surroundings so tactfully as witnessed in this varietal wine. Now here is something you need to know about, of purity by chenin and a s much rich texture you will ever encounter. Comes equipped with all the minerals and elements of this diverse terroir darting and dodging flesh to preserve and heighten freshness. So Chablisienne in chenin blanc terms, at Premier Cru level and rising. Wow. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2022

Roodekrantz Chenin Blanc Old Bush Vine 2021, WO Paarl

The 1974 vineyard is dry-land, bush vine on deep decomposed Malmesbury shale with more rocky parts than clay-based underlay. “One of the more sought after blocks,” says Marius Burger. “A fight for just a few rows.” He and winemaker Danie Morkel have been interpreting this chenin blanc fruit since 2017, to make this 2021 number five. The vineyard inclines with quite the ungraded slope so it’s hard to pick it right. “Parts of the vineyard have creaky bones in the mornings but we’ve man aged to get it right by now.” This is chenin of a brilliant tenor, bass note placed just below the treble, finding equalization. The fruit shows tempo, mixing with texture to share likeminded frequencies with rhythm and pitch. Just a focused chenin blanc handled by the drogaman wholly respectful of a vineyard’s 47 years of experience. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2022

The Sadie Family Die Ouwingerdreeks Mev. Kirsten Wyn Van Oorsprong Stellenbosch Die Sadie Familie Wyne 2021, WO Swartland

The vines that supply Mev. Kirsten Wyn are the oldest chenin blanc in the country, out of Stellenbosch and planted in 1905. In 1947 every second row was pulled out to make room for tractors and the configuration still exists this way. “If South Africa has a true apex white Grand Cru vineyard then this is it” insists Eben Sadie. Facts are facts are you just can’t accede these levels of power, concentration, extract and tannin anywhere else. The nose communicates as an intoxicant of sublime forces and these grapes bestow chenin blanc 2021 are those that transcend fruit, deliver ethereality and a heightened sense of awareness. An awakening from necessary tension, crisis and personal freedoms, existential off the charts, poetic and epic. One hundred and sixteen stanzas recorded, in the books and the finest verse written right here in the most recent vintage. If enlightenment is to be gained from chenin blanc in the Western Cape, Mev. Kirsten would provide the fodder. “The grail. End of fucking story” concludes Sadie. All hail. Long live the queen. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted October 2022

Chenin Blanc

David And Nadia Sadie Wines Plat’Bos Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Swartland

At a tasting where everything is Old Vines Project certified there must be something extraordinary about a wine to stand out from a crowd of greats. David and Nadia Sadie are in fact turning heritage vines chenin blanc (amongst other varietal explorations) into content born of context harboured though never paraded. They are rhythmic and scientific with just enough fantasy and romanticism, but never too much. Plat’Bos stands above Skaliekop and Hoë Steen because 2021 asks it to do so, not because it is better or more important, but it is surely chenin blanc profound. The 1981 Swartland planting is in the steady zone, shed of the mercurial and in ’21 so very linear yet salty of the earth in its sombre-sepulchral tone. There is reduction here because the poor soil nutrients demand that this chenin begins this way. The levels of tension and intensity are most elevated, sufficing to say as high as any from the Western Cape. Attention is paid unwavering to detail, sequencing is in order, purity incarnate, grape and place together pristinely kept. In Plat’Bos 2021 the palate is taken down to the whipping post by a wine built to endure. Given time there will be calm, healing and reward in the end. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted October 2022

Rascallion The Devonian 2021, WO Swartland

A small production of 100 percent Swartland chenin blanc from old vines planted between 1968 and 1982 and at this price ($32 CDN) it solicits an “are you kidding me?” reaction. Bloody rich and concentrated yet so balanced without any slide into metallic or boozy character. Expertly managed with all connective tissue tied to the decomposed granites of the Swartland, blessed of true expressive nature, pulsating and alive. The energy is buzzing and its impressive in the way it grabs, demands and keeps attention. So hard to turn away or think about anything else. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

Theunis Kruger

Fram Chenin Blanc 2020, WO Piekenierskloof

Theunis Kruger’s natural chenin blanc from a 1987 or 1988 planted vineyard comes away in one pick and is put to large (15 year) old foudres of 300-400L. He and we agree that this represents the most important grape (Theunis uses the word “best”) and yet they are not all created equal, including this coming from Citrusdal Mountain. Cracks the whip and works the palate like it means business, knows what wants and also what needs. The race of acidity will carry forward for quite some time. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2022

Holden Manz Chenin Blanc Reserve 2019, WO Stellenbosch

Spent nine months on lees, fruit from 43 year-old vineyard on the Simonsberg side of the Helderberg Mountain. A bit further up the valley en route to Franschhoek. Made since 2010 (by Gerard Manz) with a rich and viscous meets metallic chenin. High level of concentration in a high-caste style. No lack of barrel accentuation and well made. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2022

Kleine Zalze, Stellenbosch

Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc Vineyard Selection 2021, WO Stellenbosch

Wouldn’t call this ulterior but there is something curiously upticking, visceral and unique as it pertains to Stellenbosch chenin blanc. Not simply a matter of richness but a varietal wine that elicits a rise of emotion, especially out of flavours and textures with barrel fermentation acting as the catalyst. Buzz of energy yes but also a buttery syrup sensation derived and you could just pour this over your morning pancakes. Not because of sweetness but instead complexity, stylish personality and as they say, deliciousness. Also looking for some fatty protein so pulled duck leg and blueberry on those flapjacks and a glass of chenin blanc will do nicely thank you very much. If you want a chardonnay alternative with less apples and brioche this is the way to go. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

L’Avenir Estate Chenin Blanc Single Block 2021, WO Stellenbosch

Notably concentrated by naturally sweet chenin blanc fruit inclusive of the 1971 planted Stellenbosch vineyard. As a comparison to the Far and Near chenin it’s as if everything accentuates and comes into clearer view. Feels a touch advanced and mature beyond its short time after harvest and my if this just speaks the varietal language of Stellenbosch. If you like the normal then you will come to appreciate the reserve, aka the Single Block. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2022

Miles Mossop

Miles Mossop Wines Chenin Blanc Chapter Two 2021, WO Swartland

From deep Paardeberg granite soils and a series of wines from Miles Mossop predicated as chapters; three being chenin blanc and four with sauvignon blanc, both out of Stellenbosch. This Swartland chenin is the signature for Mossop, from a 1971 planted vineyard, top section of the block, bordering and abutting the fynbos. A chenin of outspoken freshness, high yet taciturn acidity, old vine intensity, concentration and know-how. Experience quantified generates specificities quantized to beget excitement. Chapter Two is an experiential success simply because it is based on top chenin fruit from heritage vines done right. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2022

Mullineux Chenin Blanc Schist Roundstone 2021, WO Swartland

Roundstone, aka “ronde steen or rondklip” in Afrikaans but the farm is known by its English name. Another Western Cape account for struggling grapes while here the matter involves smaller canopies, clusters and grapes. The vineyard begets and raises a child of the land’s stony “dakteëls,” roof tiles where everything slides and so the tannins accentuate to procure wines of a certain toughness. This child is street smart and battle ready, got into a few fights in the early days, now able stand up for itself no matter the attack or the scene. Aromatically speaking there is a cheese rind scent in the dry comports of extreme aridity, resulting in intensity and directivity. A slightly higher pH makes this the sapid one, sliding across the palate with its über fresh scathe. This will age with the best of them, more like structured reds but so very capable as chenin blanc. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted October 2022

Donovan Rall

Rall Wines Noa 2021, WO Swartland

The first, named after Donovan Rall’s daughter born during the pandemic. From 2.1 hectares of chenin blanc planted in the Paardeberg in the 1960s on the finest decomposed sandy granite soil. “Granite is the only soil that can give you this super reductive style with great energy,” tells Rall and he cropped to yield at three tonnes per hectare. Picked super early at high acid and low pH (3.28 in 2021, after malo) at the high point of the vitality vortex. Moving away from texture and into the business of lightning and mouth-watering succulence from a chenin so electrically plugged in. All this for only 12.0 per cent. “What we learned through the drought years is you don’t have to pick things as you were traditionally taught.” The decision made was at least two weeks as compared to 15 years ago, climate change aside. Truth. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted October 2022

Reyneke Chenin Blanc Biodymnamic 2021, WO Stellenbosch

Biodynamic, estate farmed, from vines planted in 1974 and 1976, part of the certified Old Vines Project. Surely it is old vines at the source coupled with the principled biodynamic exercises to make for an enlightened and heightened precision in a chenin blanc of purity and trenchant estate desire. Concentration, varietal hyperbole and a reflection of what the farm wants to share are the drivers and we the passengers abide. There is no doubt that this Reyneke exists (with distinction) within the vacuum of what is working and creating haute quality chenin blanc. Success is measured by dint of hard work and respect for all things natural, including humans, animals and plants. This paints a picture and sculpts a figure of fine granite. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2022

With Adi Badenhorst

White Blends

A.A. Badenhorst Kalmoesfontein White Blend 2021, WO Swartland

There are reasons why many Western Cape winemakers increasingly turn to accounts spoken in stacked varieties through appellative white blends. Not because it can be a French thing to do in the ways of Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe but because it makes for wines possessive of immense character. Adi Badenhorst makes use of at least 10 different grapes and you’ll need to read the bottle to know what they are. But seriously chenin blanc is joined by grenache gris, grenache blanc, marsanne, clairette, verdelho, roussanne, sémillon, viognier and palomino, Stacked, layered, integrated and in a vintage as rich as ’21 also acidified just ever so slightly. Says Adi. “We need this wine and to pay a lip service to them is essential.” White Blends they are the walrus. “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.” Sees one year in foudres and one in concrete. Only in South Africa and as here so very noteworthy from the Kalmoesfontein Farm at the base of the Paardeberg do these extract and alcohol conversion rates create magic. Decomposed stone infused, citrus and DNA of granite manifested as a swirl of orange, lemon and lime, tea and cordial fulfillment. Swartland grape varieties combining for brilliance in genius, epically so. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted October 2022

Alheit Vineyards Cartology Bush Vines 2021, WO Western Cape

The question is posed to Chris Alheit but he says the lighter and lighter (including alcohol) wines are not a matter of intentional design nor aesthetic choice. Farming and the use of grand-sized blending tanks in the mid four to six months increases stability, mobility and consistency well ahead of bottling. Clarity is ensured, true clarity and more purity plus “the guarantee to present the best version of that vintage.” In the end the chenin blanc plus (20 per cent sémillon) Cartology 2021 seems to be the most effusive, sharp and translucent to date, this despite a group of on repeat parcels varying in output from vintage to vintage and quite significantly so. This is primed and ready if perhaps ready to begin peaking as early as next Spring. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2022

B Vintners Vine Exploration Company “B” Haarlem To Hope 2021, WO Stellenbosch

Cousins Bruwer Raats and Gavin Bruwer Slabbert created Bruwer Vintners Vine Exploration Company in 2014 to celebrate family and Cape heritage through a joint venture. Haarlem To Hope 2021, from the motherland to the Cape of Good Hope, a blend of nearly 70 per cent chenin blanc with just about (30) sémillon plus bits of muscat blanc and muscat d’Alexandrie. All from Polkadraai Hills where Raats’ extraordinary Eden chenin is from. All four blocks of vines are old and Bruwer had to convince a neighbour not to rip them out. The chenin is barrel fermented, the sémillon harvested early and the blend is laden with this amazing glück, a textural component indescribable using any other word. “B” is for everyone involved; Bruwer, Gavin’s mother’s maiden name and the history of the Bruwer Huguenots. Impressed by how this never drifts into oiliness or liquid metals but finds balance between all parts. The texture could be called sumptuous but in any case the two plus two varietal get together walks up and down both sides of a two-way street. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

With Sebastian Beaumont

Beaumont Wines New Baby 2019, WO Bot Rivier

New Baby was released in June of this year and 2015 was the first vintage of a truly Cape conceptual wine. It was launched as a way to combine the idiosyncrasies and potentially complimentary personalities of different white grape varieties on the farm. In 2019 the lead is chenin blanc at 40 per cent with (30) sauvignon blanc plus smaller amounts of chardonnay, sémillon and colombard. They were all planted by Sebastian Beaumont’s father from 1974 onwards. The style and notion follow the line established by Hope Marguerite. “My mother said every vintage was like giving birth to a new child,” explains Beaumont. “Once you do something it’s hard to shake.” Yet another brilliant white appellative blend to define the Cape’s idiomatic meets wild west psyche and only in South Africa do the interpretations emerge like this. All in barrel and the vapour trail is palpable, especially in the flint and smoulder that come from the Bordeaux grapes. New Baby pops, piques, kindles and snaps, raises the senses and is just a perfect conceptual creation. Hard not to love this bloody wine. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted October 2022

Christa Von La Chevallerie

Huis Van Chevallerie Springhaas Vin Blanc 2019, WO Coastal Region

Springhaas is the South African hare, a medium-sized terrestrial and burrowing rodent. Despite the name, it is not a hare. Springhaas the white appellative blend is from Voor-Paardeberg, of 40 percent chenin blanc, (33) viura and (27) verdelho. Many winemakers get their “specs” from these vineyards, including Thorne & Daughters. This is Christa Von La Chevallerie’s concept wine but also a signature of who she is. The viura is also used for her Hummingbird sparkling. “It’s from the mountain and people know it,” she says and what she means is this is bloody good juice. “It’s my six dollar version of something fun. Others can play on top of it.” Well it jumps and hops so there’s that, also fine bitters, lime, a fino moment and a sweet brininess that makes you want more. What a fantastic finish, drink enough of it and it goes all refreshing and satisfying. But you’re upset when it’s gone and it makes you realize that you’re also hungry. The chenin from decomposed granite releases the acidity and is the impetus for excitement. Just enough takes the lead to establish balance. Springhaas will have you realize with relief that this is not an invitation to small Pedetidae murder but an alliterative description of an appellative deliveroo. “Here, hare, here.” Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

Franco Lourens

Lourens Family Wines Lindi Carien 2021, WO Western Cape

The influence on and reasons are numerous for Franco Lourens to make this white appellative blend. It begins working alongside Chris Alheit and a little wine called Cartology, develops out of a need to pay for an engagement ring, solicits the assistance of old vine chenin, old for South Africa verdelho plus wisened teens named colombard, grenache blanc and palomino. Finally, it’s success and payout get the ring, marries the girl and the wine remembers it all, named after Franco’s bride, Lindi Carien Lourens. The Stellenbosch verdelho (35 per cent), Swartland chenin blanc (21) and colombard (19), Piekenierskloof grenache blanc (18) and 1972 planted palomino (7) are all expertly judged and delineated in 2021. Five days of skin-contact on the GB does just enough to solidify and texturize the entirety but otherwise it’s “lazy winemaking” says Franco for a wine first made in 2016. Oak is old while the package is just as tight and seamless as a WAB can be, especially in the WC. The layers of components really do like one another, that much is obvious and yes, “all my wines have come a long way,” says Lourens. “I try to tighten the bolts and the screws every year.” These are snug in 2021. Indeed. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2022

With André Morgenthal and Charla Bosman

Sijnn White 2020, WO Malgas

This 2020 is the first vintage to bring verdelho into the mix with chenin blanc (the OG variety planting in 2004) and roussanne. The Iberian grape takes this intrepid White to a side-stepping, new era level. The first of its ilk and a bit clumsy whilst this young and impressionable but my how this will change perception and forward thinking with respect to Malgas blending. The White iterations from 2017-2019 are stellar wines and represent peak performance for their time. But change and growth are good and necessary, otherwise things get stale, even in this crazy outpost of a wine-growing place. There is much to learn from the 2020 first kick at this new can and there can be no doubt winemaker Charla Bosman will take little time to morph this new identity into something mind-blowing. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2022

Vergelegen G.V.B. White 2021, WO Stellenbosch

A Bordeaux blend of 78 percent sémillon with (22) sauvignon blanc and likely the most dominant blend in this regard anywhere in the Western Cape. The sém portion is usually 50-60 and here from 2021 the standing firm, upright and out is on fully skeletal display. There can be no mistaking the fynbos and on a grander scale the estate farm in this wine. Peaches and cream dictate the fruit aromatics before the sémillon kicks into pedal to metal overdrive, ushering in resins, essential plant oils and strength of character acidity. This was bottled at the end of 2021 and just recently released. Subsequent vintages will be under the reigns of new winemaker Luke O’Cuinneagain whose track record includes stints at Château Fieuzal, Cave Dietrich, Château Angelus, Screaming Eagle, Rustenberg and Glenelly. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

Red Blends

A.A. Badenhorst Kalmoesfontein Red Blend 2021, WO Swartland

Five grape varieties and as Badenhorst is wont to do they are all co-fermented. As a winemaker or in any homestead job you are always influenced by where you grew up and who you worked with. Tells Adi, “in the Swartland these are the varieties that were there.” And so this is Saint-Éstephe meets Cornas, rustic yet pure, ripe and ripped. No make up and it preaches the Badenhorst philosophy. The elévage is 80 percent in concrete with (20) new casks. Turned out to be a pretty tannic vintage, maybe even as a surprise to Adi. “There’s oxygen here.” The most structured of all these wines and clearly one that can age, with thanks to amazing vineyards. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2022

Glenelly Estate Reserve Red Blend 2016, WO Stellenbosch

Based on Bordeaux varieties and the fruit is almost second wine styled as if Lady May the Glenelly grand vin is Paulliac and this Reserve Red is La Croix Ducru Beaucaillou. Or something along those lines. Here we receive top ecehlon Cape cabernet sauvignon with merlot and petit verdot but the side-swiping catalyst is the generous and liquid peppery splash of syrah, the energizer and impetus to really make this Meritage go. Rich and chocolaty, financed and very clever, warm and woollen. Yes it reminds of Bordeaux in Western Cape earth but that syrah changes everything. Or adds actually, activates notions and sentiments only Stellenbosch and environs are want to do. Creates a new yet old-hearted heritage. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2022

Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2019, WO Stellenbosch

Abrie Beeslaar is the winemaker of this Cape icon of a Bordeaux blend in 2019 composed of 75 percent cabernet sauvignon, (14) cabernet franc and (11) merlot. Beeslaar notes that the carry over of drought is still felt through this ’19 pulled from dryland vines aged 30 years on average and growing in decomposed granite, Hutton and Clovelly. Obviously youthful as to the point of immovable but in a modern world Paul Sauer speaks clearly and the vernacular is as understood as it has likely ever been. Tasted alongside the ’91, ’97, ’09 and ’14 you can see a shift in style over the course of nearly three decades or rather an adjustment to keep up with wants and needs. Change does indeed match the times and while this blend is about as structured as any in the Western Cape there are more handsome qualities and even a moment or two of immediacy. Not exactly gratification because the tannins are a force but things seem measurable. The middle palate is full and flavourful, giving off this cool sensation. Many years of excellence lay ahead. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted October 2022

Meerlust Rubicon 2017, WO Stellenbosch

From a drought vintage yet there can be little doubt that in farming these Bordeaux varietal vineyards almost every bunch, however small they may have been, came out fresh and healthy. Rubicon 2017 is all perfume, of violets and berries, currants and Cassis as a by-product of distilling these varieties down. Still youthful and feeling a bit boozy though the complexities and acidities have yet to arrange, layer and align. The intensities are a bit haphazard and there are so many programming features running on overdrive. A look deep back for a comparison might be 1991 and if there is truly a connection then the future for this vintage is so very bright. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted October 2022

Duncan Savage

Savage Wines Red 2020, WO Stellenbosch

Still called “Red” but since 2017 this artist formerly known to blend with grenache, cinsault and touriga nacional no longer seeks that meritage effect. For good reason because the syrah fruit is tops and under this command it transforms into magic. The idea of cuvée persists but the concept is that of mono-layering, single varietal stacking, syrah on syrah upon syrah. The progression come to this makes perfect sense for a signature wine to define what Savage wines is and needs to explain. This wine is unreal, fully formed and seamless, of a structural indemnity that shifts risk from one party to another, from one layer of syrah to another so that the whole is always protected. Might seem or feel like an impossibility but when one part has the back of the rest and the engineering covers the whole, then the architecture is solid. A beautifully tough and grippy syrah is the result, never gritty or swarthy but so very fine-tuned. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2022

Springfield Estate The Work Of Time 2016, WO Robertson

Based on the concept that “time is the lost element in today’s winemaking, can be so precious – yet it is free.” Time for a 1992 planted vineyard to reach a level of maturity to make a great wine and so the first vintage is 2001. Time in barrel and bottle, two plus four, then released with the work having already been done. Ready to drink? Not so fast. Time is not of the essence but for the patient. The grapes are cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot and merlot for a truth be told in woollen, swarthy and sauvage personality, needing two more years to begin breathing and exhaling the true character of their gathering. Bonded together they will be one flesh and fleshy they will be, fruit and animal, of a vibrancy to speak of cape heritage through red blends. Chalky tannins and high acidity also need to cooperate but in the end this will surely become something really special. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2022

With Eben Sadie and John Szabo MS

The Sadie Family Die Ouwingerdreeks Columella Liberatus In Castro Bonae Spei Vindemia 2020, WO Swartland

Less syrah (40 per cent as opposed to what used to be 80), with grenache and mourvèdre plus more tinta barocca now in Columella. Results in an even firmer, linear, direct in your face and on the palate kind of red blend. Tannic to the bone, a karst now painted on, slowly to weather and be stripped away, eventually to dry as a charcuterie board of salumi, savoury jam and tart pickle. Eben Sadie feels this stylistic cuvée in his bones, down to his core and know this. Big extraction and heavy oak treatment is not part of the program. For the highest degree of complexity accumulated it would be best to hide this ’20 away and return in 10 years. At the very least. Check in after four or five and there will be great reward if not the kind of next level, millennia or epoch. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted October 2022

Agulhas

Varietal Whites

Ataraxia Chardonnay Earthborn 2020, WO Hemel-En-Aarde Ridge

Snap, crackle, dried green apple skin dusted and pop with white pepper bite. Savoury-herbal by a typically endemic site where terroir is clearly the driver for this particular chardonnay. Vineyards of fruit counteracted by salinity. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2022

Bosman Family Vineyards Chardonnay 2021, WO Upper Hemel-en-Aarde

Persistently reductive, brown butter nutty and softly aromatic. The notable (13.9 per cent) alcohol accentuates the 15 per cent settled juice aged in Burgundy barrels for six months to make this feel generously wooded. Richer palate and furthered intensity. Tasted as part of a 15 chardonnay flight in perspective at L’Avenir. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted October 2022

Bouchard Finlayson Chardonnay Missionvale 2021, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

Pure citrus entry, all parts involved, juice, zest and pith. Well lees aged during its tenure with sweet fruit scents, flavours and naturally occurring caramelization. Old school, less cool and yet herbal minty through the mid stage, then ranging quite long and far. One of the more complex chards with depth and warmth provided by the valley floor. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2022

Braai Brekkies in Arniston

Cap Maritime Chardonnay 2020, WO Upper Hemel-en-Aarde

Cap Maritime is the Upper Hemel En Aarde chardonnay work of Boekenhoutskloof’s Marc Kent. A classic cool climate chardonnay, whether by place or vintage, or perhaps a combination of the two. This jumps out as one made in the most wholesome and also dedicated way, smooth and consistent, surely a factor of an estate’s terroir. Perfectly seasoned and reasoned for great effect. Cool all the way. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted October 2022

Creation Chardonnay 2020, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge

Quite buttery and rich, fully formed, styled and developed as chardonnay in a cool yet at times foggy and humid climate. A fine mix of toast and texture, energy and appeal. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted October 2022

Zoo Crü – Cape Wine 2022

Crystallum Chardonnay Clay Shales 2021, WO Hemel-En-Aarde Ridge

Clay Shales is what Bourgogne not called Grand Cru strives for. That would be stage presence, which is a character trait that less than one per cent of the world’s chardonnay can say it displays. Andrew and Peter Allan Finlayson have mined platinum with this 2021 of a what’s in a name codex for Bokkeveld Shale meets clay soil. Single vineyard chardonnay of one hectare producing only 2,000 bottles is deserved of cru status when it takes a producer’s profound to an entirely new level. Hilltop site, windy as fuck and you can sense the breeze blowing through to mitigate and balance an unreal level of richness and concentration. Not just this but an equality by a tautness that commands respect but also relaxes to let the fruit exhale and express. Clay Shales is an important matter of a single Hemel-en-Aarde ward, a ridge supreme upwards and its makers standing two metres tall, upright and looking over the pack. Chardonnay at the pinnacle for Crystallum’s studio work, conveying much without overstatement. It is almost impossible to imagine any Western Cape chardonnay discussion without it. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2022

Megan Mullis and Sharon Parnell, Domaine des Dieux

Domaine Des Dieux Chardonnay 2019, WO Hemel-En-Aarde Ridge

The mansion of the gods and can’t help but think of a childhood cartoon memory (Asterix) but there is nothing childish or cartoonish about this splendid chardonnay. By a long shot the most reductive of the 12 thus far in this blind tasting flight. Holding back the years and tears, a chardonnay of deem, deed and demand, explaining little, not interested in giving in, clearly designed for longevity. Impressive and of secrets we wish to know. “Hoping for the arms of mater, get to me the sooner or later, oh.” Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2022

Godello in Hemel-en-Aarde

Hasher Family Wines Chardonnay Marimist 2020, WO Upper Hemel-En-Aarde

Richly aromatic, emitting the perfume of fresh yellow flowers like few in a 15 strong chardonnay flight from the Hemel-en-Aarde. No let down on the palate in fact texturally this lays it all out, with more fruit and wood interaction than most in an evolved, developed and symbiotic way. Fulsome wine, ready, willing and able. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted October 2022

Braai at La Motte

La Motte Sauvignon Blanc Pierneef 2021, WO South Coast

Pierneef, a reference to the well-known painter. Includes 10 per cent sémillon and the earliest vineyards were planted in the 90s. Pinpointed sharpness in sauvignon blanc and although there is a sense of pungency the urgency of freshness and spirit are the shit. Comes from Agulhas in the Cape’s South Coast which is the most southern vineyard in Africa, perhaps the coolest there is in the Western Cape. There is indeed a Sancerre sentiment here but stands apart, alone, of its own accord. From a growing contract of 25 years, rented, a management contract paid and grapes taken. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2022

Christo Kotzé, L’Apogée

La Vierge Chardonnay Apogée 2018, WO Upper Hemel-En-Aarde

Though a 2018 the primary notes prevail in this chardonnay from a cool marine climate. Young vines (eight years of age) on the plateau’s argillaceous Bokkeveld Shale and sea breezes are at the tops of influence. Closed, taut, yes reductive but more so a case of youth, unforgiving and ungiving while in that state. A mildly warming and nutty white caramel indicate change is coming as they carry on and over into a chardonnay expressive of great length. High caste and style though the climax or pinnacle of potential is far from realized. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2022

Natasha Williams, Bosman and Lelie Von Saron

Lelie Van Saron Chardonnay 2021, WO Upper Hemel-en-Aarde

Exceptional and artistically precocious work here at the hands of Natasha Williams, cool and linear, of less barrel than most. A bit taut and tightly wound. Piqued, liquid white peppery, no caramelization, brown butter nuttiness or toast in any shape, style or form. Not the longest finish though also never sharp – nor abrupt neither. Solid construction, plenty of citrus, proper and distinct. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted October 2022

Lomond Wines Sémillon Seven Rows 2019, WO Cap Agulhas

Must be nice to farm and produce in a climate where you can consistently grow and then gift straight sémillon and this from Lomond is about as credible as they come. Obvious richness mixes with herbology in sweetness but most of all the effect comes from barrel fermentation in 500L tonneaux. Lean is not the operative though mineral and elemental surely are, not merely salty but marine influenced at the southern most point on the African continent. It’s something so much more, notorious even, unique, curious and all in. Intensely woven as sémillon will ever get and the real interest is to see how this ages. Great intrigue. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

Hemel-en-Aarde

Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Chardonnay 2021, WO Upper Hemel-En-Aarde

Newton Johnson’s is self-professed vibrant chardonnay to rival Bourgogne as well as anywhere in South Africa. Their 2021 raised in the ward of the Upper Hemel-En-Aarde shows so much more than taut mineral activity and is yet so far from anything remotely tropical. Rather it resides on the barrel fermented side of things where fruit richesse and oak fuelled beauty get together in a whirl and swirl of lees and acid, forming a cone of chardonnay in centrifuge, oily and silky at the same time. There are some juicy terpene moments upon tasting and so a disparate moment or two will happen before the warmth of this chardonnay nurtures as it trickles down upon the finish. Feels preserved in great balance and of citrus in oxygenated motion. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

Craig Wessels

Restless River Chardonnay Ava Marie 2020, WO Upper Hemel-En-Aarde

To meet and taste with Craig Wessels is to know him because he wears his wines on his sleeve and allows them to do the talking. They in turn speak on behalf of a breeze swept place aboard the plateau of the Upper Hemel-En-Aarde. There is a wee bit of (Tuscan) amphora addition and yet its effect is only sensed in the shadows of this understated chardonnay. Named for Wessels’ daughter with fruit hermetically contained and protected the minute it left the small, profound and single two hectare vineyard. A bit demure, pretty and classic, less ambition and need for immediate recognition but clearly confident without attitude or overt display. Almost convinces of the simple, amenable and how remarkably easy it is to get with, but that is indeed the beauty and subtlety of this wine. Fine wine. Made that much more indelible after tasting a 2015 from Magnum with Wessels over lunch at Hamilton Russell. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2022

Jessica Saurwein

Saurwein Riesling Chi 2022, WO Elgin

CHI is the riesling work of Jessica Saurwein, German-South African, naturalist and champion of both riesling (Elgin) and pinot noir (Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge). The word carries two meanings, translated as “life force” and also the first three letters of CHIUTA, an African rain god. These are spiritual connections that reflect the individualism of the producer and also her wines in the how, where and why they are of a magic produced by the garden. Saurwein’s 2022 is a beautifully balanced riesling of invisible pulse that feels akin to how mushrooms might communicate with one another using electrical impulses. You could imagine attaching a soundboard and speaker through electrodes to the vines to measure spikes in signal activity. Just as a scientist would connect to hyphae and hear them talk. But I digress and in this glass this mix of 11.5 per cent alcohol, 11.5 g/L RS, 7.5 g\L TA and less than 3.0 PH equates to a rich yet linear riesling of full flesh and healthy bones. A riesling aching to explain itself, how it is grounded while also soulful, hovering in weightlessness and ethereal. This may seem like a quiet, standalone organism of a wine but is in fact a complex weave of language transmitting soil, geology and place. It’s really quite special and Jessica Saurwein seems poised to be the Cape winemaker who will translate substrate behaviour with clarity through the language of wine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2022

Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc 2022, WO Cape Coast

The fruit origins are threefold, as are the soil types. Walker Bay (47 percent), Hemel-en-Aarde (43) and Elgin (10) and a sauvignon blanc layering by way of clay-rich shale, decomposed granite and Table Mountain sandstone. Dry, medium to elevated acidity, low pH and moderate alcohol adds up to marine air freshness and what proprietors Anthony and Olive Hamilton Russell will say is “tensile character and a marked, saline minerality.” The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley contributes as much as any fruit source in terms of having a say, not dominant per se but leading in its confident way. A track record as solid as any of its ilk to deliver an intensity of flavour and that freshness overload, together thick as thieves, drinking at peak, right now. With four-plus years in bottle a next level flinty magic and fruiting genius will occur, like tooth fungi from mycelium when conditions run ideal. The vintage guarantees such a transition into secondary character will happen. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2022

Hemel-en-Aarde

Storm Wines Chardonnay Storm Vrede 2021, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

Vrede is literally “peace,” as chardonnay so named and raised on clay-rich Bokkeveld shale soil in the valley where fog and humidity settle at the lower levels to play a direct role in viticulture and especially the ripening seasoning. The soils are shallow overlaid heavy clay and who could dispute this geology acting vehemently as a factor? Rich and golden, reductive yet apple fleshy yellow and cream textured. Protected beneath a savoury-candied shell then later accented by herbaceous rhizome spice. Continues with ever consistent persistence, unrelenting, direct, linear and perhaps while this youthful also just a bit woolly and wild. Must check this out on repeat for the first three-plus years. Tiny production of just 125 cases (of 12). Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2022

Tesselaarsdal Chardonnay 2021, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge

The juice is up front, the wine opening for immediate gratification, ready and willing to please. Charged though here in a first dimension without any knowable access to further ones available. Quite tart and spirited though on a one way street with a finite finish. Super high acid, early picked and a touch green. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted October 2022

Whalehaven Chardonnay Conservation Coast 2020, WO Upper Hemel-en-Aarde

Slow to reveal, unwind and prepare itself for the great revelation, in tact and a chardonnay of firmness and useful tactility. The kind of tact is so apposite to wines that tack or are in fact tacky as this is anything but. The lees are a bit sticky and so there are some thicker glück moments. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted October 2022

Varietal Reds

Beeslaar Wines Pinotage 2020, WO Stellenbosch

Abrie Beeslaar came from Kanonkop so the acumen with respect to pinotage is more than obvious. Beeslaar works with vines planted at the grape’s origins on the north side of Stellenbosch. There are few if any with this type of natural sweetness in the fruit, with thanks to the pinpointed location on the line of decomposed shale that runs up to Stellenbosch mountain. Passes through this pinotage with peaking fruit power and stone intensity. Despite 40 per cent new oak (and you feel the wood) there is a lovely peeking swarthiness about this pretty wine. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2022

Blackwater Wines Cinsault Zeitgeist 2019, WO Darling

Francois Haasbroek makes use of the same Darling block of fruit as Duncan Savage in his cinsault called “Follow the Line.” This used to be called “Hinterland” but Haasbroek has changed the name to “Zeitgeist” and yes, the definition is equivocated through the idea of Western Cape single-vineyard wines from off the beaten path, small-parcel sites. Recall that “the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time” is exactly what winemakers consider and exact from these varietal blocks. Francois goes at it with 60 per cent whole cluster and 100 percent concrete fermentation. Results in notable up front fruit with age-prepared softness and a marbling nearly unrivalled in Cape cinsault. Like protein of perfect ratio turning to butter the moment it hits the heat of the pan, this is the effect that transpires when the wine slides across the palate. Cinsualt of bandwidth from dry-farmed bush vines growing on Table Mountain sandstone for indelible grace. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2022

Boschendal Pinot Noir Appellation Series 2020, WO Elgin

Taken from vines growing at 500m on a what’s what of soil types; Heavy red clays, Table Mountain sandstone, Bokkeveld shale, Tukulu and Silica quartz with underlying Kaoline clay. An extreme slope and a place where baboons take what they want and wine is made from the remainder. Serious solar radiation juxtaposed against the coolness of what lays beneath the surface to result in dichotomous pinot noir, blessed of purely Elgin-styled red fruit, richness and tension fighting for supremacy. Earthy enough, element driven, aged in mostly 500L wood, to augment and not infiltrate. Could benefit from another six months of settling. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2022

Jeanine and Mick Craven

Craven Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Stellenbosch

Mick and Jeanine Craven’s cabernet sauvignon grows right next to the chenin blanc site on mainly granite with some clay underneath. Fermentation includes 70 per cent whole cluster; why…why not…wait…with cabernet sauvignon? Mick shoots that mischievous look and that explains the choice because he gets it. He understands his fruit from Karibib Vineyard site planted in 1999 on these Polkadraai decomposed granites. The whole bunch number was far less in 2020 so maybe if he knew then what he knows now it would have been higher. Maybe not. Notable stem savour but one so piquant, toothsome and then a woolliness but one subtle enough to speak in just a whisper. There feels a syrah comparison but deliciousness in this cabernet comes without iron and closed fisted punches. Kind of Loire franc in its verdant character but again, there really is no reference, nor sauvignon connections neither. Clocks in at a low, low 12.5 per cent alcohol that only the Western Cape can effect for this grape variety while still delivering ripeness, generosity and peace of mind. Another bit of voodoo magic from a place and a maker that knows what’s what. The conclusion? Finesse. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2022

Gabriëlskloof Syrah Whole Bunch 2021, WO Bot Rivier

Now in the hands of Hemel-en-Aarde’s Peter Allan Finlayson of Crystallum and the third vintage of treating Bot Rivier syrah to all in, whole bunch fermentation. All the perfumes that can be pulled might just fill up a small room to do for syrah what only this place can in fact do. The carbonic maceration lasted for ten days before being pressed, taken off the lees and aged in steel tanks for eight months. Clarity, purity and aromatics flown off the charts. You can decide what they are to you but know their omnipotence will draw full attention. Creates a magically sweet, succulent and serious elixir, pretty and poetry in motion, serving up the Bot with sultry sensations. Quite something really. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2022

With Anthony Hamilton Russell and Johan Reyneke

Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2021, WO Hemel-En-Aarde Valley

It has come to the point where we want to distinguish stylistic differences between Ridge, Valley and Upper in the Hemel-en-Aarde and if any pinot noir is capable of creating some kind of definition than Hamilton Russell’s would be the one. From 2021 this feels like a light and ethereal kind, tight and restrained but not backward, which can always be a possibility. Valley pinot is less obvious, slower to reveal, incrementally opposite to the Ridge and apposite to the Upper, both of which are showier, less complex and quick to speak. Anthony talks about less solids being left in the tank (since the mid to late 2000s) to result in a greater ability to diversify in barrel. The great solids epiphany came in 2020, 10 years after the “malo epiphany.” When the Ridge pinots show more persistent tannic structure it can create wines of disparate character while the Upper will usually offer the most perfumed intensity. This is more aromatic than most from HR, gorgeous even, as “Burgundian” as ever there has been. Yet Hamilton Russell from the Valley seeks equanimity and slow maturation, never peaking too early or looking to deliver immediate gratification. Patience is the request, even in a “lighter” vintage. This from ’21 is no exception. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2022

Iona Pinot Noir Kloof Monopole 2019, WO Elgin

Andrew Gunn’s Kloof single-vineyard is the only one on the mountain and he alone makes this Elgin pinot noir from that fruit, thus the Burgundian monopole terminology. There are 12 blocks planted in 1998 and 2010 overlooking the Atlantic Ocean so the wind effect is more than imagined to create the taut tightest, finessed and saltiest on the local (and very parochial) scene. When pinot acts this alive it opens your eyes, nose and palate to a vitality capable of inducing invigoration. A fine example at elevation no doubt with great promise and eventually elegance with thanks to Iona’s focused attention and listening to the winds. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

Niels Verburg

Luddite Shiraz 2019, WO Bot Rivier

This is the 20th vintage for Niels Verburg’s Luddite shiraz and what he calls “a survivor.” Each time it arrives there is this newfound, newly generated freshness in revival, no matter the season. The 2019 is the last of the drought vintages from which only 5,800 bottles were made for a sku that can be as high as 30,000. Garrigue aka Fynbos, iodine, Velddrif salts, Imphepho and Nasturtium. Lively and jumps right out of the glass. “Quintessential vintage,” smiles Verburg, released a bit early “but this ’19 is really good.” Producers who do it right work this way and this one reels you in though is surely also age worthy. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted October 2022

Kaapzicht Pinotage 2021, WO Stellenbosch

Known for a more traditional style, heavy and round, self-professed by winemaker Danie Steytler. Jokes aside this from Bottelary Road is indeed a dense and thickly consummate pinotage, liquid chalky and structured for a long, slow-cooked and extended warranty. Not that Steytler is trying to coax, extract and demand too much but place and climate do conspire anyway. The endgame is far away, for now embittered in black liquorice and taut intensity. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2022

Restaurant at Kleine Zalze

L’Avenir Wine Estate Pinotage Single Block 2020, WO Stellenbosch

From winemaker Dirk Coetzee, from a registered single vineyard planted in 1994. Smooth, refined and swelling with ample tannin. The more “Bordeaux” within the pinotage pantheon, of graphite and Ribena, a righteous greenness, modern perhaps yet earthy, already showing some soy, balsamic, fungi and truffle. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2022

With Marlise Niemann

Momento Wines Grenache Noir 2020 WO Swartland

This grenache noir is Momento’s OG because Marlise Niemann worked in Spain and in 2010 decided to put her faith in this grape. As always low yielding bush-vines in the Swartland grown on its ancient decomposed granite soil are the source and there are few Western Cape examples as beautiful as this. Any origin for that matter because Niemann and the Paardeberg have become soulmates and her choice of one-third whole bunch pressing is spot on. Creates a crust or barque on top of the ferment that carries through to the wine. Cold soak of four days and punchdowns exaggerate the sweetest fruit of sing-song temperament, a varietal Carole King, woven tapestry of longing and love. If you need a restart of your joie de vivre than this is the wine to pour. Aside from its undeniable winemaking genius, the grenache noir endures for its balance between place and adventure, as well as remaining grounded through its maker’s independence and relationship with the Swartland. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2022

Mullineux Syrah Granite Jakkalsfontein 2020, WO Swartland

Jakkalsfontein, “where the dogs spring,” perhaps eternal because granite soils are a gazillion years old and the Mullineuxs have been working with the vineyard since 2014. Whole cluster to the max, open top large vats allowing release and punchdowns keeping that elusive concept of stems working in the success side of trial and error. After that it’s all about tannin polymerization and then refinement. Grandstanding tannins indeed, a vintage of manyfold layers, of warm days and cool nights especially towards harvest, where acid will improve upon tannin . Will be most interesting to watch this one age. Should be a grand granite year. These are true Swartland tannins. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2022

With Alex Milner

Natte Valleij Cinsault 2021, WO Stellenbosch

In 2018 I tasted four different cinsault from Alex Milner and at the time the Darling stood apart. Feels like four years later he has grown to fully appreciate this 1972 Stellenbosch vineyard with deeper understanding and cinsault intuition. This site with its views of Table Mountain and False Bay is picked the latest and in 2021 finished at a mere 11.5 percent alcohol. It is the litheness of glycerol and grace in texture over the palate that makes this far from conventional cinsault tick. That is where the magic happens with thanks to concrete “barrel” aging and guaranteed freshness captured. Tannins are whispers, sweet nothings that melt in the mouth upon contact though they will linger for a few years yet. As soft spoken a cinsault as there is, even by Western Cape standards. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2022

Paul Cluver Pinot Noir Seven Flags 2015, WO Elgin

Increasingly considered a great vintage in Elgin, backed up by this showing at seven years of age. The 115 grows on shale with Koffieklip and in ’15 the whole bunch number was 50 percent. Settled now and in a most ideal drinking way, with nearly five years remaining for more expressive things to say. Last tasted October 2022

The most floral vintage of the Seven Flags and the first with clones 115 and 667 brought into the blend. This to create new concepts and levels of complexity with vines old, new and next level involved. The intermixing leaves us with a sensation involving many layerings; fruit, acid and structural. The fruitiness and fresh flower gatherings presents an aperture of severe harmony and adds up to a bunch of aesthetic yeses. Give it a year or two to integrate. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted September 2018

Porseleinberg Syrah 2020, WO Swartland

It begins with a right proper rant from farmer, BBQ smoker and winemaker Callie Louw. “We don’t need to offset climate change with varietal adaptation. We just need to farm better. The problem doesn’t go away. Cover cropping, activate your place, get things growing, the whole profile is run in the top four inches. Below is the bank, the reservoir. The thing that makes the money is on top. Stop tilling. Leave that stuff on the top of soil. it just burns. Keep the active things alive. Increase the carbon in your soil by one per cent and the water will increase by 50.” Then to the current release at hand. Porseleinberg syrah 2020 is aged in 90 percent foudre and (10) concrete egg. “A nice vintage,” says Louw, “still stuck in a drought but the first year with average rainfall, just about 400mm.” Healthy canopies, just right there, picking without stress. From 2020 about 70 per cent is from one site and while the soils are consistent, the aspects, gradients and all else bring minor variegation, seasoning and spice.“The success of this is a complete fluke. I literally do nothing with the grapes. I realize I do fuck all.” And yet the consistency of the process prevails; of working with syrah like this, whole bunch, no pump-overs and just a belief in the farming. Not sure many 2020s are the shit but this folks and my friends is. South African wine is not all the same. Drink 2020 sooner, the delicious factor will ride. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2022

Bruwer Raats

Raats Family Wines Pinotage Liberte 2020, WO Stellenbosch

From Polkadraai, picked early to help establish a deeply South African sentiment or even manifesto that allows pinotage to separate itself and announce its uniqueness as a wine unlike anywhere else in the world. These are the thoughts of Gavin Bruwer Slabbert. If you attempt to compare this to a Raats cabernet franc there are so few similarities and in fact here pinotage gains stature, swagger and momentum in ways the Bordeaux family of varieties can only wish for. At what cost you ask and that is a worthy query. Traditional beauty perhaps but even pinotage’s lies in the eyes of the beholder. Thick skins and fleshiness abound to announce their estimable arrival. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted October 2022

Radford Dale Freedom Pinot Noir 2021, WO Elgin

Proprietor Alex Dale takes inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s memoir “A Long Walk to Freedom” as he sees his adopted South Africa as the place where agriculture and winemaking have given him his. The first organic pinot noir from this Elgin outpost for Stellenbosch producer Radford Dale and what winemaker Jacques de Klerk calls “a transitory vintage.” Meaning Elgin Ridge was the original owner and the farming is now fully under RD’s command. This ’21 is glaring and striking in primary freshness, so youthful it feels like bottling happened only yesterday. Chalky tannic, of a formidable density but stone cold salty, like Sonoma Coast and a wedge of Délice de Bourgogne. This is, in the parlance of our times endearingly referred to as “C’est bon, fuck!” Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2022

Testalonga El Bandito Mourvedre Monkey Gone To Heaven 2021, WO Swartland

Craig and Carla Hawkins make many skus, almost all small lot from the Swartland and it feels like there is no true rhyme or reason to the portfolio. That is why Monkey Gone to Heaven is the poster for their work, a Pixies song reference Black Francis (Frank Black) has said was named because it “just sounds neat” and also “it wasn’t like we thought we’d get played on the radio.” Perhaps Craig (aka El Bandito) approaches his work in a similar way. Hawkins goes at is as natural as anyone out there but believe it when he insists he’s simply making wine from grapes. What do people think? Whatever. Are the wines niche, raw or mainstream? Don’t really know. Making a statement on environmental concerns? Probably not. We do know this varietal mourvèdre is 100 per cent whole bunch fermented for nine days in open tanks, pressed and aged in 500L foudres. Wild and full on ambient malolactic fermentation. The winking winemaking equivalent of “If man is five…Then the devil is six…Then God is seven.” Actually less intense and grippy than the Queen of Spades Tinta Amarela and also surprisingly perfumed. Even a bit pretty, of different aromatic and volatile lift, apposite in structure, soliciting an arousal of trenchant imagination. What is this? Sarcasm, Kaballah and good grapes. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2022

Waterkloof Wine Estate Pinotage Last Of The First 2021, WO Stellenbosch

“We like to make wine we like to drink,” tells Nadia Barnard-Langenegger, based in Somerset West. The block for this wine is part of the first commercial one planted in South Africa, on a cool, east-facing bush vine block planted in 1994 to clay and some decomposed granite. In conversion to organic. “I want to taste what I taste in the vineyard, stones and freshness.” The name is Last of the First because there are no others planted on the Skurfberg. Another terrific example of the new pinotage of flesh, savour, lithely bitter liquorice and high acidity. Definite quality once again. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2022

Wolf And Woman Wines Pinotage 2021, WO Swartland

From Jolandie Fouché and old vines planted in 1973 on truly sandy (meaning zero clay) Paardeberg soils. Fouché’s journey has run the gamut, from matriculating to earning her stripes in the South African industry. And one of her dogs is named cinsault. “Sometimes I’m more wolf than woman and I need to stop apologizing for my ways.” Hers is a most perfumed pinotage, thanks to bush vines with big canopies whereby the vine is mostly in the shade, that and more than ample whole bunch fermentation in a carbonic vein. Less oxygen and no new wood lengthen, extend and create a drift that so few wines of this idiom are able to achieve. WAWW is pinotage of elegance incarnate, not without inherent tannin, yet silken no doubt. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2022

Good to go!

godello

Hemel-en-Aarde

Twitter: @mgodello

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WineAlign

Twenty-two Canadian wines that rocked in 2022

Dec27

Godello taking in the spirit of Grimsby Hillside Vineyard

I am a forager. I forage in the natural world, for plants in their season, pulled from the soil, from earth to pan, for medicinal teas, to preserve by drying or pickling, whatever the most appropriate case may be. Wild herbs, allium and beneficial greens are prized but mostly I use my mycological senses by looking for signs beneath my feet as to where the mycelium below will choose to fruit as fungi above. I look for the saprobic and the decomposer but also the mushroom that works through symbiosis, to aid and abet other species while receiving something beneficial in return.

Laetiporus Sulphureus, aka Chicken of the Woods

I am a forager of wines as well, perhaps not in the same spiritual or personal way, but as I do with the forest I try my best to listen and become one with the vine, to imagine what it will beget, that being quality grapes and eventually honest wine. Vinifera success in Canadian vineyards is a recent phenomenon and there are plants more suited and native to our land but we should and will continue to pursue both realities. This is not a manifesto about natural wine, no far from it, but it is a confession. I love great wine, well made wine, wine in balance. I am open to all wines and like the fungi I choose to eat or to ignore, I can’t be sickened by something I choose not to taste. I taste what I trust and drink what I must. Most often it take years of research and seeing the same fruiting body appear in the same location with consistent markings to make the decision to eat that mushroom. That is why wines of history, pedigree and consistency are the greatest and most exciting. They have earned the recognition. Others gain reputation much quicker and they too deserve the kudos but the choice comes down to the individual. I just want the wines I choose to rock. Canadian wines, yeah they rock.

Hypomyces Lactifluorum, the Lobster Mushroom

Nova Scotia wines at Obladee Wine Bar in Halifax

The full scale return to not only tasting but rallying around Canadian wine began in earnest back in June of 2022. In a span of less than 30 days there were judges’ panel assessments and events during the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada, To July and 10 days spent in Nova Scotia wine country followed by a glorious weekend in Niagara for the i4c Canadian Cool Climate Celebration. Get back to Cool Chardonnay was the impetus and the reminder how much we Canadian wine folk respect one another and truly enjoy each other’s company. How great was it to interact once again, to taste with and experience the verities of vignerons and winemakers? To gather Insights, illuminations and incidentals from illustrious voices. To enter discourse with thought provocateurs who question sense of place, who consider vines and their relationship with the land. To reconnect with old friends forging new directions, seek flights of fancy and return to places always familiar, like coming home. The road ahead may still be uncertain but onward we will go.

Godello and Pender

Devastating news and especially the loss of a friend takes time to process. At the time I did not know what to do but suddenly the words poured forth, in one take and so in February I penned The Walrus is Paul. I miss Paul Pender. He was not my closest bud nor was I his but there will always be a hole in our lives without him. The thing about sadness is that it never goes away, but the trick is to remember the people we loved in a way that helps us through another day. “Paul Pender humanized everything in his life and all that he touched. He never expressed any dismay at comments I may have made about wines not being perfect, nor did he exalt in high scores or praise for wines about which I may have gushed or waxed rhapsodic. He was always zen, even-keeled, grounded and humble. Paul was the personification of gravitational constant, THE universal gravitational constant, a constant of gravitation. His presence and being related force to mass and distance, and he lived his life within the law of gravitation. I hope he taught everyone to be this way and that we can all go forward with his wise, sage and calm demeanour, safely tucked into our own lives. Thank you Paul. I love you, man. You are the walrus.”

Seafood by Godello, Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia

This might just be the 10th annual list and another spot is in fact added each year but the process just keeps getting tougher to complete. According to WineAlign I reviewed more than 3,000 wines in 2022, which means I tasted at least 3,500, if not more. The number of Canadian wines is likely one third, say 1,500 examples tasted this past year, in great part because at least one-third of that number is tasted at the Nationals. The process of nailing down this summary comes out of a shortlist of 100-plus that were what would be considered exciting. The exercise must be one that filters, fines and refines again and again so that every wine is reviewed and re-considered on repeat. I find it near impossible to make final decisions these days and yet somehow feel compelled to continue the discipline. Thank you to all; associates, colleagues, wine professionals and especially friends who poured, for every sip and taste, with heartfelt thanks. Especially to the WineAlign Crü; David Lawrason, John Szabo M.S., Sara d’Amato, Steve Thurlow, Megha Jandhyala, Bryan McCaw, Sarah Goddard, Miho Yamamoto, Carol-Ann Jessiman and Heather Riley. Godello gives you 22 Canadian wines that rocked in 2022.

With The Thinker, Jean-Benoit Déslauriers, Benjamin Bridge Vineyards

Benjamin Bridge Glooscap First Nation X Rosé 2021, Nova Scotia

Benjamin Bridge Glooscap First Nation X Rosé is first a wine. A lithe, 10 percent alcohol and bone-dry vision in pale pink hue, described by thinker Jean-Benoit Déslauriers as blessed “with a softness from within.” My family and I taste along and become privy to why this project means so much more. The Rosé marks a turning point for Benjamin Bridge and is crafted neither for reconciliation nor to undue the past. Instead the path leads forward, for mutualism, cooperation and respect. A harbinger towards a more balanced future. Meaning is gleaned for the team after a decade-plus of grape growing now widened to include 13,000 years of sustainable and synergetic preservation of an ecosystem. Twenty years ago the BB understanding was of vineyards producing grapes exclusively focused on the sensory profile of wines, how they reflected the terroir and stacked up against Europe. Yet the Mi’kmaq have lived in balance within this unique ecosystem for millennium and the goal is to return to this symbiosis. It may take another 13,000 years and while subsequent generations will not be obligated to complete the work, neither are they free to desist from it. This Rosé establishes a “Ni’tap,” a relationship as ally-ship and friendship between Benjamin Bridge’s McConnell-Gordon family and Glooscap First Nation; Elder Lorraine Whitman, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada and Advocate for the rights of Indigenous women, girls & gender-diverse people; her daughter Zabrina Whitman and Chief Sidney Peters. Glooscap First Nation X Rosé is a direct product of climate change with no need to soften the sear of acidity by backsliding into residual sugar. Do not forget the effect created by the air pump that is the Bay of Fundy that allows the vines to always take their time and manage a slowly gained phenolic development. The Bay means Rosé can indeed be forged this way. Dry and bright, aligning ortega, gamay and riesling in such a pointed and profound aromatic Sikunme’katik (Gaspereau) Valley way. The connection to Nova Scotia is real but very much a singular notion. The fact that modern agriculture has erased what really happened in this valley, as it pertains to vines and this terroir it is the kind of commentary that is “by definition profoundly inaccurate.” This is the charge of Déslauriers and all who take this path forward. Indigenous plants were in fact replaced with European plants so BB makes a clear point. How can it be said that these wines capture the essence of this terroir? The argument is compelling and will eventually change again, after 13 or 13,000 more years, or perhaps somewhere in between. In any case the wine is grand and the prospects even greater. Bravo all around. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted July 2022

Mackenzie Brisbois, Trail Estate

Trail Estate ‘Oh Julius’ Skin Fermented White 2021, VQA Ontario

A plus or minus 10 days skin contact for 59 per cent riesling, (35) gewürztraminer and (5) muscat that drinks with full submission, symbiotically speaking. The wine gives and our palates lay down, receive this effortless elixir and allow it to pass on through, no questions asked, no wondering why. Something like 550 cases are made of this wild-fermented, Benchlands (Wismer) fruit-sourced quencher, aka refreshing drink. Easy enough in the tart citrus vein, no lacking for energy and in turn, our interest. Weird? No not really. Cool? Ticks all the boxes for what the kids are all making these days, but this is more a case of being made by and for kids at heart who are adults with kids of their own. At 10.4 per cent alcohol, no acetic meanderings nor cider-y complications neither. Well that just about wraps it up in a big natural bow and guarantees a good time. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted June 2022

Canoe Trip cooking

Blue Mountain Blanc De Blancs R.D. 2013, VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

The research tells us chardonnay and time conspire for beauty while development reminds how years upon years upon lees directs a Blue Mountain R.D. into sublimity and profundity. A vintage to recall, reflect upon and surely celebrate, to mull over its integrated and subtle spices, controlled energy and slow time release of responsibility. A sparkling wine of nature that has become one of nurture, now a perfectly posit tug between edginess and oxidation, tension and generosity. They call this the sweet spot. Raise a glass to recently disgorged. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2022

WineAlign judges at Stratus Vineyards

Stratus X Trials Blanc De Blancs 2012, VQA Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Looking back two years the bar was set so very high as noted when we first began tasting the culmination of years put in towards this Sparkling program. Far be it for Stratus to regress or work in reverse but they are now grooving further back in lees cumulative time and out there comes a chardonnay spent what must be nearly 10 years on those lovely yeasts. Trials they were and fruition they have become. It’s not so much the toasty and beautifully oxidative-fino nutty character. The impression digs deeper than green olives in brine and sweet pear compote, it grabs us by the emotive heartstrings and holds us close. In fact it’s not unusual for B de Bs ’12 X Trials to be loved by anyone. There’s just something about the subtleties and the open invitation, to love and be loved. “Whoa oh, oh whoa, oh oh, oh oh!” Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2022

Sunset over The Twenty Mile and Beamsville Bench

Flat Rock Cellars Nadja’s Vineyard Riesling 2020, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Distinct mineral and petrol aromatic riesling rising, up into the stratosphere. in no hurry to come back down. Cracker citrus and acidity, tart and fuelled by intensity with no boundaries nor atmospheric pressures or deadlines neither. Sugars and structure are one in the same, seamlessness is the result and everything falls into its right place. The poster child, educator and pioneer. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted blind at NWAC2022, June 2022

Felseck Vineyard

Hidden Bench Riesling Felseck Vineyard 2017, VQA Beamsville Bench

Not quite but just about 20 year-old vines as of this stellar 2017 vintage and a benchmark Bench riesling of all that has been developed, given, remains and jazz. A stoic propellant and scintillant of fineness, fruit in ample preserve, acids convergent and power releasing ever so slowly in perfect pace. Pitch is spot on, balance ideal and direction effortlessly forward. The Mario Lemieux of riesling. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2022

The family with Josh Horton and Rachel Lightfoot, Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Lightfoot & Wolfville Chardonnay Small Lots Oak Knoll Vineyard Stainless Steel 2020, Nova Scotia, Canada

“People have always said we need to make a stainless steel version,” says winemaker Josh Horton, to lighten the room and the mood. This being the first go at it, protocol kept very similar to the oaked (Ancienne), by wild ferment, aka “brown” maceration. Gone to bottle quicker (eight months after pick) and this will be slowed down in the future. Absolute tightness and freshness, purity of chardonnay as expressed in a juiced lemon and almost no reduction. A chardonnay of isolated terroir, specificity and one helluva beautiful experiment. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted July 2022

Thirty Bench Small Lot Chardonnay 2020, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Really quite primary, an undisclosed while pleasingly reticent chardonnay from Emma Garner of gratitude and grace. The first because it thanks the Beamsville terroir and the second because it does so with soft spoken respect. A mélange of different fermentation batches, each small and precise come together for the final sumptuous and restrained blend. The tenets of fruit, acid and what ties them together is just about as seamless and easily layered as any of a Bench ilk and idiom. Not a chardonnay of style but instead stylish, not chic but surely sung with notes held, seemingly forever. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted July 2022

Grimsby Hillside Vineyard

Ilya and Nadia Senchuk, Leaning Post Wines

Leaning Post Chardonnay Grimsby Hillside Vineyard 2019, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Delicate, bright and efficacious wine from a north facing nook of the Escarpment vineyard in the narrowest spit of land between the rock face and the lake. Once the viticultural labrusca home of Parkdale Wines and now owned by the Franciosa family. A special wine occupying a place in my family’s history and heart. Apposite to Wismer in that there are more piques and peaks in and out, up and down, hither and thither in this singularly focused chardonnay. Pay attention to nuance, to barrel as well as it speaks in extra density because the terroir encourages the ambition. Remarkable structure despite how short a relationship there has been between maker and farm. The instant brilliance creates an effective and then profound buzz, a desired effect and the future is WIDE open. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted June 2022

Melissa Marotta-Paolicelli, winemaker Adam Pearce and Angela Marotta

Two Sisters Chardonnay 2020, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

With part in part thanks and a nod to the experimental minds and vineyard management acumen at (then) Parkdale Wines, back in 1959 Bill Lenko took a flyer on vinifera in the form of chardonnay. Today Two Sisters is the primary beneficiary of Niagara’s oldest chardonnay vines and this primo vintage extolls the virtues of those wise plants and their concentrated fruit. Still showing balance and tenderness, never mind the barrel beauty, bullocks or beast, in fact it all comes together in seamless fashion because the fruit is indefatigably remarkable. Winemaker Adam Pearce heeds the directive, does nothing to get in the way and what is delivered comes away with such a sheen and energetic burst it just may blow your mind. This is the finest result to date, a lightly reductive, subtly lees inflected, full fruit captured chardonnay. All of its lines run parallel, incline up the same slope, coextend in collateral company and with time will eventually relent for the great transversal. The fruit will cross over both acidity and backbone, resulting in the ultimate complex equation. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted August 2022

The fishy work of Ryan Crawford (Ruffino’s and Bar Bea), Raoul Duke of Chefs

Bachelder Hill Of Wingfield Chardonnay 2020, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Hill of Wingfield, as opposed to the flatter portions of the large chardonnay expanse and one can’t help but conjure up vineyard monikers like “Hill of” Corton, or even Grace. Ancient and modern tracts can be descried by farmers and writers so with Thomas Bachelder as the guide we too can play this game, by extension and in a most semi-serious way. Everything is derivative and by association anyway so Hill of Wingfield it is. Same lush, luxe and top of the pops richness as Wismer-Wingfield yet here with some reduction and an almost candied shell of protection. Nearly impossible and yet every reason to believe that vintage, grape, block and maker can combine to execute such a phenomenon of chardonnay. No understatement or restraint here, nor were any grapes harmed in the due process. My goodness what gumption, ambition and monkified execution. You gotta believe in the truth! Drink 2023-2028. Tasted December 2022

With Shiraz Mottiar and the uni, I mean photo bomber Anthony Gismondi

Malivoire Gamay Courtney 2020, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Youthful is the understatement when coming at this 2020 Courtney but my how juicy, meaty and pinpointed a gamay it truly is. There have been serious and fully formed Courtneys before but never have the assets in fruit, mouthfeel and acid-tannin structural interplay grabbed attention like this young and in charge ’20. Adds up to big, boisterous, ripe to the hilt, of zero austerity and so much possibility. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted April 2022

Meyer Pinot Noir McLean Creek Road Vineyard Old Block 2020, BC VQA Okanagan Falls, British Columbia

Plenty of substance fills the aromatic glass in this immortality jam of substance, acid and textural intensity. Good red fruit if turning to act youthfully grainy in its unresolved structural demand, especially as it lands on and then scrapes over the palate. Dutifully solid wine, nothing to some and to others a pearl needing time. High arcing, a factor of indefinite continuation for pinot noir existence and “he who forgets will be destined to remember.” For such a delicate (aromatic) and working (palate) pinot noir it carries more than ample finishing strength, energy and power. “And I wish to hold on, too, but saw the trapdoor in the sun.” Drink 2023-2028. Tasted blind at NWAC2022, June 2022

Closson Chase Pinot Noir South Clos 2020, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario

As a reminder the South Clos Vineyard is six hectares of Prince Edward County Hillier clay loam and shallow crumbled limestone overlying fractured limestone. A top site (within the limit of vinifera capability) where chardonnay and pinot noir present as viable as any combo in Canada. Bring on a warm gift of a vintage like 2020 and the possibilities suddenly become endless. The site is always a place of high pH and allowable root penetration but 2020 just tops the show. The intensities are boundless in a most youthful and exuberant South Clos pinot noir that clearly act as the embodiment of one for the ages. Never before have acids tasted so sweet and tannins wept such tears of joy. South Clos is the culmination of decades put in, torches passed, hard work and experimentation. A victory for the 2020 season and perhaps the beginning of a Keith Tyers’ led dynasty. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

With Chef Michael Olson

Bachelder Pinot Noir Wismer Parke “Wild West End” 2020, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Wismer-Parke’s western section on Victoria Avenue just up from Highway 8 is planted to what Thomas Bachelder refers to as a mystery clone of pinot noir “whose identity is lost to the mists of time.” Twenty-one years to be exact at the meter of this vintage yet in nostalgic ways that kind of statement feels like something dating back to the 1950s or ’60s. Either way it’s long enough to make one wonder and wonder why. There’s a whole lot of “duh duh dun dun dun dah,” and “bah ah bah ah dun dun dun bah” then “beh do beh do,” followed by “bah doo doo bah,” and finally “wop, wop, wop, wop, wop” in this pinot noir. Why? Because this beast of the east is so strong-willed, immoveable and timeless with unparalleled layering and nuance. Doo Wop tannins in total control, winning out over dark fruit in black olive, fennel and tarry tones playing second fiddle. Why is there more oomph and grip to this savoury flavoured pinot noir of scrub and scorrevole across the palate?” The answer my friend is blowing in those mists and in the time you must give to see this wine come to its fruition. Wismer-Parke Wild West End may not necessarily save your soul, but it will make your soul worth saving! Drink 2024-2029. Tasted December 2022

PEC wines

Rosehall Run Pinot Noir St. Cindy Unfiltered 2020, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario

In 2004 and 2005 the first County Rosehall Run vineyards pinot noir fruit were given the name Cindy but between ’06 and ’19 the name JCR defined the estate’s best fruit. With a vintage as great as 2020 in vessel Cindy was anointed once again as saint of the top pinot noir. The ripeness and extract here are in fact the finest ever from these PEC lands so the choice was and remains perfectly clear. What the JCR misses in terms of tension is here fully trenchant and oblique, angles run in slants, musculature neither parallel nor perpendicular to the long axis of structure or bones. This is fascinating wine geometry and anatomy, clearly regimented yet offset and in the end, simply wondrous. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2022

Le Vieux Pin Syrah Cuvée Violette 2015, BC VQA Okanagan Valley

Five years after first tasting Cuvée Violette blind the opportunity arises for an up front and centre moment with bottle, label and glass. Though this syrah would have been more than satisfying before it must be said that its peak performance is in fact NOW. Takes an aromatic leap of faith and suspends at that Black Sage Bench/Dead Man Lake syrah apex where violets and pepper drip their eau de parfum down upon dark varietal fruit. There are many a more expensive Okanagan syrah but there are none as benchmark to combine age-worthiness with price as this Severine Pinte stunner. I for one am thankful to taste this vintage again and at its best. Last tasted December 2022

Let’s put up our hands so we know who we are, we who expect three P’s in syrah; perfume, pepper and pulchritude. This syrah is possessive of all three. It’s quite the dark purple beauty but also savoury, reeking of black olive and brushy garrigue. The wood is exercised with admirable restraint and then there is this fineness of tannin. A very pretty, seamless and structured syrah of great length. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted blind at #NWAC17, June 2017

Creekside Broken Press Syrah Reserve Queenston Road Vineyard 2016, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Good years have got behind this syrah with a touch of viognier so that five-plus in there’s an open window through which to find the heart of this wine. A democratic vintage, fruit at peak, elongated and built to last, last longer than anyone who knows not what capability is in store for this wine. The tannins are just beginning to wane and with great acumen they have melted into the karst of what is truly a special BP vintage. A minimum five years remains and quite possibly 10. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted April 2022

CedarCreek Winemaker Taylor Whelan

CedarCreek Syrah Platinum Jagged Rock 2020, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Inky and cimmerian, full syrah extraction, maceration, skin contact fermentation and finally, thankfully and for the win, concentration. All adds up to as big as it gets, with iodine, soy and yet this amazing floral indemnity that tells the whole story, but also one that celebrates a truly special site. Yes the tannins are omnipresent but they are reasonable, metered, mattering and real. So very polished. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted blind at NWAC2022, June 2022

Vines in the Similkameen

Corcelettes Talus 2020, BC VQA Similkameen Valley, British Columbia

Talus makes balanced work of all fine main Bordeaux varieties, led by merlot (40 per cent) and cabernet franc (35), with (20) cabernet sauvignon, (3) malbec and (2) petit verdot. The names refers to the Talus “slides” that accentuate each mountainous side of the Similkameen Valley and the wine slides across the palate in equal, opposing and proportionate waves. Mostly a precise ripeness of fruit but also some passionate acids and truly purposed tannins. The merlot does seem to stand out with its verdant, creamy and downy character as it pertains to soaking up some barrel. There is a notable amount of quality dark chocolate here and still all parts just seem to synch up. Proper Meritage indeed. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2022

Black Hills Nota Bene 2020, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

The blend for the Black Hills flagship red in 2020 is 42 percent cabernet franc, (33) cabernet sauvignon, 24 (merlot) and (1) petit verdot. Merlot fared very well in 2020 and yet the team chose franc as the anchor, why, well it seems for structure over beauty and longevity over immediacy. This vintage is quite a remarkable example because all of these aspects show up, repeat, shuffle, reorganize and collectively speak a Black Sage Bench truth. Hard to imagine a more seamless set of red blend circumstances or astrological linearity. The stars do in fact align for this bright constellation of an Okanagan wine. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2022

Phantom Creek Phantom Creek Vineyard Cuvée #24 2019, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

At the top of the heap and pops for Phantom Creek is the red blend cuvée from the homestead vineyard and a wine denied absolutely nothing. The finest of the best is grown, nurtured and gathered with equally prized vessels providing the nurturing environment. There are some silky, suave and stylish red wines in this portfolio but nothing compares to the desire in Cuvée #24. These are the richest fruit sets, sweetest acids and silkiest tannins, none more important than the other and all working towards a common goal. That being beauty and longevity which the wine surely boasts. The only question is cost and a decision to be made to decide if the extra $60-100 dollars buys more wine and age-ability. The answer is yes, it surely does but is this “perfect” style the kind you like, want, need or deserve. Only you can be the judge of these things. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted November 2022

Good to go!

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Godello surveys Grimsby Hillside Vineyard

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WineAlign

Twenty-two mind-blowing wines of 2022

Dec22

Godello in the Stellenbosch heather, Reyneke Wine Estate

We are who we are and we choose to live in a world according to wine. Within its walls are endless permutations and revelations, of the dark moments and the light, the romantic entanglements and the failures. We witness cycles of passion, highs and lows, endless accounts of quirky little episodes that reveal how grapes really live under the circumstances of a vintage. How they survive and thrive, eventually turning into the wine they become. A wine’s history is a lovely aside accompanied by a recorded and constructed account through the lens of someone who observes its transformations. We are messengers who take the land, plant and maker into consideration and always abide, recounting the story to those who would choose to listen. According to WineAlign I reviewed more than 3,000 wines in 2022, which means I tasted at least 3,500, if not more. In order to surmise this final list from a shortlist of more than 100 mind-blowing wines it meant another 2,900 are not even in the running and yet surely no less than a quarter are exceptional wines in their own right. That is how difficult, personal and stringent an exercise this annual choosing has become. I find it near impossible these days and yet somehow feel compelled to continue the drill.

Godello in Chianti Classico

The year 2022 afforded multiple opportunities to get back on the road in search of great wines in places across the ponds and beyond. To Tuscany in both February and March, for the for the Chianti Classico Collection and also as chaperone to La Squadra Canadese for a week of exploration throughout the 11 UGAs of the territory. Forever in Chianti Classico included a masterclass presented by Italian wine expert Filippo Bartolotta and Consorzio President Giovanni Manetti titled Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi. This year-end summary includes one of those Chianti Classico wines dating back to 1949 but a few more could been here as well, including the fascinating Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico 1958. At Laura Bianchi’s estate the Castello Di Monsanto Sangioveto 1986 was one to blow my mind, as did Luca Martini di Cigala’s San Giusto a Rentennano Percarlo 2018 and VinSanto del Chianti Classico 1998. As a proud, card-carrying Ambasciatore there are dozens upon dozens of Classico and affiliate sangiovese that move me each and every calendar year. Il Molino Di Grace Gratius 2018 is an example and just one of many.

After that Tuscan adventure I moved on to Sicily for a five day exploration of The five estates of Planeta earth and my stay turned into two weeks. Covid-19 had caught me and yet the humanity of Alessio Planeta, Patricia Tòth and several winemakers aboard L’Etna turned a challenging test result into many days of discovery and deeper volcanic understanding. In fact L’Etna and Parco Statella saved my Sicilian quarantine. So many producers’ wines could and should be on this list: Azienda Agricola Sofia, Calcagno, Donnafugata, Eduardo Torres, Feudo Pignatone, Girolamo Russo, Graci, Scirto, Tascante, and Vigneti Vecchio. Oddly this was not a year for nebbiolo with likely the least amount of opportunities made available and yet a month from now I will spend 10 days in Piemonte to make up for the absence in 2022. That said there can be no forgetting Réva Barolo Cannubi 2018, from which impartiality is off the table because if you do not fall in love with this Barolo then you are not setting your palate free.

Travels in June and Abruzzo in four-part harmony included a bucket list visit with Emidio Pepe where I found that an unwavering commitment to land is everything that matters in making exceptional and memorable wine. It’s not only what you do but also who you are. Ahead of that trip I had tasted La Valentina Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC Bellovedere Riserva Terre Dei Vestini 2017, and there can be little doubt that it is a wine that resides at the top of the montepulciano food chain because this Riserva hails from a most specific and important terroir. After Abruzzo and then Rome I moved on to attend the first ever Anteprima for Simply Red: Rosso di Montalcino where the Brunello were set aside for one day only and the 2020 vintage of Rosso got directly under my skin, including Lorenzo Magnelli’s mind bending Le Chiuse Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020. Dieci Anni di Rosso di Montalcino (Ten Years of Rosso di Montalcino) and Selezione di Rosso di Montalcino (Rosso di Montalcino Selection) showed wines of age-ability and purpose; my if Alessandro Mori’s Il Marroneto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Jacopo 2019 did not blow my mind. A visit with Violante Gardini Cinelli Colombini meant a pour of Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Io Sono Donatella 2015 for the most profound barrel expression of Le Donne’s Brunelli.

Menfi

In October the Cape Wine congress resumed after a four year absence and now more than ever this is what I have to say. South Africa is the most exciting and mind-expanding wine universe alive today. There are no less than 40 Western Cape wines from two dozen or so producers tasted in 2022 that could have made this list: A.A. Badenhorst, Alheit, Beaumont, Boekenhoutskloof, Crystallum, David and Nadia Sadie, Hamiilton Russell, Huis van Chevallerie, Kanonkop, Ken Forrester, La Motte, Leeu Passant, Klein Contsantia, Meerlust, Momento, Mullineux, Old Road Wine Company, Porseleinberg, Raal, Raats, Radford Dale, Restless River, Reyneke, Savage, Sijnn, Storm and The Sadie Family. To name but a few. Other southern hemisphere wines were killer in 2022, namely Torbreck Grenache Hillside Vineyard 2019, a special Barossa block to be sure.

With John Szabo MS and Rosa Kruger at the Old Vines Project tasting

In November a return to Montalcino for Benvenuto Brunello 2022 meant a look at the 2018 vintage but also the Riserva of 2017. At Col d’Orcia the Conte Francesco Cinzano Marone and his son Santiago led yet another vertical tasting, this time on the 8s and it was Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 1988 that stood both out and also the test of time. From Montalcino it was on to Vienna and then a Wagram-Traisental discovery tour that was both too short and mind-expanding – A return must and will happen soon. Meanwhile a tasting at home in the WineAlign office showed this Rheingau gem to the crü. Leitz Berg Schlossberg Grosses Gewächs Riesling Trocken 2019 is grand Rüdesheim indeed.

These are the wines that blew my mind in 2022

Most of all 2022 was a year when associates, colleagues, wine professionals and especially friends reunited to break bread and taste great wines together. At a birthday party I had the opportunity to taste the following in one evening; Château Lafitte 1986, Château Mouton-Rothschild 1986, Chave Hermitage 2010, Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 1999, Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 1990, Dom Perignon 2000, Veuve Cliquot La Grand Dame 1995 to name just seven of 20-plus icons. Bordeaux made several prominent appearances in ’22; Château Margaux 1989 (and 2004), Château Haut-Brion 2012 and Château La Mission Haut-Brion 2012. More importantly in 2022 we shared bottles of all ilk, pedigree and origin, not only the expensive and famous labels but all the great wines, big and small. Thank you to every person who poured, for every sip and taste, with heartfelt thanks. These are Godello’s 22 mind-blowing wines of 2022.

Markus Huber Grüner Veltliner Berg 1ÖTW 2021, Traisental, Austria

Highest and coolest vineyard of the Traisental Erste Lage because by three or four pm the forest casts shade over the vineyard. Limestone based soil as well, upwards of 380m and the only portion that has iron rich red elements in the earth. Actually finding a richness in this, surely vintage related and that is unexpected but it’s also the most savoury, minty cool, eucalyptus accented, or the like. Curious by comparison to Alte Zetsen and Zwirch, in what is assessed as almost dark, smoky, spicy volcanic-simulate stuff. Brings whole and utter meaning to grüner veltliner at the Grand Cru level. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Godello with Charla Bosman

Sijnn White 2019, WO Malgas, South Africa

Up above the Breede River there are vines of chenin blanc, viognier, roussanne and verdelho, varieties that have been working towards a common goal, to eventuate at something great. Then 2019 comes along and the world changes. This is the vintage from which David Trafford, Sijnn and winemaker Charla (Hassbroek) Bosman take full reign of their collective charge. To be truthful the agriculture, winemaking and face of the brand is Bosman and were I in the market to hire someone of her passion, ability and professionalism I could not help but remunerate her like a top European footballer. But lucky we all are that she and Sijnn are together because she is at one with this impossible yet absurdly beautiful environment where wines like this White Blend are made and will blow your proverbial mind. They attach themselves and get so close to that personal part of you. Imagine Châteauneuf though I’d much rather consider Malgas because that is what this is. Rich and perfectly viscous, spicy, structured and fine. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2022

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC San Lorenzo 2020, Sicily, Italy

From the single vineyard at 730-740m of elevation and vinified in tonneaux. The 2009 was the first vintage of San Lorenzo Bianco for a wine that leads amongst the 80-90 thousand total bottles made by Giuseppe Russo from 18 hectares. A strong selection from the plants of carricante with cattaratto and grecanico. The carricante are the oldest and they provide the breadth in the mouth, the texture in unction and the presence that really makes you feel the vineyard. The difference between it and Nerina is really in the selection of the grapes. Giuseppe wants his whites to speak for his territory, here to be a bit more generous and 2020 obliges first because it was easier and second because it is such a vintage specific to the white wines. Such beauty and emotion is purity and life. No stress and a wine you want to drink. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted March 2022

David And Nadia Sadie Wines Plat’Bos Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Swartland, South Africa

The Sadie Family Die Ouwingerdreeks Mev. Kirsten Wyn Van Oorsprong Stellenbosch Die Sadie Familie Wyne 2021, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Iconic Bourgogne

Domaine De Bellene Vosne Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots 2020, AC Bourgogne, France

“Suchots” originates from “souches,” the name given to the woods before the land was prepared to house these vines. Les Suchots is but a small 13 hectare part of the larger 220 in total for Vosne Romanée and was first planted in 1937. La Romanée and Saint Vivant are the closest plots, south of Echezeaux, north or Richebourg and though just six per cent of the appellation it is actually the largest Premier Cru Climat therein. The vineyard is divided in two by a road. The eastern part below lays just above the cemetery and the village terroir called Hautes Maizieres. The top part is located below Les Beaux-Monts. The 2019 was a dream, crème de la crème and yet 2020 seems to embrace the powerful vintage with a most extraordinary level of perfume. That and fruit concentrated to a maximum degree without falling into any of the trappings associated with hyperbole. The concept of pinot noir reaching regional levels like this seems counterintuitive to the variety-appellation contract but the balance and harmony at the top is something the likes almost never seen. This will surely be one of the wines that explain with hyper clarity what 2020 is as a vintage. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted May 2022

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa Sopra Il Pozzo 2017, Sicily, Italy

Sopra il Pozzo describes a special portion of the signature Arcurìa vineyard (and contrada of the same name), a block “above the well,” 100 per cent nerello mascalese picked in the last week of October. Treated to the same maceration and elévage as the Rosso for the same spontaneous style and time as Feudo di Mezzo. However Sopra il Pozzo’s “refuse” soil composition is different and requires patience in the name of time, due to its alternating layers of decomposed volcanics in stone and coarse sand. This is a section of recast material and the corresponding mascalese is both emasculated and chivalrous. The degree to which layers of fruit, mineral and umami incorporare and completare is finite and contiguous yet also lengthy, scorrevole and endless. There is rare Etna glycerin texture and perfectly timed acid tang. Tempismo perfetto. Grande. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted April 2022

Elisabetta Foradori

Foradori Granato Teroldego 2019, IGT Vigneti Delle Dolomiti, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy

Granato from Elisabetta Foradori resides at or near the peak of the Trentino-Alto Adige wine chain, a Dolomite force of varietal nature, richness incarnate and cragged to gain your full attention. Fruit comes at a great premium, not by absence of the heart but because so much site, land and space speak louder than words. A static red stuck in a state of cryogenic freeze, immovable and surely able to handle immobility and also time. Will drink beautifully for a decade and a half, or possibly more. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2022

Garage Wine Co. Truquilemu Vineyard Lot 97 Dry Farmed Old Vines Field Blend Carignan 2018, DO Maule Valley, Chile

The eastern facing side of the Coastal Range where the old vines grow, in places where you had to make wines for the Catholic Church, “to save souls.” The most aromatic of Derek’s wines, a true field blend with a je ne sais quoi of varieties bursting off of dry farmed bush vines. Showy with that combination of outright juiciness juxtaposed against iron-fisted structure. A wine that comes from a place where the farmer worked to break up the “los camellones”, strange diagonal lines drawn and a framer who shows how to separate the land so that making great wine is easier. This is a remarkable example of old, bush and real. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted July 2022

Barone Ricasoli Castello Di Brolio Chianti Classico 1949, Tuscany, Italy

Tasted as part of “Il Chianti Classico in 9 Decadi” led by Filippo Bartolotta with Giovanni Manetti at Stazione Leopolda in Florence at the Chianti Classico Collection. The oldest wine in the flight. apropos and just when you consider the Ricasoli heritage and lineage. A mineral layering which instinctively mimics the compaction of argiloso, macigno and calcari from Brolio’s soils, no longer feeling the separation or mille-feuille effect but now just all morphed into one and the same. There were surely some white wines in this mix, as per the formula written decades earlier by Bettino Ricasoli. Probably helped keep the freshness for some time and while this is now all earth and stone the wine is very much alive. There’s even some sweetness and citrus showing, indicative of blood orange some 73 years later, finishing with a trebbiano and malvasia Vinsanto tang. Tasted March 2022

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016, Tuscany, Italy

“I did not like Gran Selezione, I did not have anything against Gran Selezione but the discussion about UGA (sub-zones) was already underway so why not wait for this next change to the appellation?” The thinking for Paolo de Marchi was more about the wines that did not qualify for the appellation becoming wines that now qualified, the issue being a new rule could not apply to only 30 or so producers. So what is needed for that to happen? “All grapes born here should be able to travel with a passport.” If it is more complicated than that then there is much more to discuss. A Chianti Classico from a long, linear and fortifying vintage delivers equally appropriate and extending tannins, gripping the composition while proposing to become elegant and fine. The seamlessness and never wavering focus keeps on keeping on, in the ways of emotion in motion. Will remain in bottle one year more before being released to the market. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casaccia 2018, Tuscany, Italy

Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted November 2022

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016, Tuscany, Italy

Riserva 2016 is the 42nd such vintage since 1888 from estate vineyards and the oldest parcels therein. Meanwhile olive trees and other compatible local species grow in those places and there always seems to be lower pH and higher bright acidity coming off the grapes. The Federico Radi team seeks to broaden biodiversity with unlimited scope and more vineyards would benefit by following such a plan. When Biondi-Santi gets to their next position we can expect even more refined and higher quality wines. Meanwhile the harmony and extant abilities in this ’16 Riserva are almost impossible to believe. A Riserva of fruit termed as the locus of the points drawn at an equidistant from the centre. Sangiovese of no stops and starts existing on a special kind of ellipse in which the eccentricity is zero and the two foci are coincident. Simple descriptors like crunch, chew or crust are not in the lexicon nor do service to speak about the texture of this remarkable sangiovese. Subtlety and strength, a dappling of early morning light, patterning and shimmering as if on water. The phenolics are spot on, coherent and the connection with both palate and tannins perform as an unbreakable bond. A canvas flooded with colour and while there is a level of transparency there are no white spots. Everything is filled in. Clocks in at 14 per cent abv. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted November 2022

Fontodi Flaccianello Della Pieve 2001, IGT Toscana Centrale, Tuscany, Italy

Youthful is the proverbial understatement, zesty and full of Panzano life the other. A sangiovese in strike of ideal accord, freshness captured in bottle and development low, easy and slow accrued. Just like the season, stress-free, never too hot, never too wet. Stellar autumn of warm days and retentive cool nights. A late harvest and full phenolic character. It all shows in this 20-plus year-old Flaccianello, singing a ballad, verse after verse, refrain post refrain. After 20 minutes a sweet porcini perfume emits and one wishes for a 50 day dry-aged Chianina Fiorentina. What fortune! Along with the special effects of smoky rosmarino and wild fennochio. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2022

Sassicaia 2019, DOC Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy

Priscilla Incisa’s Tenuta San Guido is located one hour south of Pisa, going back many generations. The surface area covers 2,500 hectares in a “classic Tuscan agricultural estate, of vines, olive oil, cereals including wheat and feed for thoroughbred horses. There are 500 hectares towards the seashore dedicated to a wild life refuge “paradise” free from hunting and for migrating birds coming from northern Europe and heading to Africa, especially because a good part of the land is covered by water during the winter. Before 1994 the appellation was Vino da Tavola. The grand vin Sassicaia is always a minimum 80 per cent cabernet sauvignon (as per the appellation) with cabernet franc. The youthful perfume of Sassicaia is really something other, an invitation to the plume of a great and mighty bird that will soon migrate or not be seen or heard from until another season. The fruit is both wound taut and also layered, a mix of liquids, gasses and decomposed mineral, turning on its axes, literally the earth itself. The effort put in speaks volumes about the quality and yet the seamless transitions are as if there are no transitions at all, only one contiguous entity. Will release in Ontario as an Online Exclusive by lottery on October 20th. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted September 2022

Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC 2002, Abruzzo, Italy

The subtle and gentle elegance of 2002 is almost mystifying, if at least a surprise that kinda hypnotizes. Memory serves up a case of conflict and adversity, if also vintage envy for the bookends of 2001 and 2003. And yet the cool of the night prevails to elongate a montepulciano for our pleasure and make it sing 20 years later. It was also decanted to reduce the lees sediment and then re-corked for our benefit. Words cannot express what a beautiful place this 2002 EP is found to be. It is a treat to taste and also behold, exactly as of right now. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted June 2022

Planeta Santa Cecilia 2005, DOC Noto, Sicily, Italy

Finding oneself in a state of utter disbelief upon nosing an older Santa Cecilia has just happened with thanks to this 2005 and the unthinkable aromatics it possesses. There have been some older examples like 2007, 2008 and 2011 which all showed morphological magic but this, this is something other. The state of perfumed preservation is impossible, the floral emanations and fruit continuance implausible and in suspension of belief. The 2005 is almost perfect, dark berries and red citrus alive, acids in perfect condition, wood dissolved, resolved and walked straight out the door. The life and vitality reside in the arena of the flawless, faultless and achievable. This is what nero d’avola, Santa Cecilia, Noto and Planeta can be, at its collective finest. Will drink this way (and also that) for five more years and with ease. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted April 2022

Château Cheval Blanc 1998, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France

The 24 year-old 1998 has been argued and predominantly defended as a Right Bank vintage, especially for merlot based wines, which the 1998 Cheval Blanc happens to be. Clocks in at 65 percent plus (35) cabernet franc and the two combine for hypnotic aromatics to put mind and palate in an immediately dizzying and gratifying tizzy. Dark, dark fruit of the “cimmérienne” kind yet of a grace and genteel manner shared by other profoundly distinguished red wines. Thoughts can wander and wonder as a result of tasting this blind and considering the depth it is nebbiolo that is imagined. Only for a moment because the numerous dual-toned vibrations direct towards knowing this to be a blend and so Right Bank combinations lead by their impression. Both of ’98 Cheval Blanc’s are blessed of ripenesses, acids and structural bones all having peaked at a shared summit. The conclusion can only be a two-part perception, of balance and beauty. Drink 2022-2042. Tasted November 2022

Mullineux Schist Syrah 2019, WO Swartland, South Africa

Vines planted in 1999, mature if still 12 years away from being classified as “Old Vines.” Schist is the home Brownstone Vineyard, shallow and rocky of less than 20 cm of soil. An extreme site in which vines attempt to grow, but so much comes down to the where and how. Rows are close together and planted in an almost race track configuration within an amphitheatre. The roots spread and dig deep within the stripes of schist interspersed with iron and the grapes are harvested plant by plant to create two apposite cuvées. Visually these are small vines with smaller leaves and an airiness – physically speaking. The skeletal backbone here is upright, towering and commanding, the juiciest of varietal fruit hanging as flesh, taut and muscular upon these bones. Unyielding yet never brooding nor astringent, but bountiful and beautiful. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted July 2022

Penfolds Grange 1981, South Australia

Poured blind and easily recognized as a wine of great depth with at least two decades of maturity. Either older or hastily advanced but there are indicators to the former, namely high tones, substantial crunchy acids and full on perfume. There is a touch of Brettanomyces but only a feathery tickle and the wine still has something left to give and also to prove. Great depth is provided by wood notes, of soy, balsamic, wild fennel and all together now a reduction keeping its form, a foxy liqueur, once Cassis but now Amaro, finishing with flavours bloody and gamy. The reveal as Grange 1981 explains that while shiraz is always the game and king it had been a season for which the cabernet sauvignon portion exceeded 10 percent. Winemaker John Duval felt that ’81 was a tannic one but they left the building long ago. Both Barossa and McLaren Vale were involved and so this look back at blending expertise matters in the context of all Aussie blends being tasted today. Being present to be poured a taste of Grange represents good fortune and from 1981 there abides a full and fair suck of the sauce bottle. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Donnafugata Ben Ryé 2019, Passito Di Pantelleria DOC, Sicily, Italy

Ben, as in “son of” and Ryé, a Sicilian riff on the concept of making strong mocker from the wheat grass. Think of grapes instead, in this case zibibbo (muscat of Alexandria) grown off the southwestern coast of Sicily on the Island of Pantelleria. Passito di Pantelleria DOC is one of the world’s great sweet wines, found only on this windswept promontory where the grapes concentrate, drink in the sea and express a view to which only this place commits. The warmest of vintages develops and comprises these particular sugars into something surreal. Extraordinary orange-ginger crème brûlée, perfectly embittered and made viscous in the most natural of ways. Layers of dedication and spice, health affirming herbs, respiratory fixing drops and sweetness captured, effortlessly and to gift plaisir. Apricots ripe and glazed, zen zero limone, giusto intenso. Nearly perfect. Drink 2025-2039. Tasted April 2022

Vintage Port (c) Sarah Goddard/WineAlign

Niepoort Vintage Port 2019, DOP Douro, Portugal

Expect top concentration in Vintage Port from what Niepoort calls a “return to balance in the vineyard” type of season. Summer was unseasonably cool and the timely rainfall on the 26/27th of August was invaluable, allowing fruit maturity to go to completion. A recall to 2008, of natural, acid driven, balanced musts. Foot trodden in circular granite lagares with 100 per cent stems, racked soon after harvest, aged in “tonéis” (large oak vats) in the Douro over the winter, and then moved to the cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia in the Spring of 2020. Acid vintage indeed, fruit caught by circumfuse so as to be surrounded, ignited and eventually dispersed for decades of slow release power. The liquid chalkiness of tannin is so fine-grained you swirl and mull over just how hypnotizing it is. Truly great Vintage Port will act out this passion play. Drink 2025-2048. Tasted October 2022

Good to go!

godello

Twitter: @mgodello

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WineAlign

Special Report: Sicilia DOC

Nov9

Nero d’Avola

A deep look into the island’s productive balance, qualitative probability, sustainability by nature and signature varieties in red and white

as seen on WineAlign

Sicily is, as they say, “casa quantu stai e tirrinu quantu viri,” or “home for as long as you need to be and land as far as the eye can see.” I always assumed it would be the water that surrounds the island that captivates and holds all attention, but from endless seas of wheat to grapevines covering plains, hills and terraces, the Sicilian quiddity would be its land.

You might also think this largest island spanning over 25,000 square km in the southern Mediterranean would ripen grapes with the sort of ease akin to some of the world’s warmest climates, like South Australia or the Western Cape of South Africa. Would that it were so simple. In Sicily they say, “austu e riustu capu i mmennu,” which says that “after August, winter starts.” Growing grapes is truly a matter of place. Sure there are arid and warm pockets all over the island but a grower must be specific with grape varieties matched to meso-climates but also soils. This is a Sicilian necessity. The farmers and producers in Sicily continue to prove that staying true to core values, paying attention to quality and limiting yields in the name of productive balance puts the island in a league with the country’s elite denominations. Where does this ring with more consistent truth than those that fall under the auspices of Sicilia DOC?

A recent concise and focused study by Jacky Blisson MW tells us that Sicily’s terrain is predominantly hilly and mountainous, with a mere 14 per cent flatlands. It is home to Europe’s highest active volcano, Mount Etna, which towers above the island’s other peaks at 3,350 m. A continuation of the Calabrian Apennines, Sicilian Ranges cover a large swathe of northeastern Sicily. Central and western Sicily are a mix of rolling hillsides and isolated mountains. The island’s only large expanse of flat land is the fertile plain of the Catanian central range from sea level to more than 1,000 metres on the slopes of Mount Etna. The wide range of grapes and altitudes means that harvest season across the island can last from the beginning of August until well into November.

Given its location, it is no surprise that Sicily enjoys a sunny Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, moderately rainy winters. Lack of rain in summer makes irrigation necessary in many of Sicily’s low-lying vineyards. Indeed, Sicily’s plains are its driest areas, with an average of 500 millimetres of rain annually. The mountainous regions are rainier, with up to 1,400 millimetres of precipitation per year. Vineyards in these higher altitude sites generally do not require irrigation. The island’s vineyards are located mainly in proximity to the island’s coastlines. Marine breezes ventilate the vineyards, resulting in lower disease pressure that allows for organic practices. Depending on the direction of the wind, temperatures can fluctuate significantly. On the southwest side of the island, the Sirocco, a hot, dusty wind from the deserts of northern Africa brings scorching summer highs.

The soil composition of Sicily’s vineyards are diverse – from sedimentary sandstone through limestone and granitic rocks, to volcanic areas. Ancient seas that receded over various geological eras are responsible for the calcareous nature of many vineyards. The chalky vineyards of the southeastern zones Noto and Eloro boast some of the oldest soils and are prized for their elegant wines. In south-central Sicily, soils of marine origin dominate alongside limestone-rich areas, but there are also sites with more sand and clay. The western provinces have sandy loam soils, as well as rockier areas with calcareous clay (and sandstone soils). Much of Sicily’s vineyards are planted on this fertile terrain. The northern provinces have sandy and rocky soils mixed with windblown silt. Volcanic soils are also prevalent, notably surrounding Mount Etna and the islands of Pantelleria and Salina. With multiple yearly eruptions, soil composition is constantly changing, which makes this the youngest soil type on the island. The volcanic areas are a mix of basalt pebbles, pumice, and black ash.

Take a trip to Italy’s southern-most wine region and you will be struck by the number of specificities Sicilian winemakers and producers have already figured out in order to make generational decisions. The success of any wine region depends on knowing where to denote qualitative probability so that it is possible to achieve the greatest results. Sicily’s vineyards are defined within a land of mono-estates, much like Tuscany, in that its crus are single-owner farmed. This means that in order to qualify their best blocks and single-vineyards they must do so with ambition and ego. Unlike Tuscany the complication is much greater because they are not going at the exercise with just one grape. This might be looked at as a most difficult undertaking but if you own your problems and your decisions you can make it happen. In micro terms there are two dozen DOCs and one DOCG. Look inward at the hundreds upon hundreds of “contrade” (districts within the Italian countryside), crus or small geographic areas defined in terms of soil types, including many layered volcanic lands. In macro terms this is also why the island has chosen to create an all-encompassing category, Sicilia DOC. It’s the only DOC unanimously chosen to represent the region as a whole. In terms of size Sicily is equal to South Africa, Germany and three New Zealands. The fact that a place of such breadth can unify under one umbrella is nothing short of an Italian miracle.

From relics of the Copper Age to present day quality:

A few years ago in Palermo, there was Maurizio Gily presenting a study by Gabriella De Lorenzis in which she explains that around ninth century BC the cultivated vine was introduced by the Greeks, in Southern Italy and in Sicily. Comparing the genetic profiles of Sicilian varieties with those from other wine-growing areas of the Mediterranean area, these are strictly connected with the vines of Southern Italy (Calabria, Campania, Basilicata and Puglia) and Greece. Numerous reports reveal how this area, historically known as Magna Graecia and defined as the Acclimatization Triangle for the varieties introduced by the Greeks, shows a certain genetic homogeneity.

Wine is an ancient Sicilian prospect. A study conducted by Davide Tanasi, Enrico Greco, Donatella Capitani and Domenica Gullì looks at fragments of jars dating back to the Copper Age in the third millennium BC found in some caves on the Kronio mount at Sciacca. The study has shed light on some components of the diet of the ancient population living there. Traces of cooked pig meat and of tartaric, proline and syringic acids have been found among the various remains. The last ones prove the presence of wine in the diet. The discovery dates back about two thousand years in the history of wine in the Mediterranean basin, whose production would be, therefore, much earlier than the colonization of Phoenicians and Greeks.

Sicily: sustainable by nature:

Where nature is generous, agriculture can also respond in the right way. Sicily is the first region in Italy dedicated to organic agricultural production, which results in excellence in the world of wine. The primacy is made possible by ideal climatic conditions, fertile soils and winds. But also, by prodigious human attention and professionalism that is maintained by individual producers and supported by the Consorzio di Tutela Vini Sicilia DOC (which, since 2012, has led the way in conservation and the promotion of the wine heritage).

The work of the Consortium was started and continues towards sustainability, reducing treatments on plants and vines that are not necessary, precisely because the island’s conditions are favourable for growth. Sicilian sustainability is therefore intertwined with respect for one’s activities and authenticity, aimed at protecting the richness and variety of the territory. The result is a high-quality product that fully respects the environment, a wine born from the privilege of an island that is sustainable by nature. Tradition remains the root of oenological culture, but does not limit its vision: new generations of Sicilian wine producers — which the Consortium supports — work on increasingly modern and fresh wines, which look to international cuisine.

A 2018 decision to allow producers and bottlers across the island to bottle under the appellative umbrella code of Sicilia DOC initially led to a 124 percent increase in the number of bottles produced compared to the first two months of 2017. “A just reward for quality and control,” noted Antonio Rallo, chairman of the Sicilia DOC consortium, also known as Consorzio di Tutela Vini Doc Sicilia. “This growth data is no surprise to us and confirms the level of interest companies are showing in the Sicilia DOC designation. An important element is that all of the Sicilian DOCs showed a pattern of growth in the first two months of 2018, confirming, as in the rest of Italy, that our aim is increasingly focused on a designation system capable of guaranteeing greater quality and controls throughout the entire supply chain, both in Italy and abroad.” In 2021 Sicilia Doc bottled 96-plus million bottles, a six per cent increase as compared to 2020.

Signature varieties in red and white:

Take nero d’Avola and now grillo as examples of how Sicily has wrapped its arms around native grape varieties to create market share. Both grillo and nero d’Avola can only be sold under the Sicilia DOC label. Grillo’s achievement as a top 10 selling Italian white wine confirms the legitimacy of this decision and above all that consumers have greater confidence in a product that is protected and guaranteed. Grillo’s bottling numbers increased 26 per cent in 2021 as compared to 2020.

“We are very proud of the results obtained for our Sicilian grillo wines, which further confirms the growth trend of the Sicilia DOC label,” says Antonio Rallo, “but, in particular, it highlights how safeguarding autochthonous vines can bring excellent results in terms of sales and induce greater confidence in a market that is increasingly aware of the importance of purchasing a traceable product. The adoption of monitoring and control activities highlights the value of our vine varieties and acknowledges the importance of a controlled and guaranteed supply chain.”

Grillo was born from the crossing of two varieties, lucido (known widely as catarratto) and the aromatic zibibbo. Both Italian and traditional method sparkling wines are becoming increasingly commonplace in addition to a plethora of stainless-steel raised and some oak-aged grillo. The variety has taken hold in more parts of the island as the most planted white variety and leads the Sicilia DOC category for white wines.

The most widely planted red cultivar, nero d’Avola is native to Sicily. More than 19,000 hectares are planted across the island. It’s surely much older than what records show, yet the first literary mention was made by Sicilian botanist Francesco Cupani in 1696. He called it calabrese. The word nero translates as “black” and Avola is the eponymous name of the southeastern town, where the variety is still heavily planted. The grape was a go to for the Tuscans, Piedmontese and also French winemakers looking to use the variety’s dark hues, flavours and acidity for blending. Now the unequivocal signature red and icon for the island’s and in particular DOC Sicilia’s wine production. Nero also plays so well with other indigenous Sicilian grape varieties, namely frappato and perricone, but also with international varieties such as merlot, syrah and cabernet sauvignon.

Sicily’s aromatic whites and wines today:

In Sicily, the climate and especially the many micro-climates bless the island with levels of aromatic complexity that come straight off the skins of the grapes, especially the whites. The winemaker in tune with terroir is not in search of fat wines because, quite frankly, Sicily already has so much of everything. So the question is asked, “why do they need bigger and richer styles of wine?” This fundamental approach is surely an existential one but also one that is highly practical and when followed always leads to some of the most truthful aromatic white wines on the planet. Beyond grillo, Sicily’s main indigenous white grapes include lucido (catarratto), inzolia, zibibbo, carricante and grecanico dorato. From Blisson’s report we know that some believe the modern era of Sicilian wine began with the planting of international grape varieties in the 1970s. The likes of chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and syrah were just some of the grapes introduced to the island during this period. Producers have worked to showcase these wines around the world. In recent years, many of Sicily’s top producers have reoriented their efforts toward the island’s diverse range of indigenous grapes. Sicily boasts over 70 documented local cultivars. Major focuses include the crisp, subtly floral and savoury white wine blends featuring the grillo white variety and powerful red wines from the peppery, dark-fruit scented nero d’Avola grape.

Food pairings anyone?

The 2019 Best Sommelier of Italy, Mattia Antonio Cianca, has made some stellar suggestions in this regard — and so allow us to share them with you.

Grillo sparkling (charmat method) with freshly shucked oysters with lime dressing or cauliflower tempura with lemon mayonnaise; grillo sparkling (traditional method) with Maine lobster, remoulade, granny smith apple and black truffle or crispy fried chicken seasoned with aromatic rock salt; grillo (stainless steel) with Thai mango and shrimp salad or octopus cevichs, orange, ginger, and coriander; grillo (oak-aged) with roasted pork belly with cider and cream sauce or grilled scallops, walnuts, yoghurt, marjoram, anchovy; nero d’Avola (rosato) with radish, pomegranate and fresh mint salad or Sicilian tuna tartare; nero d’Avola (unoaked) with spaghetti with sardines, pine nuts, sultana and wild fennel or smoked beetroot carpaccio, maple syrup, and chives; nero d’Avola (oaked) with roasted venison loin with rosemary and pickled cherries or beef stew with coconut milk and salted peanuts.

I recently sat down to taste through a varied set of wines with a focus on grillo, nero d’Avola, perricone and aromatic whites. Here are the top picks from the group, available at the LCBO or through consignment channels in Ontario agents’ portfolios. Please contact the agent directly to order the consignment wines.

Buyers’ Guide to Sicilia DOC wines

Caruso & Minini Naturalemente Bio Cataratto 2021, Sicilia DOC

Friendly, nurturing and comforting, tart in the ways of tonics and their botanical inclinations, superlatively complex.

Vino Lauria Grillo Giardinello 2021, Sicilia DOC

A smashing specimen, taut, concentrated and fulfilling. As savoury as it is perfumed, swelling in unctuous viscosity and the essence of flora.

Serra Ferdinandea Rosato 2021, Sicilia DOC

A joint venture between Planeta and the Oddo family from the south of France. Here nero d’Avola and syrah are made in the airiest salty and light-tart way; quenching and satisfying. You can drink the town out of this Rosato, any day, any time.

Dolce & Gabbana Rosa Rosé 2021, Sicilia DOC

A blend of nerello mascalese and nocera, two apposite varieties, one being the Dolce and the other Gabbana. Together they combine for exotic fragrance but also sweet candied florals, cottony feels and salty streaks right on through. Can’t think of a time when this Rosato would fail to please.

Cusumano Nero d’Avola 2020, Sicilia DOC

Even at this consumer-friendly price you get the real varietal deal from all-estate fruit in a wine of silken texture and not a matter of wood. One of the most honest wines at this price made and readily available just about anywhere.

Planeta La Segreta Nero D’Avola 2020, Sicilia DOC

Light, pure and honest wine that speaks in an Ulmo varietal vernacular though there too is some fruit from Noto. More grip, pomp, power and oomph from 2020.

Feudo Montoni Lagnusa Nero d’Avola 2019, Sicilia DOC

The confidence and warmth exudes from this musky, violet floral and intoxicating wine that simply speaks to the grape’s ideal perfume. Fruit is ripe, at once delicate and then peaking with power, albeit tempered, purposed and restrained.

Centopassi Cimento Di Perricone 2019, Sicilia DOC

Perricone may have an uphill battle to rival nero d’Avola but its smoky-herbal nature also brings structure, fresh acids and earthy, lightly roasted fruit.

Vino Lauria Zio Paolo Nero d’Avola 2020, Sicilia DOC

Wise, seasoned and expertly reasoned, of herbals and fruits stirred and swirled. Some meaty or, better yet, cured salumi skin muskiness plus a sanguinity with a hint of raisin.

Caruso & Minini Naturalemente Bio Nero d’Avola 2019, Sicilia DOC

As unique as it gets, aromatically speaking, in the world of nero d’Avola of frutta di bosco (wild fruits) but also the nuts, woods, brush and soils of an equally natural and wild kind. A nero of musk and grape must hyperbole.

Good to go!

godello

Nero d’Avola

Twitter: @mgodello

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WineAlign

Asti DOCG 2022 – Special Report

Oct21

Asti’s ascent from authenticity to sustainability and unmistakable wines

as seen on WineAlign

The northwestern Italian territory of Asti DOCG covers the area of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato and together they form the first Italian wine landscape to be recognized as a UNESCO heritage site. The grape variety moscato bianco grows in vineyards in all three to cover the counties of Cuneo, Asti and Alessandria. The area is a cultural and modern gem in the heart of Piedmont (Piemonte, in Italian), about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. A sense of spirit, community and great heart echoes and reverberates through wines voracious in their appetite to capture both traditions and also the new and forward thinking Asti stories. Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti are challenging wines to produce but these folkloric producers have to do it. It Is their heritage, imperative and pleasure.

Asti Spumante DOCG and Moscato d’Asti DOCG are considered as the two most authentically aromatic Italian white wines and rank among the great wines of Piedmont. Asti Spumante is undoubtedly the world’s best-known aromatic sparkling wine and Moscato d’Asti are among the few wines in which the sensory qualities of the grapes remain unaltered as a result of soft pressing and incomplete alcoholic fermentation. Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti are declinations of the same grape variety, made from 100 per cent moscato bianco grapes that grow on limestone soils in the UNESCO World Heritage hills between Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo. Asti Spumante can be tasted in different versions, from Extra Dry, Dry, Brut and the most popular Dolce, but also in the classic method or “Metodo Classico” version.

Asti DOCG Aromas

Asti Spumante DOCG

Asti Spumante DOCG is made entirely from moscato bianco grapes, gaining benefit from chalky soils and microclimates typical of hilly areas. It has a characteristic musky flavour, well-balanced sweetness, acidity and moderate alcohol content. In recent years Asti producers have set an important new course, paving the way to expanding the range of Asti styles, based on different residual sugar levels from Demi-Sec through Extra-Brut.

The concentration of the precious aromatic substances (called linalool) produced by the moscato bianco berries peaks in the last few weeks before the grapes are harvested in early September. Harvesting is still accomplished by hand to keep the bunches whole and preserve the characteristic aroma of the grapes – factors that contribute to making Asti Spumante the most widely consumed aromatic sparkling wine in the world.

Characterized by particularly fine and persistent beading, Asti offers a fresh mouthfeel that makes it suitable as a full-meal wine. On the nose, one can appreciate a delicate floral (acacia, lavender, sage) and fruity (apple, pear, banana) bouquet.

DOCG Status since: 1993
Grape variety: moscato bianco
Maximum grape yield: 10 tons/ha
Color: straw to pale gold
Foam: fine and persistent
Nose: fragrant, floral, with hints of linden and acacia
Taste: delicately sweet, aromatic, well-balanced
Clarity: brilliant
Minimum potential alcohol content: 11.5 per cent by volume; minimum actual alcohol seven per cent by volume for Asti Dolce and approximately 11 per cent for the other styles from Demi-Sec to Pas Dosé

Moscato d’Asti

Moscato d’Asti DOCG

Following the recognition of the Asti Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin (DOCG) status in 1993, Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti were identified as two different historical expressions of the same varietal. Moscato d’Asti DOCG is one of the most characteristic products of the Piedmontese wine tradition. The wine has a distinctively intense musky aroma of the grapes it is made from, a delicate flavour that is reminiscent of wisteria and linden, peach and apricot, with hints of sage, lemon and orange blossom. It has some residual sugar and a low alcohol content.

Moscato d’Asti DOCG is not technically or ostensibly a sparkling wine, as it only undergoes partial fermentation in pressure tanks. Fermentation is terminated when an alcohol content of about five per cent alcohol by volume is reached. The use of cold chain technology in the production process means the aromas and flavours of the grapes are preserved and the product can be stabilized, ready for storage and transportation.

DOCG Status since: 1993
Grape variety: moscato bianco
Maximum grape yield: 10 tons/ha
Colour: straw yellow
Foam: fine and persistent
Nose: fragrant, floral, with hints of sage
Taste: delicately sweet, aromatic, characteristic
Clarity: brilliant
Minimum potential alcohol content: 11 per cent by volume; minimum actual alcohol 4.5 per cent by volume

For Moscato d’Asti it begins, as it must, with weight and measurements. The math is straightforward: 100 kilograms of grapes is equal to 86 of must. The first press of moscato yields 15 per cent of that 86, or 13 kg. Often only a small percentage is used for the top cuvée. The rest of the must is kept at freezing temperature (approximately -2 degrees celsius) and there are producers that keep past vintages (generally up to four) for the production of their Moscato d’Asti wines. The DOCG rule says that a vintage dated wine must consist of 75 per cent must from that year’s production.

As for recent vintages, 2021 is certainly close to the top while 2020 is widely considered to be la crème de la crème. That said 2019 was not the most aromatic, like 2016, very hot and the moscato grape does not need too much sun. The grapes will dry out, burn, lose freshness and perfumes. From tasting the must you smell honey which proves the grapes are not perfectly mature. This is where the vision of using 25 per cent must from the three preceding vintages works to great advantage. Phenolic holes are filled, absent aromas are engaged and layers of intricacy are cast. Smell an example of 17 and note the exaggerated development, rich and full of glycerin, nearly cloying. The 2016s are certainly sweet and somewhat out of balance, but there is delicacy, floral notes and it’s never cloying. The ’18s are clearer, easier to comprehend, showing nary a trace of honey. The presence of white flowers and apricot in a wine lighter in hue and more delicate in mien speaks exactly to what producers are after. When fermentation happens those aromas increase by 80 per cent. There’s the rub and the magic. Special terroirs like Castiglione Tinella are the kind that breed some of the highest acidity for moscato. A pH that averages out at 3.4 when bottled will lower to 3.1, because this is when the acidity rises.

Consorzio dell’Asti

The Consorzio coordinates and promotes the area of origin of moscato bianco grapes, whose cultivation covers approximately 10,000 hectares across 51 municipalities of the provinces of Alessandria, Asti and Cuneo. There are 10,000 hectares of vineyards for these lightly sparkling, off-dry to sweet Asti white wines and the Consorzio is entrusted to promote and protect the wines in the appellation. They are widely imitated and so undertaking legal action and registering trademarks in every country is a necessary side-hustle of the job. In terms of producer requests, all changes and modifications applied for must be approved by the consortium. An integral aspect of the work involves field, vineyard as well as laboratory research. More than 1,400 ha have a gradient over 40 per cent, with 330 hectares of this area over 50 per cent. These are vineyards historically named sorì, where no mechanical equipment can be used and vines are tended exclusively by hand. The Asti DOCG hills were the first vineyard landscape to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Born in 1932, the Consortium for the Promotion of Asti has a clear mission: to perform all the necessary actions to protect, promote and enhance the value of Asti and Moscato d’Asti, in Italy and the world. The sustainable manifesto is clear and one day spent inside the offices of the Consortium will instruct and explain all you need to know about economic, social, environmental, export, security and what Italians refer to as disciplinare policies. Regulations regarding vineyard yields, levels of alcohol, sugar, extract and bars of pressure are so defined as to ensure current production and sales viability but also explicitly what the next generation will need to carry the work forward.

Moscato Bianco

The Consortium carries out technical assistance, draws up research proposals and economic assessments aimed at enhancing the value of the designation. It is there to protect and safeguard from improper use, unfair competition and counterfeiting, Asti’s officers carry out, on behalf of all those who are subject to the designation-related checks, the functions of protection, promotion and valourization, as well as informing consumers and generally looking after special interests. Policies are adopted regulating supply in order to contribute to improved coordination of the designation’s distribution on the market, through consultations with sector representatives. The consorzio plans for improving the quality of the products that must appear before judicial and administrative authorities, in Italy and abroad, in order to safeguard and protect the designation and defend the interests and rights of the producers. Surveillance actions are carried out, mainly in the distribution stage.

The Hills

The hills of the Langhe are elongated, with extended crests and steeper slopes, while those of the Monferrato are rounder and gentler to look upon. Two different landscapes, with infinite variations. Where life prospers among the orderly rows of grapevines, tended by hand as they have always been. Where the seasons bring new colors against the majestic crown of the Alps, where the horizon stretches out to infinity. Where every detail amazes and warms the heart, to be treasured forever. Un territorio Patrimonio dell’Umanità. Sedimentary soils that date back 10-15 million years predominate. One is the Pliocenic basin of Asti to the northeast. The to the west around Canelli there are Serravallian (Middle Miocene) soils, stratified layers of blue clay, sand and lime. Many believe this to be the best composition for Moscato d’Asti. To the east in the area of Strevi the ground is Tortonian (late Miocene), younger at five to 10 million years, with more clay and more lime in deeper layers and colour.

The crux of the varietal situation is twofold, at once for vineyards subsisting at the foot of the Alps and also drawing energy being proximate to the sea. Seventy-five per cent of the vineyards are directly protected by the mountains. As seemingly everywhere, climate is changing here too. In the last 15 years average temperatures have increased by one degree. In the past 58 years the average increase has been by two. More important are temperature abnormalities. The centrepiece moscato bianco is a very sensitive grape and easily subjected to diseases.

Guyot training is appropriate for poor quality soils and lower yields. Broken down by altitude, 44 per cent of the vineyards are at 250-300m and 30 per cent at 300-450m. In terms of slope, 2,770 of 9,700ha have a gradient higher than 30 per cent, 336 ha with a gradient of more than 50. “Heroic agriculture” is the moniker bestowed. “The Sorì vineyards.” No mechanization is employed and a certain crucial must is picking times, especially in terms of the preservation of moscato bianco’s aromatic compounds. Yields per hectare are set at 9.5 tonnes for Asti and Moscato d’Asti.

Moscato Vineyard

The Consortium’s Laboratorio Analisi for the Tutela dell’Asti DOCG is one of the most advanced and technologically impressive anywhere, with the mechanization capable of carrying out a diverse set of analyses. Under the guise of Guido Bezzo, who incidentally also happens to be a virtuoso trumpeter, the lab exerts its expertise far beyond pedestrian testing of alcohol, sugar and varietal purity. It delves deeper than mere organoleptic conclusions. The lab’s research works to investigate the impact analysis results for one 750 mL bottle of Asti wine covering categories that includes a mind-boggling set of parameters: Climate change; Reduction of the ozone layer; Toxicity and carcinogenic effects on humans; Particulate/smog caused by emissions of inorganic substances; Ionizing radiation effects on human inorganic health; Photochemical ozone formation; Acidification; Terrestrial, aquatic and marine eutrophication; Ecotoxicity in freshwater aquatic environments; Soil transformation; Resource depletion in water, minerals and fossils. Heady stuff indeed.

The 60,000 tonnes kept at negative four degrees in summer costs dearly in equipment and energy. It is widely believed that juice can stay in tank for up to two years without losing aromatic concentration. Fermentation takes place at 20 degrees in pressure tanks developed by Italian sparkling wine pioneer Dr. Federico Martinotti, director of the Research Institute for the Wine of Asti, who patented the method in 1895. Martinotti is credited with creating the method of developing the bubbles inside of tanks. The juice can stand pressures of more than 10 bars. Yeasts must be stopped abruptly (in a matter of a few hours) to avoid off odours and flavours, i.e rotten egg and cooked cabbage. Centrifuge and filters are used. In the past pasteurization at 50 degrees was the norm but now micro filtration screens out the yeast (at 0.2 microns) and stabilizes the wines. Agronomist/viticuilturalist Daniele Eberle also explains how Fratelli Gancia used the same techniques that the French used here in Piemonte in the late 1800s. The city of Canelli, cultural home of Asti holds the highest concentration of companies that make all the equipment necessary for bottling Spumante wines.

The association soon yielded positive results. Production gradually increased from two million bottles in the 1940s to forty million in the 1970s. A figure more than doubled nowadays. The history of the Consortium is all Piedmontese and begins from the town that is considered the capital par excellence of spumante: Canelli. It was in its cellars that, day after day, with dedication and affection, techniques were refined that nowadays give us a fine, delicate and unmistakeable sparkling wine like Asti DOCG. The know-how handed down for generations, together with the latest scientific discoveries, have led to the optimization of the production process and the definition of important procedures indispensable to guarantee the high quality of Asti DOCG.

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Simply Red: Rosso di Montalcino

Sep28

Red Montalcino in the Fortezza di Montalcino

On June’s busy calendar a fast and intense 36-hour window opened for a flash visit in Montalcino, too short yet one so worth the sidle. A great privilege it was to attend the Consorzio Vino Brunello di Montalcino’s new Rosso event called “Red Montalcino.” In November of 2021 the decision was made to migrate away from the larger event of Anteprime di Toscane and with the launch of Red Montalcino the full division has now been made. Simply Red for Rosso, solo artist now, with Brunello di Montalcino’s Benvenuto event returning again this coming November.

With Consorzio President Fabrizio Bindocci of Il Poggione

Hours well spent with home away from home Il Giglio family, two masterclasses in the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino and a walk-around in the Chiostro Museo Montalcino. A fascinating retrospective look back at 10 years of Rosso di Montalcino in masterclass number one titled Dieci Anni di Rosso di Montalcino. Longevity and the subtleties in secondary characteristics came of age through the lens of eight stellar examples. Masterclass number two called Selezione di Rosso di Montalcino brought the idea of “cru” or “selection” to light for a DOC appellation of ever increasing importance. Vino Sapori e Inspirazioni Nel Cuore Di Montalcino is a sentiment that refers to so much more than just flavours. Rosso di Montalcino defines the new profound in Italian wine.

Montalcino

On arrival there was a hop into Violante Gardini Cinelli Colombini’s car for a three-hour tour of Casato Prime Donne, a first and finally crossed off bucket list visit. The two night, one day sojourn culminated with an energizing Red Montalcino gala under the stars in the Fortezza di Montalcino where Lara Gilmore and Food for Soul Italia brought innovation and zero waste food execution to Toscana.

Red Montalcino 2022

The 2020 Rosso di Montalcino vintage is best described as one of blanketing and nurturing, a child of a warm and dry season, devilishly if dangerously low in quantity and one in Rosso terms to envision as lasting for a very long time. There was less disease pressure and the plants just knew what to do. Also great temperature fluctuations, seemingly all through harvest to allow the complex development of aromatics with increasing intensity. This application is becoming an annual occurrence, a positive attribute of climate change, if you will. A season gifting viscosity and that deepest of red cherry fruit.

Montalcino by night

The vintage gains importance because 2020 holds both joy and also grip. Many estates only produced 20-30 per cent as compared to 2019 but surely a number as a factor of the average, norm or potential. Adversity and low yields aside the purity is unrivalled for Rosso, the liveliness too, before transitioning to true sanguine sangiovese coursing through. The dichotomy by way of a 2020 Rosso comes from swelling fruit and aching acids through tannins sweet and unsurprisingly supportive. At its best it is like discovering the first ever vintage of something profound.

Awards presentation in the Montalcino Theatre

As for 2019, notes from the November 2021 Benvenuto and those tasted this past June transcribed below will tell a story of a vintage out of which quality is right up there with quantity. A season of purity and clarity, what Rosso should be. An exacting transcript of terroir, a mirror held up to località; profumato, sfumato, evocativo…the essence of the land. For a Godello primer on the most fascinating aspects about Rosso di Montalcino, please read on ahead.

Food for Soul Italia

In the Godello article about Benvenuto Brunello 2021 the phrase “Much ado and what to do about Rosso di Montalcino” began a quest towards seeing the changes and more importantly the future of the appellation. As a reminder, “culturally speaking Rosso di Montalcino is the most important wine. It’s what the Montalcinese drink daily. More than one Montalcino winemaker has used the phrase “it’s what we like to drink” and just as many will tell you that Rosso must reflect sangiovese’s character more than any other wine. What we know is that the Rosso are the protagonists of the new market.” The attitude prevails. “Rosso di Montalcino could and should be elevated to DOCG status. To do so requires investment and also a mandatory minimum aging period in wood. More vineyards need to be designated as Rosso and were a DOCG awarded the rules would need to be altered to make sure the wines are pre-declared as such. There is enough Brunello to go around and the world needs more Rosso di Montalcino.”

Fortezza di Montalcino

Tasting Rosso di Montalcino over the course of two days in June proved with unequivocal doubt that quality across the board has never been greater or higher. This assessment is based on three crucial criteria; first are the guarantees of character and calibre in the two most recent vintages, they being 2020 and 2019; then there is the accordant longevity of both Selezione Rosso but also 2010s decade wines as noted through examples poured at the morning session in the church of Sant’Agostino. Here are the notes on the 44 Rosso di Montalcino tasted on June 10th and 11th, 2022.

Red Montalcino Masterclass

Dieci Anni di Rosso di Montalcino (Ten Years of Rosso di Montalcino)

Il Poggione Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2010

Truth straight and inherent from a Rosso nearly 12 years of age, fresh and immovable. Speaks the structure of a vintage, even for Rosso, were it crafted in this way and equipped to speak on behalf of sangiovese’s age-ability, no matter the what, where and why of the fruit. Camphor oil, anchovy and a melange of “salato” umami to speak of Sant’Angelo in Colle and then, all of Montalcino. Beautiful wine with a long, liquid chalky finish. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted June 2022

Pietroso Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2011

Less grip and hold then 2010 and were it tasted here, also 2012 as well. This Rosso has moved into next level and territorial existence, now porcini and tobacco, frutta di bosco and all the earth, mulch and woods once waiting in the wings. Showing as a wise and well-aged Rosso that has seen its best days though drinks with sweet savoury clarity in the here and now. Drink 2022. Tasted June 2022

Le Chiuse Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2013

From the producer, that being Lorenzo Magnelli, man who looks to the largest berries for his Rosso di Montalcino. The great surprise that is 2013 sangiovese from Montalcino resides in a glass like this, evolving yet holding its line with great acumen. The northern side of the village surely aids and abets in extending the life of Rosso. Hard to believe the beauty inherent and the elasticity of this fruit. Suave, assured and holding all the cards to keep on keeping on. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted June 2022

Masterclass wines

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2015

The Rosso ’15 from Francesco Rippacioli is not what should be called immovable or formidable yet there is some depth and even brood to its dark back cherry constitution. Rich and certainly the sort of sangiovese that leaves an impression, a mark and a depression on one’s palate, but also heart. Keep and enjoy this Rosso for several years still ahead. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted June 2022

San Lorenzo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

The Annata 2016 is the most democratic and elongated of them all, that is with respect to recent times. In Rosso this means elasticity, stretched tannins and fruit made leathery, adhering to the structural organization like no other vintages come earlier or soon to follow. San Lorenzo’s shows chewy fruit, part plum, part persimmon, part liquorice and also a pod aspect, like bokser as an example. Acids are along for the ride and chalkiness in not exactly sweet tannin persists. A Rosso in several parts, linear above all else, all of them interesting. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted June 2022

With Asa Johansson in the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino

Ridolfi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Of lithe structure and fading light, a Rosso in descending denouement, trailing fruit and acids as it falls behind the horizon. Lovely in its maturity though the stuffing was not there to support more than a few years of flesh and depth. Drink up. Drink 2022. Tasted June 2022

Poggio Di Sotto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

From 2019 Rosso rests in a red fruit Poggio di Sotto vacuum, surrounded by walls of structure to maintain a vintage exaggeration, which is in fact what their Rosso style is consistently all about. Upon further examination the fruit is found to exists in a state of both precocious maturity and one that will hold for years. Understanding arrived early and yet there will be no great hurry to move forward with any great haste. A wise Rosso with some swagger and confidence. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted June 2022

Lara Gilmore in the Montalcino Theatre

Argiano Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Incomparable to the rest of this 10 years of Rosso di Montalcino flight. Raw, emotion-filled and aromatic of florals, wood spice and new fabric scents. Complexity abounds with an almost graphite-creosote-fresh tobacco trilogy, unresolved, staid and secure. Truth of the sensation is pure Argiano, chewy, leathery, rich and yet clear, transparent and open-knit. Should get really interesting in three to four years. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted June 2022

Masterclass two with Francesco Saverio Russo

Selezione di Rosso di Montalcino (Rosso di Montalcino Selection)

Fattoria Dei Barbi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Selezione Colombini 2020

One whiff and Barbi it is, unequivocal, knowable of an ilk and administered idiom not to be denied. The scent of history and experience while perhaps not quite the democracy of say 2016, yet this Rosso 2020 comes eerily close. Purity of southerly red fruit picked and layered in equanimous fashion, confident and telling the breadth of a Barbi story. Lifted, rising weightless into high tonality. All this in the micro-vernacular of a selection made purposeful for the specificity of this cuvée. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted June 2022

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi

Casanova Di Neri Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Giovanni Neri 2020

Named in light of proprietor Giacomo Neri’s son and produttore Giovanni. There are few Rosso as open, gregarious and generous as this 2020. Quando buono e buono, when it’s good, it’s good and that is what really matters in Neri’s Rosso Selezione. Round, circuitous, acids draughting fruit and tannin trailing acidity. Comes back to the beginning and starts the process all over again, on repeat. Humility and classicism are in this Rosso, which seems to make perfect sense. Wood needs to integrate before the best days arrive. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted June 2022

The Neri brothers, Gianlorenzo and Giovanni

Col d’Orcia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Banditella 2019

There seems to be a trend forming with respect to Rosso Selezione because this by Col d’Orcia is so very eponymous and must be regarded as aching in notation of the estate and place from where it comes. The scents, of fruit blossoms, bosco and sweet tobacco link Banditella with Rosso and Brunello. In this sense Selezione is neither but instead the bridge connecting sangiovese to both. If that is the point then Col d’Orcia is a builder of relationships and new traditions. More barrel felt upon the finish, also the sharpness of yet to fully integrate acids and so with patience allow for a coming together. Can guarantee this will drink well in 2030. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted June 2022

Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Rossofonte 2019

From 33 year-old vines, more barrel than some other Rosso Selezione and thus the link is closer to Brunello than Rosso. Noting tobacco smoulder, brown butter, toasted nuts and vanilla, strong wafts that confirm the suspicion. A full and creamy Rosso is the result, classic for the lineage and highly representative of the house style. Needs another year for secondary notes to come out and replace some of the cloud cover created by the wood. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted June 2022

Gabriele Gorelli MW

Il Marroneto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Jacopo 2019

And now for something completely different. Aromas unlike any other Rosso Selezione in the flight, more fight than flee, that much is known and free. An intensity of spice, east and west, the full indy or monty, tied together by a vivid set of fruit on top. Might feel like a big Rosso, a.k.a Brunello but the truth is Jacopo is just a bit more grown up, ambitious and steadfast in conviction than many others. Expresses 2019 with utmost flesh, fruit (including blood orange) showing a slight mature to transformative edge. Great grip will send this further so that density and compactness can melt away. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted June 2022

Alessandro Mori, Il Marroneto

Caparzo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC La Caduta 2017

Once again the gears are changed, the climate and soils alter, the aromas deliver what the first five Selezione had not in this Rosso flight of eight. Quite fine, very mineral and surely the Rosso child of true Galestro terroir. Also warm and developed yet kept in check by northerly attitude, making things straight and right out of 2017. The affinity with La Casa (Brunello) seems obvious, with the stones and the slope bearing similar fruit. Showing some age and peppery heat but perfectly in the window right now. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted June 2022

Fattoria Del Pino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Il Jeccardo 2016

The conspiring factors are all quality ones to bring Fattoria del Pino’s Rosso into fine current form. The gift of vintage, the concept of Selezione and the block party that is Il Jeccardo. The soils are schist-marl (Galtesro), calcareous and sandy (Arenaria) for one of Montalcino’s most diverse. Brings the amenities for Rosso that are crushable, elegant and structured. These are all present in FdP’s 2016, accounting for and representative of the soil conglomerate that makes this a wine both special and humble. A joy to drink. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted June 2022

Alle Loggia della Piazza

Franco Pacenti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Gemma 2015

Travelling back six-plus years for Rosso may have been an exercise once only reserved for a select few but the pastime is now a normal and oft repeated vocation. Franco Pacenti has captured 2015’s generosity and fruit first commentary with great distinction and the Selezione Gemma is filled with copious aromatics. Moves into stone rolled linearity running right through the middle of a fleshy wine that speaks in a structural vernacular. What’s amazing is how this truly stands out as a complete wine in a flight for 2015-2020 as the only truly resolved and ready to justify the means. Individually or collectively, either or for both. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted June 2022

Il Giglio

Simply Red: A Rosso di Montalcino walk-around tasting

Armilla Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Fine and classic if on the full and textured side, though nothing out of the ordinary as it pertains to the vintage. Does well to merge the rise of fruit into the structured spectrum. All fruit and spirit, a side show of acids and those tannins which support in full cohort. Does 2020’s warm and generous vintage proud. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted June 2022

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Call this Rosso balanced, even if what emits is not quite the same the equanimity of 2019. Still there is nurturing from out of the blanketing warmth of 2020, a linear progression from grippy fruit through acid succulence. The construct of structural motion is more than just a notion and the wine is in constant flux, unsettled, not having arrived anywhere near its final, or intended destination. Will move with the times, be transferable, able to reinvent itself time and time again. As a Canalicchio di Sopra it most certainly will. Bottled only three months ago so understand why there is so much speculation. Francesco Ripaccioli believes the evolution will be like 2016. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted June 2022

Capanna Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Fragrant and floral Rosso from violets to roses, liquid chalky out of the gate and poised to burst with fruit in the glass. A fine and approachable Rosso with just a minor verdant grip in urgency at the finish. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted June 2022

Giacomo Bartolommei, Caprili

Caprili Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Must find common ground here with Giacomo Bartolommei in thinking this will be a very long lasting vintage in Rosso terms. Not a wine so knowable from the start per se but one of evolution, of gaining stature because of inherent structure. More than seven months since this would have first been shown and there is a renewed potential, fruit quality and substance in action on a current high, estimably positive and representative of this ever-impressing estate. Grapes are chosen based on the differentiations of the vineyard, not de-classified from Brunello as in the past. Yet the elévage is similar, just shorter and crucial decisions are made after the first year. So good. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted June 2022

Elena Pellegrini and Marco La Brusco, Cerbaia

Cerbaia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

“To us Rosso di Montalcino is important because we take from the Brunello vineyards and in 2020 only 4,000 bottles were made, though Rosso is not produced in every year,” tells Elena Pellegrini. From the youngest vines out of a single plot planted in 2002. Decision making occurs during harvest and at least two or three passes are made. The potential is 30,000 at Cerbaia and so Rosso is a special wine, never an afterthought, always carefully considered. It shows in the restrained power, the elegant confidence, the nurturing and matriarchal presence. Again there is dichotomy by way of a 2020 Rosso, from swelling fruit and aching acids through tannins sweet and unsurprisingly supportive. Spent four months in Grandi Botti 25-50 hL and readiness is just ahead. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted June 2022

Collemattoni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Spent 18 months in 30 hl Slavonian Botti, longer than many and only bottled four months ago. From two vineyards, one near the cellar in Sant Angelo in Colle and the other on the road to Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The latter brings the chalky mineral to compliment Colle’s fruit and fleshy power. A push-pull Rosso, from sweet youth to rocks and sand of grit and fine-grained tannin. Persistence is a key factor and that classic Collemattoni red Rosso signalling all the way through. Will come together after another winter. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted June 2022

Corte Dei Venti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Perfectly dusty like dried roses, pressed and petals crumbling. Potpourri fragrant and a clarity expressive of 2020, like discovering the first ever vintage of something profound. When Rosso has lift it acts just like this and yet there is some weight though also a weightlessness about the way it’s always rising. In that regard it should be chocked up to the concept of restrained power. Great showing. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted June 2022

Tommaso Cortonesi

Cortonesi La Mannella Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Rosso di Montalcino is the child of a warm and dry season of which incidentally Tommaso Cortonesi is a big fan. Less disease pressure and a vintage where the plants just “knew what to do.” Also great temperature fluctuations, seemingly all through harvest to allow the complex development of aromatics with increasing intensity. This application is becoming an annual occurrence, a positive attribute of climate change, if you will. Cortonesi has been increasing aging times over the past 15 years from six to 12 and now nearly 15 months, spending botti time (20 per cent new) for 14 out of 2020. Top edging fruit and edgy accents elevate the aromatics so that the terroir is allowed to shine on through. Behold this prime work ethic, use of wood and also time in all the right ways. Place is at the fore. Grande. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted June 2022

Godello and Violante

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Casato Prime Donne 2020

“We need to explain that this is a wine that is very different than the Brunello and during the harvest we decide which grapes will be for Rosso and for Brunello.” The words of Violante Gardini introduce a wine that respects nature in a very specific vintage, made for freshness, fun and not as a baby Brunello. “Otherwise it will be a disaster. It must have identity, to show this wine in a different way.” The vintage gains importance 2020 because 2020 holds both joy and also grip. It does not try too hard, nor is it asked to do too much. Extraction is low, oak usage big, in botti. Donatella would like the consumer to drink this young but this vintage will do well for a minimum three plus years. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted June 2022

Elisa Fanti

Fanti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Fanti grows 15 hectares for Rosso for a potential of 120,000 bottles though only 50,000 were made from 2020. Ages for a year in big barrels plus some fourth passage barriques. As a rule this is a classic vintage, very different than 2019 and bottling happened in January. Another ilk, other worldly, no way to mix this season into the memories of any other. Fanti’s Rosso takes ownership, even at this stage just five months in, a standout to be counted 2020. Balance and execution are what brings it to this. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted June 2022

Fattoria Dei Barbi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Now sweetly and juicily fruit forward, if a bit out of character as such. This is the “normale” Rosso (as opposed to the Selezione Colombini) and so elévage is just six months in wood. All in the name of approachability and amenability, perhaps the most ever, or a new chapter in Barbi Rosso. For the people, fresh as a rule, democratic. Last tasted June 2022

A vintage of viscosity and deepest of red cherry fruit, off of vines five to fifteen years old. While really young there is access here for drinking a 2020 ahead of many others. Classically dark Barbi fruit and a Galestro feeling. Bottled just less than one month ago and settled into a calm state by now. Will remain stable for a few years, not necessarily gaining in complexity but surely keeping on. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Stefano Bambagioni, Fossacolle

Fossacolle Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Rosso sees 10 months in Botti (25 hL or less) plus some time in concrete. Selection is from young vines though as they age that availability lessens and so some barrel selection is necessary to be part of the mix. Makes decisions more difficult, having to include some barriques in Rosso. An underdog vintage things Stefano Bambagioni, one out of which after 12-18 months something magical will begin to happen. All this to say that Rosso is “something that is alive,” and balance is the ultimate goal, as witnessed here, in the result. Smooth as silk, of sweet tannins and clear as present danger of a potential for aging. Five to seven years easy. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted June 2022

Le Chiuse Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

The finest sangiovese grain and naturally occurring sweetness come from Lorenzo Magnelli’s 2020 Rosso, a varietal humectant of such pleasing mouthfeel to reside at the top of the region’s ever-improving appellative echelon. Few Rosso are able to achieve this ilk of floating nirvana, where once its largest of berries macerated towards fermentation in great solicitation of emotive capability. It all makes cause to pause and reflect. Really succulent and also architectural, a construct of stone, bone, acid and karst, vertical, linear, moving forward and winning. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted June 2022

Alessandra Pacini, La Lecciaia

La Lecciaia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Seemingly night versus day in contrast with the soft and resolved 2018 but time is likely the reason. The force is felt immediately on the nose, not exactly hot but surely grippy, agitative and a bit bothered. A matter of early circumstance, the reason to exercise patience and wood in charge an unavoidable result of all these matters. Re-visit in 2024. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted June 2022

La Màgia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Quite a dense mat and full mess of fruit for 2020, magnanimous, fulsome, fully set glycerin and pectin. There is balance despite the nearly jammy constitution as a by-product of the vintage. Raised at elevation (500m) in the southeast of Montalcino. From 15 hectares, all Brunello capable and in fact the affinity here is with the bigger wines with only elévage separating the Rosso. Prepares us for what the Grand Vin will be like as it pertains to this specific vintage. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted June 2022

Lisini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Yet another archetypal 2020 Rosso, fragrantly perfumed to the calcareous hilt and also notably structured from all points leading out from go. Feeling a true mineral streak running through, elevating cherries in season, juicy and fleshy, ripe and fully formed. Well made, balanced and truly essential Rosso work. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted June 2022

Red Montalcino gala dinner

Piancornello Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Somewhat reductive though the fruit set is magnified and of a clarity in black cherry, followed by a waft of tobacco. Works the glass with credibly strong and accountably forceful tannin. In a Brunello vein, there is lots of wine here. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted June 2022

Andrea and Gloria Pignattai, Pietroso

Pietroso Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

A selection is made from all grapes coming in for 17,000 bottles of Rosso out of 2020. Ages one year in a combination of botti and tonneaux, from the start showing great promise. A warm vintage and it shows. Mainly Galestro, a stony soil that comes through in the combination of glycerol and chalkiness. Not gravelly but a sandy-stony feeling gained, of smooth grain, easily transferred over the palate and sweetly endowed with acid and tannin. Another star rising to the top of the Montalcino pantheon. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted June 2022

Riccardo Talenti

Talenti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Heady, big-boned, exemplary of combing and combining two terroirs’ contribution to layer Rosso di Montalcino. The ripeness of 2020 fruit is at appellative peak, tightening further, compact, compressed and staid. For now and with two years further the fleshy juiciness will surely emerge. 25,000 bottles produced. Last tasted June 2022

Tight, young and early bracing Rosso from Talenti, showing off the darker fruit of the vintage and surely offering a glimpse into what the Brunello will bring three further years down the road. A vintage of well developed fruit and sharp acidity, vividly captured in a sangiovese just like this. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

With Filippo Bellini, Tenuta Buon Tempo

Tenuta Buon Tempo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Just bottled two months ago, fermented spontaneously in steel, aged primarily in cement with a short stay in Slavonian oak. A late frost resulted in only 8,000 bottles being produced (as opposed to 55,000 in 2019) so hang on to these precious gems from rare Montalcinese alluvial soil just above the canyon of the Orcia River. Adversity and low yields aside the purity is unrivalled for Rosso, the liveliness too, before transitioning to true sanguine sangiovese coursing through. So right and proper, vanguard and directly linear for Rosso. Needs two years settling time. Treat this like a category within a category, or just as one on its own. It could be said that 2020 is like proprietor Filippo Bellini, a case of half and half. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted June 2022

Lunch at Alle Loggia della Piazza

Ucceliera Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Along with Voliero the Rosso at the hands of Andrea Cortonesi is one of agriculture, above all else. If the term may be used this way then Ucceliera is Riserva to Voliero’s Annata. Here the compactness of earth on fruit is layered, beginning with the strata below and culminating in the fruit above. Does indeed need to unwind, shed tannin and terroir while staying focused and in its contiguous state of meditation over agitation. This it will. Last tasted June 2022

A Rosso further along than many, at least in terms of fermentative culmination and post-shock living. Shows off the hue and depth of vintage fruit with more redness, cherry ingress and tannic redress. You can feel the grip and the controlled power in this sangiovese. Will be a very good one because it already is. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Voliero Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Farming, farming, farming. When Rosso come across this way, profumato, sfumato, evocativo…it is the essence of the land. Southerly Montalcino at elevation, taut, persuasive and meaningful, a seamless sangiovese missive. For Rosso, what is just, necessary and right. Last tasted June 2022

Tight, taut, wound around itself like a wire around a spool and yet having found its way out of fermentation and through bottling. Less fruit than brother Ucceliera and also lower toned, earthbound, grounded and yet the acids are right on point. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

Col Di Lamo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

“A little Brunello, so we prefer more time,” tells Giovanna Neri. Spends eight to 10 months in large Botti, plus 10 per cent in tonneaux and barriques. Then two further years in bottle. Vineyards are on the road that connects Buonconvento with san Quirico. Still a touch reductive, of liquorice and spice, fennel and salumi. From sandy clay soil in a Rosso of intense hue but also texture. All red fruit with balsamic seasoning in a very specific Rosso style. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted June 2022

Lorenzo Pacenti

Franco Pacenti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Rosso sees a year in 25 hL botti, the fruit coming from 10 hectares of vineyards with the youngest vines now 20 years of age. On average Rosso makes up 8,000-10,000 bottles of the total production. Here from 2019 purity and clarity, what Rosso should be. An exacting transcript of terroir, Località Canalicchio di Sopra snapshot of place and most importantly a right here, right now transcribing of vintage. Crisp and crunchy, of fine acids, easy and yet sneaky of structure, so very well composed. Always a pleasure to taste with Lorenzo Pacenti. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted June 2022

Mastrojanni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Still tight and terroir driven, that much is clear. Fragrant inclusive of earth and smoulder, woodsy in that aromatic way. Settling in just now yet quite structured and savoury for ’19 Rosso. Persistent, not of buzzing energy but surely from a place. Rosso as Rosso. Last tasted June 2020

Firm yet a Rosso with more than ample charm and grace, full red fruit and tannin interposed, layered and sharing the sangiovese stage. Takes some time but the fulsome and dusty work here really gains and makes haste of your senses. Takes hold and really does not let go. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

What a good looking crew

Tenuta Buon Tempo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

As mentioned in the 2020 note there are 55,000 bottles of this 2019 (as opposed to 8,000 for 2020) and yet quality is right up there with quantity. Balance arrives without adversity after an elévage “sensa” concrete, only Slavonian cask, or as it is said, “tronco conico,” 64 hL. An aromatic Rosso, so bloody ripe, arrived at nirvana with a sense of place intact, that being Podere Oliveto. From 2019 Rosso is defined by democracy and generosity. Last tasted June 2022

For Alberto Machetti a similar and equally “cool” vintage with grapes in Castelnuovo facing Monte Amiata. Picking started on the 16th of September in a vintage with great freshness and in this case an intense level of savour. From the seven lowest hectares on alluvial clay soil only 50 metres from the Orcia River. Of double density and yields which work best for Rosso. Fine but relative ease and linear concentration for an easy but more than notable substantial essay of Rosso. Purple fruit and proper acids. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

La Lecciaia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

This ’18 is the current vintage because La Lecciaia chooses to hold their Rosso back in even years. The 2020 will release in November. All done up in 25-35 hL botti for a minimum six to eight months, often up to a year. “For us we need more time,” tells Alessandra Pacini. Rosso 2020 is warm and nurturing, a cross of sangiovese and cask, silky of texture, soft, juicy and also peppery. Fine and never cumbersome, unencumbered because of time gone by. Sweet tannins, fine acids, nicely done. Showing at peak. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted June 2022

Good to go!

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Red Montalcino in the Montalcino Fortress

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WineAlign

Montalcino Previews: 2020 and 2019 Rosso, 2017 Brunello Annata, Vigna and 2016 Riserva DOCG

Jan13

The year was 2020. We said arrivederci e ci vediamo to Montalcino on a mild and still February afternoon. Little did we or anyone know that a return engagement would not be possible until the fall of 2021. During that 20 month hiatus I hosted and moderated six webinars in Canada with more than 25 Montalcino producers, Each session was accompanied by a thematic article published to godello.ca inclusive of an account for each producer. With thanks to the recent forward thinking and openness of the Conzorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, along with compatriot, friend and travelling companion Michaela Morris, we chalked out our homecoming and dove headfirst into more than 200 current releases. Two immersive eight hour sommelier assisted assessment sessions of Montalcino’s sangiovese, 12 estate visits and meetings, all over the course of five days. Benvenuto Brunello 2021, Drogheria Franci, Caffè Fiaschetteria Italiana 1888, Il Giglio and Trattoria Il Pozzo. Cortonesi and Tenuta Buon Tempo. San Polo, Le Potazzine, Tenuta Fanti, Poggio di Sotto and Fattoria dei Barbi. Biondi-Santi, Conti Costanti, Castello di Romitorio and Le Ragnaie. All because of and in the name of sangiovese, tissue of Rosso, bones of Brunello, grape of the future.

Consorzio President Fabrizio Bindocci and Direttore Michele Fontana

Summing up that last Benvenuto Brunello in 2020 I noted that “Anteprime di Toscana’s culminating 2020 presentation of 2018 Rosso DOC and 2015 Brunello DOCG raised the bar for Montalcino’s venerable sangiovese.” Later I would write, “no one of sound mind passes up the opportunity to taste Brunello from Montalcino. When I think of Brunello di Montalcino there are two things that come to mind: Sangiovese and time. Longevità e tempo. Contrasts and comparisons are unnecessary, neither to other grape varieties nor to wine regions that also fashion structured red wines. The sangiovese of Montalcino are like the eponymous medieval hilltop village, an island in a sea of vast varietal openness. They share the impossibility of undergoing the slightest shift in meaning or change, that is, without the assistance of time. They are incomparable, generous and durable but also part of a great community, finding permanence and always seeking to endure. As do their makers and protectors.”

This most recent trip in Montalcino with @michaelawine has taken my lifelong plan to another level. Grazie Miha for teaching me so much about Sangiovese, staying calm, focused and balanced over long days and just plain having a grand old time.

The 2021 vintage

On April 8, 2021 mail from Tommaso Cortonesi brought news of the early April frosts. “Here in Montalcino the Covid situation is under control but in the last couple of days we had to fight a dangerous enemy. Temperatures lower than 0’C. Last night several producers in Montosoli including me, Capanna, Baricci, Val di Suga, decided to burn hay bales to try to protect the vines with the smoke. Fortunately the vegetative state of the vines is still quite early so we hope this action has limited the possible damages. I send you attached some pictures from last night.”

Burning fires at Montosoli, Montalcino April 2021

Despite a significant reduction for yields in many parts of Montalcino, the reasons for optimism are manyfold. Higher elevations above the frost danger zones, say 400-450m and up, especially to the northwest, for the most part remained unscathed. The vines had yet to fully awaken at estates like Corte Pavone, Le Potazzine, Castello di Romotorio and Le Ragnaie. By September things were looking up in many sectors of Montalcino. Though production will be down, significantly so for many estates, the promise for outstanding Rosso and Brunello is surely in the air.

Godello at 450m, San Polo, Montalcino

At the end of the harvest prospects looked very promising, not for a bountiful vintage but surely one of high quality. A week to ten days into September the temperatures fluctuated 15-20 degrees. On the 7th the high was 29 and the low was 11. Made for excellent acidity retention aboard the march to phenolic ripeness. Younger and lower elevation vineyards began picking around the third week of September while higher points at the beginning of October. The challenge was to find a way to keep the link with the sangiovese of Montalcino and in a warm vintage not to go too far, neither in extraction nor maceration and to deliver a respectful wine. Usually 25-30 days but more like 18-20 in 2017. Also a 26-30 degree fermentation when some vintages it can be as high as 34, if only for a few days. In many cases the fermentations were some of the slowest on recent record. In fact as of November 18th one of Cortonesi’s vats was still at 4-5 g/L of residual sugar and would only likely finish in the first week of December. What Tommaso called “sluggish because of the lowest level of yeasts.”

The 2017 vintage

The elephant in the room is obvious and most producers answer before the question is even posed. From a winemaker, oenologist and proprietor you will be hit with this recurring refrain. “You will be surprised by the freshness and acidity of the 2017, despite the warm vintage.” It was hot and dry and “that’s what you need in high elevation vineyards surrounded by forests,” is how Filippo Chia of Castello di Romitorio assesses the situation. When asked what to do with 2017 the pragmatic Andrea Costanti suggests it is a vintage “to introduce new people to Brunello di Montacino” and by extension a good Brunello for restaurants, sommeliers and licensees to take notice.

Francesco Ripaccioli of Canalicchio di Sopra remembers 2017 with almost wistful affection. He explains that following a summer during which there were 20 days above 35 degrees it was September that brought about the big surprise. After 40mm of rain on August 31st, through the course of the next month the phenolic maturation happened very slowly and finished late. Veraison at CdS did not begin until September and took nearly 30 days. “Even if you had a dry season (like 2017), you had this temperature fluctuation of on average 25 degrees by day and nine by night. That allowed you to harvest late, with preserved acidity and alcohol not so high. The plants were working very slowly with their reserve of water. (The vintages) of ’17 and ’12 for me are very similar, as seasons, where grapes and their skins wanted to oxidize but September changed everything. We went to school from 2012.”

With Consorzio President Fabrizio Bindocci and Chef Carlo Cracco

Low does not due justice to how small a vintage was 2017. “We tried to extract less and keep it on the lighter side,” tells Alberto Machetti of Tenuta Buon Tempo. For Riccardo Campinoti of Le Ragnaie yields and production were down 10-15 per cent, at least as compared with the previous two vintages. For Campinoti 2017 is a vintage of “unfinished tannins.” Not quite fully ripe and yet acidity never fell away. Another example of how Brunello can be sold now and for the next five years, especially to restaurants and shops for immediate or near-term consumption.

Riserva 2016

“In the beginning ’16 was…not enough,” begins the soliloquy by Fattoria dei Barbi’s Stefano Cinelli Colombini. “But after a year it changed.” Reading deeper one understands that time is the answer, for sangiovese, Brunello and 2016. “This is why Riserva should be sold after eight or 10 years,” continues Cinelli Colombini. “The problem with tradition is we make a mistake that if it exists, there must be a meaning inherent, otherwise it would not have taken so long. The mistake we make is between what is actually a tradition and the sense of tradition. You only need to taste to know that wine is the most democratic thing in the world.” This so beautifully sums up Riserva and 2016. As a vintage no other in the last seven-plus years is so intrinsically bonded with the grape and how it raises from the territory. Sangiovese and time is the connection and though ’16 is not one of those touted in barrel as of the decade, century or of the ages, it is in fact one of those, if not all.

Montalcino sommeliers

Molte sane, repeats Andrea Costanti as if by mantra through the course of the 45 minutes while we taste, consider and assess his Riserva 2016. Not just Costanti’s but dozens upon dozens of ’16 Riserva. The healthiest sangiovese of great, sheer and utter clarity. Wines that may be described as possessive of a fineness running with liquid chalkiness, fluido or scorrevole. The 2015s may have shown heady structure, power and also generosity but the 16s are the complete package because they are also filled with delicasse, elegance and grace.

Changes in agriculture and fermentation

Federico Radi is the incumbent oenologist at Biondi Santi, having worked previously at Isole e Olena and Mazzei Bolgheri, Radi is looking at regenerative agriculture, making compost integrating manure (which must be like black butter, aged several months before mixing into the soils), beginning now with cover crops and little disturbance to the soils. “We really want within the next five years to reach two point five per cent of organic matter in the soils.” A real fan of Chomsky, Federico feels the need to keep the carbon in the soils, to help reduce that 25 per cent that agriculture contributes to the release into the soils. “I’m sad when I see the grey and dusty soils. It shows they are dead. This needs to be improved. We have seen in two years that we have different soils so we have to tailor the cover crops to reach section. Not just regenerative but also preventative agriculture.” The plan is to keep alcohol levels from rising even further. “We want Biondi-Santi to stay under 14 per cent.” And so a nursery was started, “since the beginning.” Like when Bob Marley was asked “how long have you been a Rasta?” “Since creation.” Radi insists that it would be dangerous to live with only one clone of sangiovese, so 50 varieties are propagated.

A pensive Alberto Maccheti of Tenuta Buon Tempo. Must have been thinking about the 2017 vintage.

Filippo Chia of Castello di Romitorio is getting even more specific. He talks about one of the major introductions being smaller berries, spargolo berries. Moving away from traditional cask aging may also be a step towards a future in which producers combat climate change with fresh ideas. For instance at Tenuta Buon Tempo Alberto Maccheti has been installing new concrete tanks to replace the more than 20 year old 64 hL Garbelotto casks. Whatever it takes seems to be the prevailing attitude for a region that has to, must do something.

Morning in Montalcino

Much ado and what to do about Rosso di Montalcino

In 2020 I wrote that “culturally speaking Rosso di Montalcino is the most important wine. It’s what the Montalcinese drink daily. It’s a Monday night, a winemaker’s night off. There is work to be done in the morning so it wouldn’t be prudent to drink anything heavy or expensive. What to open? The answer is obvious and easy. Rosso di Montalcino. More than one Montalcino winemaker has used the phrase “it’s what we like to drink” and just as many will tell you that Rosso must reflect sangiovese’s character more than any other wine. What we know is that the Rosso are the protagonists of the new market.”

With Francesco Rippacioli and Tommaso Cortonesi

“The most fascinating thing about Rosso di Montalcino is that every producer has a unique philosophy and a personal relationship with the appellative wine. To some it persists in the old-school way, that is to think of it as a “baby Brunello,” or second wine, if you will. The days of Rosso being considered only in this way are long past. The baby Brunello concept now acquiesces to the notion of Rosso strictly made for Rosso, with great purpose and also meaning. There are some Rosso that really need to be considered and assessed just as you would Brunello and it is only where such structured sangiovese fit relative to the estate’s other Brunello that need qualify it as Rosso. In today’s Montalcino one’s Rosso is another’s Brunello. It’s now more than ever a matter of location, soil and altitude.”

Annual pic with the hardest working sommeliers in the business

“Rosso can refer to the sangiovese berries themselves, meaning the winemaker will pick the largest for Rosso, the medium berries for Brunello and the smallest ones for Riserva. Others will designate vineyards to the Rosso, or plant new ones and use the youngest fruit. Still there will be some who pass through all their vines and designate specific blocks, referring to it and even labelling it as a cru. Finally there are some who wait and craft Rosso in the cellar, after the fruit has come in and been pressed. There are many ways to skin a Rosso but these days it is always a wine treated with respect. In terms of elévage, Rosso will more likely than not be raised in big barrels but not the Grandi Botti often used for the Brunello. As for vine age it seems the sweet spot is between 15 and 20 years.”

Rosso di Montalcino could and should be elevated to DOCG status. To do so requires investment and also a mandatory minimum aging period in wood. The 2019 vintage is proof of why Rosso needs to once again be revisited, to be considered in its own light and of its own accord. This is because as a vintage much less Rosso was made, simply by the reason of across the board quality, raising the prospect of making more Brunello. A matter of available quantities and as an extension, economics. Which means that many vineyards capable of being purposed either way went in Brunello’s direction out of 2019. Which also means that more vineyards need to be designated as Rosso and were a DOCG awarded the rules would need to be altered to make sure the wines are pre-declared as such. There is enough Brunello to go around and the world needs more Rosso di Montalcino.

Drogheria Franci Restaurant Montalcino

Further to that the Consorzio’s decision to hold an anteprima in November causes producers to make choices they would not have had to think about before. The 2019 Rosso would have been shown in February and so November is both too late for producers who have already sold out or at least allocated their’s, but also too early for the 2020s to be presented. I purposely tasted only seven examples and each one was intensely youthful, tighter and more inaccessible than the next. The ’19s on the other hand were glorious, open and generous, as they would have already been just a few months earlier. Late April or early May would be an ideal time to show off the latest Rosso di Montalcino vintage, early enough for the early releasers and late enough for those who need 18 months before putting their Rosso to bed. Keep the Brunello anteprima in November if that works for the majority because the extra nine months (from the usual February event) works wonders for all three levels; Annata and Vigna plus the previous year’s Riserva. I can think of at least one more noble sangiovese producing appellation that would benefit from doing the same.

Here are 222 reviews, mostly from the November anteprima and estate visits but also some drawn from attending the October 2021 Gambero Rosso Awards tasting in Rome. There are 35 Rosso notes, 23 of them for the 2019 vintage. One hundred and seventy-one Brunello reviews, including seven from 2018 and for 2017 there are 103, 69 for Annata and 34 to Vigna. For 2016 there are 61 tasting notes, 45 on Riserva, the rest Annata and Vigna. Also 16 older vintages and IGTs.

Rosso di Montalcino 2020

Caparzo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

While so many 2020 Rosso are going to be intensely youthful, this from Caparzo is really quite approachable. Classic estate red, like a liquor dosage of itself running and integrating through itself. Tart and expertly crafted with express intention to please. Of this there can be no doubt. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Taverna dei Barbi

Fattoria Dei Barbi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Patrizia Cencioni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Extremely youthful, full deep fruit and whilst the carbonic feeling persists you can’t help but intuit a depth in this Rosso. Mix in an early high tonality and expectation then dictates this will offer up the fullest of mouthfeel. Charged and rich, a luxe Rosso with chalky underlay, a fine rage of acidity and a wine very much working in progress. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Very much a work just beginning its progress, both carbonic notions and sulphur completely unresolved. Needs a revisit to see where the darkening fruit will go. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

Ucceliera Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Voliero Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

Rosso di Montalcino 2019

Armilla Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Lovely red, red fruit, supple and stylish. As if cherries grew on rose bushes and this light, dusty feeling improvised by a Rosso with a tender modicum of fortifying structure. The right pressing, pushed and from a location ideal for Rosso out of 2019. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Castello Tricerchi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Pushes the boundaries of red fruit into something deeper though the clarity and transparency are evident and true. Lithe yet subtle if also sneaky structured Rosso, one that will please those needing immediate gratification yet with an ability to travel further, while treading lightly into a whole other realm. Great curiosity and possibility here. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Castiglion Del Bosco Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Well-pressed, expressed and all tenets captured Rosso having taken full advantage of a vintage willing to give it all. Feel the ripeness pushed and the effects of so much greenery, a forest of hope and dreams also pressed into this fulsome Rosso. All the immediacy one could want is here for the taking. Drink this young and impressionable. Drink 2021-2022. Tasted November 2021

Collemattoni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Classic Collemattoni liqueur, a glycerin texture that fills every pore, pouring through and through. Just the sangiovese goods in purest form and a Rosso that speaks in clear, ernest and knowable 2019 terms. What’s really special is the way the wine lingers and stays with you without any astringencies nor finishing nut, pith or bitters. A top Rosso for the vintage. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

With Andrea Costanti and Michaela Morris

Conti Costanti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Vermiglio 2019

The level of purity multiplied by concentration from 2019 is off the proverbial sangiovese cross referenced by Montalcino charts. This from a vintage when much less Rosso was made because the quality of the Brunello was so important. The fruit is of course deep cherry but branching off into a spectral expanse of darkening reds. The well runs deep, pooling with cool, ethereal and mineral licked waters, the textural breadth reaching into three-dimensional fabric. Also a tomato reduction, sweat of San Marzano, viscous and flessibile or perhaps flessuoso. Nothing remains out of reach or control, instead all is in focus and structured. Most would kill to reach such potential, have, show and sell this as Brunello. In a way this ’19 Costanti is a first of its kind, impressive for Rosso with a set of finest tannins. Long on the chain, capable of the most age-worthy extension. With 20 minutes of air a swarthiness emerges, putting this Rosso commensurate with some historical vintages, say 1985, 1988, 1990 and 1997. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Relatively lithe, dusty and crafty Rosso, giving away the impression of a really purposed example, a sangiovese of credibility and composure. That said there is some grip and intention as well so perhaps wait a year and better still two before seeing where this will travel. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

The 2011 planted vineyard is the youngest at La Mannella and is used exclusively for Tommaso Cortonesi’s Rosso. “In recent years, for my generation we are trying to approach Rosso di Montalcino is a more personal way,” tells Cortonesi. “A fresh wind, brought to the production and (especially) the communication. Finding a real identity, not as a baby Brunello.” The clay soil does not necessarily give big concentration but more so ease, elegance and classic sangiovese. Seemingly dark in hue but bright and tart in such an accentuated way. Can’t really shake the idea of the quality inherent in this specific scope of concentration. A liqueur of sangiovese, moving towards the finish swiftly and courteously across the palate. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

With Violante Gardini, Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Casato Prime Donne 2019

Having a moment with the outward exhale of this perfume because it’s unlike most other Rosso and so the time taken to breathe it in will do all parties well. Clarity of roses and spring flowers, an exotique nearly equal and surely apposite to the ulterior presence of a gamey note that’s so intriguing. This is what Casato Prime Donne brings to the table. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Elia Palazzesi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019 Collelceto

Crisp and pure Rosso for Rosso’s sake, as automatically and knowable as sangiovese as a Rosso from Montalcino can really be. Tugs straight at the heartstrings by offering a cherry red, tightly focused and lightly grippy wine. Perfectly representative for a now to three years Rosso for all who query and consider, each and every day of the week. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Fanti

Fanti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

From 15 hectares of Rosso vineyards with the potential to produce upwards of 50,000 bottles, though in truth much less is actually made. The rest of the unselected juice is sold off or portioned over to the IGT Torto Rosso. So yes a selection, aged for a year and a half in larger (30 hL) casks and some barriques. Not just another high quality and ready, rock-steady Rosso but here in 2019 a bolder and more substantial version of its always loveable and solid self. Gotta love it, any which way, all the time. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Colombina Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Somewhat older-schooled, firm and grippy sangiovese in Rosso, a squeezed and captured liqueur that takes hold without letting go. Plenty of portents and intendments in a wine that will need time to ease, settle and deliver. There will be more earth than fruit when that time comes. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

La Fornace Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Beautiful gelid liqueur of sangiovese emits with fineness from La Fornace 2019 Rosso, making the vintage happen as it should from this part of town. Really fine tart red fruit capture and equal tannic ability but what’s really special here are the acids merging and making for great freshness. Parts are bigger than some and so well integrated. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

With Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie

Le Ragnaie Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Still a barrel sample because Riccardo Campinoti leaves his Rosso for two years, even though there are hundreds of the appellative wines already having been long ago released on the market. Still this is the final version, of 30,000 bottles produced, more or less. The barrels for the blend were chosen in October and bottling is imminent. Did not make it into this November’s anteprima because there was not enough notice given, also considering when Le Ragnaie puts Rosso to bottle. In 2019 there is 30 per cent Montosoli mixed in with Castelnuovo dell’Abate and even some estate vineyard fruit. A firm and chewy Rosso, not yet settled and ready to play as it will. Substantial everything, beyond fruit, especially texture and real tannins for a Rosso. A harbinger for the Brunello to come, especially with all three (zonal) fruit sources layering their involvement. This will age really well. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Cacio e Pepe, Il Giglio

Lisini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

A Rosso of interest because of the ulterior aromas and motives, of a pomegranate to blood orange citrus tartness and a wish for immediate gratification. This is contrary to many Rosso of more grip and structure. This changes and then the wine shows its teeth. More interest than many and still in a Brunello vein. In a sense this Rosso does it all. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Mastrojanni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Pinino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Intensity of Rosso aromas, rich and invigorating while showing more wood than many. Perhaps some barriques or possible new wood quite seasoned and throwing much in the way of dark chocolate into the wine. Espresso too in a Rosso of such ilk. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2021

Renieri Srl Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

From the word go the Renieri feels like a true and purposed Rosso, with no aspirations but to be Rosso and to take the appellation to a most important next level. This is the thing about Rosso today and in how the last five years have seen to arriving at moments like these. Chewy with red fruit in a liquorice way, lithely tart and a blood orange moment but incremental, a sangiovese climbing up as if on steps, not so much rising as getting to upwards levels. Length is outstanding. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Released in September of 2021, at the time when 2020 Rosso are allowed to be released by the Consorzio. Aged in 40 hL casks, from fruit selected each season out of the eight parcels at San Polo. Oh my what an inviting and reeling Rosso, purity of exacting 2019 red fruit and really quite a deft touch to tie all parts together. Fresh and spirited, a chewy interior but always smart, energetic and gracefully powerful throughout the outer layers. Surely a Rosso of crunch but also a salinity with thanks to all the rocks in these “mountain” Montalcino vineyards. Just feels like a Rosso for Rosso sake. Quite ideal. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted November 2021

Trattoria Il Pozzo, Sant Angelo in Colle

Sasso Di Sole Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Sasso Di Sole’s is a northeasterly Montalcino location in the neighbourhood of Torrenieri, a cooler sub-zone of the territory. Doesn’t necessarily apply when a vintage like 2019 is in bottle because beautiful weather and near perfect growing conditions will put just as beautiful Rosso into the bottle. Still you have to appreciate and focus on the added freshness, perhaps as compared to some jammier and lush examples made in the southern reaches of the region. This is quite a salty and structured little Rosso number, tart and sassy, full of sun yes but also dried herbal, brushy and dusty substance. It’s all in here, a touch idiosyncratic and then with tannins that really turn arid, as felt in the mouth long after the wine is gone. Strong for the DOC, dark of fruit and mildly astringent at the end. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted May and November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Tenuta La Potazzine Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

Bottled in June 2021 and a Rosso of real identity, on its own, connected to Brunello but so much a wine of its own accord. Truly Rosso for the sake of aromas, subtlety and for a starting point for drinking three to four years forward. The 2017 must be at perfect peak now with five years easy left at that level. Indicates what will happen with this 2019, a Rosso delicate and in charge, with power, of itself and also us. Complex and yet easy. The opposite of so many of us. Wait another year or so for the wine to soften and arrive at the right place. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta San Giorgio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Ciampoleto 2019

An old-fashioned Italian term meaning single-vineyard, from “Ciampolo.” Stainless steel and 15 months in Slavonian oak, from a vintage of excellent interchange and alternating between sunlight and rainfall. Also a vintage from which Monte Amiata really aided with airflow for freshness and kept acidity. Vineyards face southeast (next to Podere Le Ripi) and their age is up to 20 years of age. Youthful and charming Rosso, a snapshot of young vines and a luxe vintage getting together on the same page for sangiovese surety. Richness to be sure in that regard and a chocolate rendering, part milk and part dark, swirled through the texture of the wine. Fine grain of tannin runs through as well, taking over and finishing at macchianto. A savoury freshness and if you’ve tasted enough vintages of Ciampoleto you will know this is tops, exceptional, potent and seductive. Sweet fennel at the finish. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Ventolaio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

High spirit and tonality, a Ventolaio speciality and what is expected from their Rosso. This especially when considering a vintage that could entice a maker to go further and deeper. The commitment to restraint and even more importantly consistency makes this a special wine. Crisp enough to call freshness the lead and with a fullness of texture to feel the barrel and lead this down a four to six year road. Exemplary, dictionary entry. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Rosso di Montalcino 2018 and 2017

Biondi Santi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Tenuta “Greppo” 2018

The harvest started on September 16th, from a season where 800 grams of bunches per plant was almost double the norm so intensive selection was necessary. A tramontana wind came in and so the harvest was quickly concluded on the 26th. There was some fear of botrytis. Though there had been a great variability of ripeness 10 days earlier, the point was reached by the end of the season. Just a two week maceration, noted in the old-school colour, fragrant, never pushed, also perfume in the tannins, replicating the fruit. More to the point is the mimic of acidity so that all three are on the same page. Bottled just about one year ago so really coming into a drinking window. Labeled 13 per cent but in reality clocks in at exactly 12.8, which is nothing less than incredible. “There is something in this estate that is magic” tells Federico Radi. “This is Il Greppo, from the beginning there is balance and you can feel this in the first steps of alcoholic fermentation.” Could there be an easier place to work, in a sense, “because the quality of tannins are so fine.” So very true and as a Rosso an exact mirror into the vintage, lithe and elastic, pliable of structure and ready to drink quite soon. Textured of it’s own accord, disposition and way. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Rainy season early, cool enough with some sun but problematic at the outset by a daily pebbling of the two, followed by a terrific climatic summer. Definite herbal, Mediterranean aromatics, almost like walking and brushing past the hedges on the terrace overlooking the valley. Notably linear and demanding for Rosso, a Brunello (from barrel declassified) after three years. Hyper real, serious and gripped with no less mattering intendment. Remember that this too comes from a selection in the vineyard and so the backbone and probability begins from the day the grapes leave the vine. Teenage angst, rebellious, a bit angry and it will grown up. Proper role modelling and upbringing guarantees this Rosso 2018 will be fine and be great. Peppery piques at the finish and then all goes quiet. Elegance emerged. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tassi Di Franci Franca Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Lean and transparent Rosso of purity and clarity, fruit far from full extraction and the wood very much a part of the easterly mix. Spice and chocolate shavings, intensity overall and while the barrel makes this immediate statement it falls away and the wine finishes with smooth, morbido and really pleasant consistency. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Poggio di Sotto

Poggio Di Sotto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017

The work of Luca Marone (oenologist) and Federico Staderini (winemaking) surely had their cards laid out on the table from which they’ve managed to pick, sort and arrange in the creation of shared common ground sets of elegance and finesse. Not as other vintages per se but there are signs all over this wine to say it will pour like Brunello for years to come. The tannins are chalky overtop maximum sapid occupancy and mineral cuts in angles all across the body politic of this wine. Wait another year. You will be thankful for it. The volume was split between Rosso and Brunello, considering there was no Riserva produced. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

With Gigliola, Sofia and Viola, Le Potazzine

Tenuta La Potazzine Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017

Poured from magnum, as Gigliola wishes all sangiovese were but knows it’s not really possible. Put thoughts of a hard vintage aside and just focus, use imagination and pay close attention to realities that tell the ’17 tale of this place. From vineyards upwards and exceeding 500m, a natural ferment, unfiltered and as fresh as any in Montalcino. If Montalcino were a perfume this might be it, inviting but with secrets, open and subtly so. Few sangiovese are as elegant and in such control, youthful but showing the cards to tell us what we should expect. Eventually. Slowly. Last tasted November 2021

Very pretty pulchritude in the Potazzine Rosso ’17 with spice, charm and a great pulse of energy. This is so very Rosso and so very what Rosso wants, needs and can be. All pulse and vitality, with striking acids and sneaky formidable tannin. Delicious Rosso di Montalcino and a great harbinger for the vintage. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2019

Brunello di Montalcino 2018

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Ahh freshness, the first 2018 in my glass and no offence to 2017 but after tasting 150 ‘17s over four days this is surely a breath of new air. Bright and almost a marine wind blowing through while at the same time showing some substance and bones. Fleshy but elastically so and these tannins are not sharp, nor austere, but forgiving and even generous. Left the barrel after the minimum amount of regulatory time to keep the wine from being tired by the wood. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casanovina Montosoli 2018

As for Casanovina from Montosoli there is everything one could hope for in fresh, sapid, saline, mineral expressiveness giving in to amenability as it pertains to enjoying, or projecting the enjoyment of Brunello Vigna looking a few years ahead. There is more depth and reserve in 2018 from Montosoli and if the previous vintage did not tell us just how special this northern fruit can be then better attention need be paid. Here we experience the prescience and extension to continued futures of Montalcino. A fruit to acid continuum of fresh sweetness and singular expressiveness. Also a backbone but not one rigid and compact, rather linear and stretching northward. Crisp and with terrific crunch, upward movement and great potential. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2021

Ragnaie Vineyard

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Passo Del Lume Spento 2018

As with the Brunello Annata and in fact all of his ‘18s, Riccardo Campinoti decided to take this out of wood at the discipline number of months to stave off any chance of tiring and oxidation. As with the Annata there is of course great freshness but here magnified with even greater clarity, blue sky brightness and what a palate cleanser it is. Thanks to the 621m of altitude the wine maintains a level of acidity at the top of the tops but it is neither spicy nor piqued, no sign of peppery grinds nor sharpness neither. Cool, gelid, sandstone salt licked and a sangiovese that will never blind a traveller nor turn out the lights. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2018

Vigna Vecchia as it always does makes sure to remind how this vineyard delivers the most compact tannins in the Brunello portfolio of Le Ragnaie. Mix this omnipresent austerity with the fresh breath of 2018 vintage air and the combination could only be a most excellent and rewarding one. In fact there is less early aggression, either because of the freshness or simply because the vineyard speaks this way in this year, but also because the wine spent less time in wood than other vintages. Sweet meanderings of acidity zig, swirl, zag and twirl to lift and elevate all the parts. Not exactly integrated fully but also not that far away. So much pleasure will come from this wine when that happens. Magnifico. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2021

Brunello di Montalcino 2017

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A fully macerated, extracted and vintage captured Brunello with a charming run through of transparency. More than a shake of wood spice and earthy grip, a sangiovese of immediacy but also intensity. You can feel the fruit of suffering and the resiliency. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

As one would expect the Argiano comes streaming with magnificent fruit on the heels of a string of recent vintages inclusive and in many ways culminating at their near perfect 2016s. What has been learned and essential changes that have been made have led to making this effortless ’17, relatively speaking but heat being little matter when acumen runs this high. Bernardino Sani has found the sweet spot, a place where optimum fruit ripeness can linger and develop all the necessary accoutrements to acquiesce at a positively proper meeting point. The length on this classic ’17 is outstanding with thanks to the work put in. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted November 2021

Armilla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Armilla’s is truly honest and forthright, ripe cherry captured with zing and more than ample tannin making for a strengthening of multi-tiered structure. Admittedly closed at first, reluctant and reticent with so much lurking below, behind and underneath. There’s a richness that belies the closed nature of this sangiovese which purports to explain and make one expect more. Time is the necessary feature to make this happen. Be patient and allow Armilla to come through. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Banfi’s presents a bit of a conundrum because the fruit is luxe and ripe yet the tannic structure is both tight and demanding. There are two parts to this ’17, the warmth and full character up front and the wall of expectation out back. Many will purchase and consume this early as per the awareness of the name but more than the lion’s share of bottles should better be doted upon, kept sealed and opened a minimum six years after vintage. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Camigliano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite the rich and fulsome Brunello 2017, all parts deep and intense, acidity running really high, all else running to keep up. A sangiovese of heat yet one that streaks through its world. The kind of Brunello that makes you feel like you must hurry to taste and figure things out when really what is required is tempo, for qualità and also longevita. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Classic Campogiovanni and Leonardo Bellaccini, full fruit and barrel intertwine, each supportive and enraptured in each other. Hard to imagine and believe that a Brunello di Montalcino could be traced and placed to such a specific locale, estate and winemaker but if there is only one this would be it. Chewy and textured sangiovese, spiced and seasoned, the kind that will impact many lives and offer a very specific kind of pleasure. At full ripeness, wood-aging and frosting of ganache. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG “Canalicchio Di Sopra” 2017

Considering the location of Canalicchio di Sopra’s vineyards to the east and north of Montalcino there should be every reason to think that 2017 would not pose a problem to making a top Annata. Francesco Ripaccioli would likely smile that wry smile when he knows that the year was in fact a magnanimous challenge but he would also follow up with that confident smile of his. Ripaccioli has the fortune and the instincts, to mix and match, to layer and compliment, to figure with mathematical precision and this wine expresses all that and more. There is cut and linearity, a finest architectural line and a freshness that belies what heat might want to take control. A fine classico for Montalcino that speaks to the best of all worlds within. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Capanna Di Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Capanna has found the righteous path in 2017, a road paved with credible is softened tannins ushering fruit picked late and having reached great vintage maturity. This was no easy task and their’s is a wine from which higher alcohol is so well mitigated and controlled by the substantial quotient achieved. It helps more than a lot that their location is north of the hill which allowed the longer hang time without the amount of desiccation unavoidable in so many parts of the territory. Capanna’s is flat out a lovely ’17 that drinks like Brunello in the most unassuming and proper way. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Capanne Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A spike and pique like many 2017s though fruit hangs in there for some extra time and effort. High acid and drying tannins complete the trilogy yet all the sections are set apart. Can’t really see this ever fully coming together as one. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Notable depth and intensity lead the way in Elisabetta Gnudi’s 2017 Annata, a sangiovese for sangiovese’s sake and a wine to consider earlier than some. Quite rich and welling with fulsome varietal liqueur, lightly tart, power in restraint and clearly designed for sooner rather than later enjoyment. Give this an hour or so aeration and get at the fine juice contained within. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Caprili’s is a 2017 Brunello of great bones, back rhythm and structure. A sangiovese from 2017 calculated and so very far from over-pressed, in feeling of vintage warmth plus seasoning but needing years to flesh away. The palate is full of meaty tones currently residing in swarthy pools while finest tannins work their way through the comports of this wine. There can be little immediate gratification here and considering the style and also the build, there really shouldn’t be. Wait three years on Giacomo Bartolomei’s strong and sure Annata. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2021

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A tightly knit, forcefully wound and really serious 2017 here from Carpineto, full of all the seasoning and spice that can be coerced into crowding an Annata. Crisp, crafty and formidable. Big, big mouthful of Brunello, savoury and brushy to the end. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

It was hot and dry and “that’s what you need in high elevation vineyards surrounded by forests,” is how Filippo Chia sees the situation. Romitorio as a place of lower sun exposure received the hot and dry vintage for what Chia calls “the best vintage ever at Romitorio.” More woodwind instruments and less drums. Vinified and malolactic in cement, aged in 5000L barrels with some 3,600, 2,000L and a few per cent tonneaux. Only 10-12 days of maceration, much less than other years and this is consistent with others who know and do the same. Sourcing from 10 hectares of old and seven that are newer. In a vintage without water a plant like sangiovese saps up the minerals and in this place it’s a red earth, ferrous grab that can’t help but be expressed in the wine. Both pH and acidity really change and there is no rise of the former, or lowering of the latter after malolactic fermentation. A countercurrent Brunello, lithe, effusive and showing the nakedness of the land. Yield was down 40 per cent, concentration is up but not to look at, nor to feel in terms of polish. Healthy vines adapted and survived where others may not have been so fortunate. Big props to the older vineyards, ones that date back to 1985. Drink 2021-2033. Tasted November 2021

Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

As with their 2019 Rosso tasted just an hour earlier there is great poise, grace and also functionality in Tricerchi’s 2017 annata. A sangiovese that captures the grape’s essence and Montalcino presence while tempering and filtering the vintage demand. A wine crafted with strong hands holding an infant with delicate and appropriate ease. Also a wine that captures imagination which is so very much the point more than most of the time. When a producer steps up in a vintage like this you know they have moved on to new a greater heights. Do not miss out on this or any of these wines starting now. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Cava d’Onice Brunello Di Montalcino 2017

Top grape and emotive spirit emit from Cava d’Onice’s 2017, high-toned in slow-ripened and well-preserved acidity for the vintage. A sangiovese of fine lines, good bones and linear rising attitude. The alcoholic warmth is felt somewhat but the peppery pique is only a fleeting moment in what is otherwise a really good tempered wine. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Celestino Pecci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

From a location northeast and just downslope from the Montalcino hill and a Brunello of notable depth but most of all a linear, saline, elemental and purposed Annata. Benefitted from position and timing, feeling late picked enough and still maintaining red fruit freshness while also accessing full phenolic ripeness. Solid ’17, a success in the end result. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

If the wine’s perfume scents like Col d’Orcia then it must be Col d’Orcia. If one estate could be counted on to keep the faith and consistency of classico Brunello alive then once again, think Col d’Orcia. Here the warmth of the vintage is noted but the mineral and elemental saltiness that cuts through makes sure to keep freshness always at the fore. Will this live in infamy like decades of Brunello that have come before, per haps not but as always, many opened bottles will deliver the experience of being pleasantly surprised. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted November 2021

Collemattoni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely and balanced capture of what 2017 has to offer, luxe and seasoned sangiovese but also that which speaks in spirited spikes of freshness. There needs to be more of this style available because it’s pleasing and Brunello di Montalcino will always be inherently taut and structured. Collemattoni’s wines are both consistent and like the chameleon, able to adjust as necessary for and from what happens in every changing vintage. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Andrea Costanti

Conti Costanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colle Al Matrichese 2017

Though beauty may be an elusive animal there must be sound reason for Andrea Costanti to follow through with making a Brunello in the 2017 vintage. After all he made the choice to not do so in 2014 and put the best fruit into Vermiglio Rosso. But Costanti clearly saw the forest for the trees and the difference; beyond simply one being cold and wet, the other hot and dry. Substantial fruit and ample tannin are clearly present, the former cherry with a minor key of pith and the latter liquid chalky. A cherrystone Annata, subtle in savour, sweetly stinging in sapidity. Fine and precise, a mimic of the maker, as it is written. Brunello 2017 is a wine needing to be mulled, chewed and considered, things that speak to how it was built and where it will go. Only 14 per cent alcohol adds to the mystique and curiosity for a sangiovese of temperance, divine skill and site. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Off the top one of the deeper 2017 Annata and of a density that speaks not to excess but to the northwestern red soils of Corte Pavone’s Montalcino sector. There is nothing about this Loacker Brunello that does not talk their localized talk nor walk with style the way a Corte Pavone wine is want to do. Fulsome and highly expressive, a sangiovese of many layers and commentary. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

The elephant in the room is obvious and Tommaso Cortonesi answers before the question is even posed. “You will be surprised by the freshness and acidity of the 2017, despite the warm vintage.” So how exactly can that be? Picked as usual, for one thing, at the end of September. “Montalcino can approach each kind of season and situation during the production process,” explains Cortonesi, meaning climate events, extremes and change be anathematized the vines have been nurtured and equipped to handle stress, especially drought, to sleep if necessary, call upon reserves and take full advantage of late season miracles. The ’17 is smartly piquant, wisely wily, youthful above reproach, even if technically requiring some correction. Levels of acidity and even volatility are high, as per the vintage but in reality drying fruit and tannin are not. Take your time with La Mannella, don’t rush or make any immediate demands of its emotions or time. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casato Prime Donne 2017

Straight away the multi-layered and generational floral perfume mixed with earth, grace and musk that only a Casato Prime Donne will do. There is just something about the layers and treasures in a Donatella Brunello, gelid fruit first, textural movements second and finally the kind of qualities that make for futuristic classicism. Always a matter of how things must be. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Casanova di Neri is one of those Montalcino estates with the fortuitous ability to combine wines from a few terroirs to forge a most consistent and impressively layered Annata. Seeking, finding and capturing the best of the vintage is not just a specialty but a rite of passage. Our palates and senses are put on high alert in accessing the levels of variegated fruit, fine to striking acids and several ways in which structure envelopes it all. Just seems like this 2017 Brunello resides at the epicentre of what is right, correct and also knowable for the vintage. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely capture of fruit from the warm 2017 vintage that while over-stressed it is important to note each and every producer that found the way. To capture freshness and that honesty of sangiovese spirit, here from Montalcino’s south and with fortuitous elevation to keep the acids and the energy alive. Well done Tommasi, what else to say. Bravo. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Elia Palazzesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Collelceto 2017

The Annata 2017 from Elia Palazzesi Collelceto is one meant for everyone, meaning the combination of fruit substance and constructive optimism makes this so well rounded, formed and adjusted. No longer a child or even an adolescent but a responsbile adult with a sense of fun and adventure. Here sangiovese is beautiful, handsome, fresh and fleshy. Works every rounded corner of the glass, palate and room. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Fanti’s 2017 is just about as transparent a response as is possible for a Brunello to show where it comes from, a brushy, herbal and very micro-climatic territorial wine. Some thankfully refreshing rain at the end of August allowed for an extra two to three weeks of hang time so that this Annata could reach phenolic ripeness. Much of the fruit comes from 450m of elevation in nine hectares near San Polo’s Podernovi, a fruit source so essential for making a ’17 Brunello of energy and freshness. Very much a Brunello with ample concentration and yet that transparency tells you this is a Fanti. Will make itself available as early as any. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Wildly and exotically perfumed, here in Brunello finding the floral expressiveness not always so easy to access in this particular vintage. Follows the aromatique with a well-rounded if full to fleshy palate and then the sangiovese really digs in. Not in a particularly overt tannic way yet surely with some extensive and extending control. Really fine work in 2017 to be sure and a sleeper with all parts working as one. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

An aromatic Annata for Brunello and without a doubt a Barbi, belonging to no one else. There is bosco and brusco, or the decades forward extension thereof, with an average production of 180,000-200,000 bottles, though it could be much larger, selection notwithstanding. Fruit stylistic, cool, sweetly savoury, of clay, sand and Galestro infiltration. The estate style is the most important which means the cellar-master (Maurizio Cecchini) is more important than the oenologist(s). That is the truth. Not a rich wine or vintage obvious but so perfectly correct for style and place. That said there is a Mediterranean feel here, especially in 2017, of black olive, autumn floor and finally sweet wood. Worked as it should be and careful to carry the crest and the flag. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria Del Pino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Il Pino 2017

Major jam as confiture or at least a basin filled with cherry liqueur is the order of del Pino’s 2017, a sangiovese that speaks straight from the varietal heart. Truly of itself yet missing something after that, meaning middle palate substance and length despite the crust of finalizing tannin. Just missing that spark. Blame the vintage and del Pino’s kinship in time and place. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Fornacina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely lift, red current to berry fruit and real stage presence put this 2017 in a fine and bright vintage light. The timely picking has allowed for good ripeness and phenolic lift, not to mention a level of beauty too many have failed to find. A sangiovese of resilience that will drink with pleasure for more than a few years time. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG 2017

A bigger wine in total control from Franco Pacenti in 2017, following the cues of vintage and hallmarks of location to make a wine of necessity and also promise. Quite an effusive aromatic spray moving and grooving into a most gregarious set of palate parameters. Chewy wine that maintains freshness in the face of warmth and great spice. Needs time and will live long. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Il Palazzone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

A crescent moon of a Brunello Annata, partially formed with curves and angles, showing an asymmetrical symmetry as only a poetic sangiovese of this ilk may do. There’s an herbal quality and ulterior style that captures imagination while also doling out the fruits of bosco, noce and earth. A veritable spice, dried fruit and nuts market in a glass of sangiovese. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Il Poggione Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

More than expectation and in fact understanding directs the immediacy of Il Poggione’s fine and fulsome Annata. The guarantee of quality fruit makes the high spirit, vitality and energy of this 2017 all that much more exciting and especially palatable. Oh how knowledge and experience can work in an estate’s favour to bring charm, freshness and elegance into a Brunello that rises to meet a challenge. Ottimo per duemiladiciassette. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

La Fornace Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite a strike of limestone red lightning from La Fornace in 2017 and yet another way for the name and the place to maintain a sense of itself. Tart and just a bit underripe or underwhelming which means an early pick (likely), following by a gentle pressing. No astringency but also no gregarious flavours coming through. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Big and juicy Brunello, fully extracted and from fruit hung longer than some who chose that early exit route. As such there is plenty of character and flavour in La Gerla, but also some tannic demand and sour edging. Gets most qualities right and finishes a bit brittle. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

La Lecciaia’s Annata emits a vivid and dramatic set of aromatics, namely brushy herbs in a rosemary to tarragon vein. Quite a tannic sangiovese for 2017, rich and fortifying, strong mocker, not shy and likely to outlive many of its peers. Not finding some of the charm and grace most La Lecciaia winds are want to express but this does choose the firm and grippy ’17 side so at least it has made a choice. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Always a most interesting and ulterior aromatic profile, brushy and herbal while shifting gears to juicier and quite frankly fruitier positions. Has its moments here, there and everywhere, drinks with gratification but also reminds of vintage variation. Timing and winemaking are high end here so expect a wine of composure and length. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lorenzo Magnelli’s picking scheme is most beneficial to vintages like 2017 because he’s thinking about berry size matched with appellation and so these medium sized grapes could only be at their optimum, regardless of when they came off the vine. Magnelli would have chosen which plants for when their fruit could do nothing but the best for place and time. Freshness, acidity and tannins are all on point, consecutively arranged while layered within and without. The bonding, seamlessness and insulation show no holes, nor leaking neither. Top quality and come together for the vintage. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Excellent quality fruit was had from Le Ragnaie at 600m of elevation, also from northerly Montosoli and yet Riccardo Campinoti’s decision was to use southerly Castelnuovo dell-Abate (including that of Le Fornace) for the Rosso di Montalcino. Generally and frankly speaking the fruit at the estate was picked a minimum two weeks ahead of “normal” schedule, usually hanging well in October, but what is normal anymore? Some Petroso fruit was used in here as well. Yields and production were down 10-15 per cent, at least as compared with the previous two vintages. Remained on skins for 40 days, although Campinoti often does 60 or more and has even gone for 90 in the past. He also aims for the lightest extraction when considering skin-contact time and for him 2017 is a vintage of “unfinished tannins.” Not quite fully ripe and yet acidity never fell away. Another example of how Brunello can be sold now and for the next five years, especially to restaurants and shops for immediate consumption. Bottled at the end of August, good glycerin texture, finely sweetened bitters and all that said, one of the Annata’s better set of mostly resolved tannins. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lisini gets much of 2017 right and beautiful with gently squeezed red fruit from an early but thankfully not too early a pick. Just enough development and juiciness comes through without any serious tannic or astringent concern. A perfectly middle road taken 2017 Brunello that pleases and will drink quite effortlessly, with red citrus bites, in the short to mid term. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Later picked of that there can be little doubt and a full throttle red fruit juiciness expressed as only Montalcinese sangiovese can. Some swarthy funk and earthiness, no game or meaty behaviour but surely some acetic and high toned behaviour. This is a style that many relish because it captures a kind of authenticity for producer and territory. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Padelletti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Padelletti gets some integral and essential things right in 2017, namely fruit well developed and pressed where no grapes were harmed. The ripeness levels of acidity and tannin are really close to ideal, higher for the first and then lower for the second. Some oscillations are noted on the sangiovese EKG but not enough to cause any distress to the heart and soul

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

High tonality, great citrus freshness and a sense of pith are part of the overall thematic in extraction from this racy 2017. Notably vintage related and likely picked on the early side. Plenty of character comes on through while some parts are a bit demanding on the palate, including some chains of brittle tannin. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Expert consideration revolves and evolves from the ’17 Pian delle Vigne, a wine of combinative picking, layering and exposure. The result here is full fruit expanse, well enough acidities left alone and plenty of structure. Well made through the processes of proper execution. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Pietra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lovely Annata from owner and winemaker Matteo Perugino, elegant, saline and briny. A perfectly subtle and salutary ’17 from an estate just south and west of Montalcino, close to Ragnaie and well heeded by elevation. Consistent sangiovese from start to finish with fine acids and veritable succulence. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the palate of the imbiber and if Pietroso does not capture all attention the we may not be paying enough attention. This would have been plucked from the vines at the ripest and most perfect time and the juice pressed with soft hands. Delivers a juiciness and a structure that captures the best of 2017 with charm and grace. Will come together in two years time and drink well to the end of the decade. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Really nice work here from Brizio in 2017, not a risk-reward Annata per se but one well managed. A lighter, on par with the vintage Brunello yet in delivery of more than ample substance. Crunch and startling red fruit, plenty of forging acidity, simple yet complimentary structure. Neither exciting nor overdone. An explanation of Brizio’s position and their relationship with 2017. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

There will be very few Brunello di Montalcino that act and taste like Poggio di Sotto from 2017. To gain some sort of understanding you would have to go back to the transition of 1989 when the purchase of the property initiated a vision to see how wines and palates would surely converge looking forward 25-30 years. This 2017 does not offer creativity, concentration and construct without that foreshadowing foresight and here it is in the glass. Glycerin, textural seamlessness, torch taken in hand from 2015 and 2016 despite the track being cracked, broken and blistered by the vintage sun. No matter to winemaker Federico Staderini and oenologist Luca Marone who knew and know how to handle such truth because we clearly see that Brunello’s time in wood has brought it to the window. Rosso is no further yet near equally further along. The vintage messes with the relationship but as we pay attention we see the matters of extract and finesse for how they react when poured into glass. This is actually quite ready to drink. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Renieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite a depth of fruit from Renieri and a darker hue, but also a sensation of all parts existing in such a realm. Crisp sangiovese, of an earthy crust that compounds that croccante sensation and while the acid-tannin formation is equalizing there is an herbal-earthy-spice quotient that offers some vintage distraction. Solid if weighty 2017 in the end. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Roberto Cipresso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Nothing else smells like Roberto Cipressi’s Annata, aromatically gregarious of an intensity not really noted anywhere else. Smells like a pine forest, a bowl of chopped rosemary, essential oils and so much more. A waft like no other, wood spice in waves and glycerin texture, almost appassimento in feeling and that is something I thought I’d never say. Gets no more parochial nor specific than this. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Salvioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Cerbaiola 2017

Really aromatic 2017 by Salvioni, hyperbole of Annata maceration and development, deep inhalant of varietal meets vintage pooling. Luxe and filled the with fluid and flowing sangiovese blood, naturally sweet and developed. Fine if grippy and slightly bitter tannin will eventually soften and help this wine find a true path. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

San Lorenzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Lithe, medium-bodied and a notably dry, herbal and dusty Annata profile. Older schooled, say late 80s/early 90s feel. Fine stream of fruit and good length albeit drying at the finish. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Once again the variability of 2017 is on display with great and ever altering difference. Another stylistic shift and this time into gelid and pectic filled Brunello that takes full vintage advantage with immediacy on notice. As early drinking as a San Polino has ever shown. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Super warm vintage and quite dry. The wines can only reflect the vintage and San Polo is one of the estates where position made for good fortune in the face of a great challenge. A season to make more Rubio and only Brunello from a stringent selection. One of the juiciest of all ’17 Annata and the elévage remained consistent, using 1000hL Slavonian plus 50 and 60hL Tonneaux. Regard the professional and emotive work in San Polo’s Annata, of fruit clearly allowed to travel long and develop the kind of phenolics and also glycerin needed to hang with these 2017 tannins. Yes there is some late arriving astringency but that is the vintage, perhaps not in every Montalcino sector but more than most. Tannins are grippy yet fine and also sweet on a wine of juicy substance. Sure it’s a red tart, almost sour raspberry vintage but the rocks and the approach harmonize the parts and the style. The great and forward moving positives are the substantial fruit and savour, aspects of a Brunello most needed to be there when the grip softens and melts away. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Sasso Di Sole Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Warm, glycerin and luxurious Brunello, a liqueur of sangiovese in the most sweetly aromatic, jammy fruited and silken way. Almost feels as if there could be some residual sugar left in, that’s how sultry and seductive this acts. Curious for the vintage and beautiful in it very own way. A wine with no major structure that needs revisiting to see how it will react with age. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Warm location and elevation conspire to raise the vintage bar for and from Sesti, an Annata of great expectation, fruit force and brut grip. Here sangiovese stands firm, linear and tall, the kind you could almost put a stick inside and watch it stay upright. That’s the concentration and the effect created in a wine that is so substantial and on so many levels. A kick of bitters at the finish is very vintage related but the aforementioned substance will stand up, be counted and last. Wait three years for the troubling tannins to start their subsiding and sliding away. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Riccardo Talenti’s 2017 is an aromatic one, a sangiovese of fruit, earth, forest, brush and herbs. A dusty one, a deep inhalant of place and trust, an Annata that captures all there is to know about this most obtrusive and demanding vintage. So curious in how the palate replays all these notes and notions, in seasoned flavour and savour. A big wine for Talenti and one made in contract with estate vineyards producing fruit of a very peculiar vintage. Here’s how you do it and fulfill what’s promised. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tassi Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Really fine work for a lovely Annata from the Franci family, high-toned and eclectic sangiovese of red fruit at the top end of the spectrum. Crunchy fruit in the true sense of croccante but also scorrevole, sliding across the palate and extending onwards. There is raspberry and blood orange, tar and roses. Feels a little bit like having gone through some Piedmontese cappello sommerso, by long extraction and textured as a result. Fine tannins, finish, some red pith too but time will heal any wounds. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Picked between the 7th and 10th of September and only 22,000 bottles made from 12 hectares of vineyards. Low does not due justice to how small a vintage was 2017. “We tried to extract less and keep it on the lighter side,” tells Alberto Machetti and an exception was made to age 100 per cent in used tonneaux (and no Slavonian oak). This is mainly due to dry tannins and the lowest of low yields. So many dried grapes, 25 per cent of the production discarded, the berries so small, the liquid to skin ratio completely out of balance. “More off a Rosso style adapted to make a little bit of Brunello.” The decision had to be made to avoid alcohol through the roof, too risky overall and too little too screw it up. This has turned out as a really well made and blessed Annata with thanks to decision making that pushed the right buttons. Truth conceived, spoken and executed by Machetti and team. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta La Fuga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Big wine from La Fuga in 2017, fully ripened, pressed and expressed for breadth of sangiovese possibility. Pectin at a high level and full throttle actionability for a full on example to sell, discuss and impress. This is a wine that will help licensee/restaurant and bottle shop sales because it delivers Brunello expectation. That said it won’t necessarily gift longevity. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

From the moment the Potazzine perfume comes from the glass it is known that few if any Montalcinese 2017 Brunelli will be like this. The advantages are manyfold, a northwest location, high elevation above 500m, later picking times, natural and longer fermentation, no filtration. Even in a vintage like this the women of Le Potazzine, Gigliola, Viola and Sofia can look to take risks for eventuation at reward. More herbal and savoury than ’16 and less concentrated than ’15 but still exhibits characteristics consistent with those bigger and easier vintages. As cool, fresh and salty as it can get but always with that perfume. Le Potazzine style, unassuming and bellissima. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta San Giorgio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ugolforte 2017

From vineyards facing southeast aged up to 25 years and really now coming into their own. Definite alcohol elevation balanced by fruit hung well into September, also with kept acidity. Perfectly reasoned seasoned ’17 here from Poggio di Sotto’s sister and second property. Fruit spirit and juiciness run up the middle of vintage possibility and as a result there is nary a bitter, overtly herbaceous or astringent moment. This with thanks to plot position, aid and abetting by Mount Amiata. Tannic as a ’17, drying and yet precocious as compared to Poggio di Sotto, concentration a matter of younger vineyards. Unfair perhaps but they are a family and the simplicity here is well-loved, needed and accepted. Different planet, same philosophy, embracing the land and the people who make it happen, without pretension. Brunello simplicity is the captured moment in time when vintage and stylistic merge as they do in San Giorgio’s ’17. No harm, no foul. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Quite a fortuitously heady Annata for Tenute Silvio Nardi out of the vintage ranging through many derivations or this one way. There are early picked, light and simple wines and their are later picked Brunelli with a full head of fruit and steam. This falls unto the latter with no lack of barrel seasoning and weight behind the thickening fruit. Needs time to settle and allow both wood and density to integrate and get on down. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Ucceliera Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Big and brawny it might seem is the order of Andrea Cortonesi’s ’17 Annata but these are the things that elevation, solar radiation and poor soil will talk about together. The bones in Ucceliera’s Brunello are one thing but the fruit, the substance and the presence are all together another. These are the types of wines that stand out, separate and shine in a vintage such as this. Fully developed, phenols at the top of the requiem and then a come together because the work once inside is accomplished without supposition. Every estate in Montalcino should be so lucky to receive such consultancy. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Dense, thick and chalky Brunello, fully extracted and developed, nothing left in the vineyard or on the table. Actually quite impressed by how much has been assembled in this super Annata cuvée without the oft-seen ’17 astringency that usually comes along for the ride. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

That Ventolaio perfume, heady and gracious, always a wine that finds a way to climb into the nether regions of your heart. Alternatively crisp and then chewy, exterior and interior, a sangiovese of layers, spice and relatively early integration. Does well to bring all parts together with elasticity but also finesse. The vintage snapshot is very much in focus. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Villa Al Cortile Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

One sniff of this Annata and only 2017 could come to mind. It is important for sangiovese and vintage to come together, forge a symbiotic union and express what only this place can. Villa al Cortile finds the sweet spot between fruit and tannin in a place where ’17’s acids lie, lay and linger. Not too much of anything with respect to excess here and plenty of possibility. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Perfectly middle of the road Brunello in ’17, well developed, extracted and pressed though well shy of any distraction. A bit aromatically reticent which goes against the vintage norms but the palate here is quite heady and expressive. The tannins are serious and bit drying but there should be enough fruit to hang in there once the wine begins to turn in a year and half or so’s time. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Voliero Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Such a similar profile to Ucceliera if perhaps a bit more sun worship mixed with lower tones to create a deeper and more pressing example of Annata 2017. In that sense a bit of a dualistic sangiovese in this Voliero while true to harmonized, focused and right proper Andrea Cortonesi form. Hard to imagine this wine needing to be anything but what pours into this glass. More fruit and less structure for the correctness of it all. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2017 Vigna

Altesino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2017

The northern aspect of Montosoli is perhaps no further benefitted from than in this vintage, a cooler location befitting the warmest and driest of vintages. That said a Spring frost meant lower production but never the mind as the famous and important hill gifts Altesino with a fine Vigna sangiovese. Graces the charms and substance of 2017 with equal rights and finds the sweet spot for what is truly a full throttle and seasoned Altesino. Will be ready earlier than most might think. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Benvenuto Brunello 2021

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Alle Mura Vigna Marrucheto 2017

Strength in fruit is Vigna Marrucheto’s calling card for a 2017 of true black cherry depth. Travels well beyond fruit to a place where all the necessary parts collect, integrate and repeat. Shocking good acids lift spirits and even more shocking sweet tannins tie the entire work together. Banfi’s team surely had an edge in this challenging vintage and while many Vigna canibalized their Annata it is clear that Banfi had plenty of riches to go around. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Casaccia 2017

This is where all the recent hard work put in by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to chic style, surely to be followed by one and a half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Casa 2017

Grandiose La Casa from 2017, full of depth. breadth and shadowy nuance. Just a terrific and most important northern Montalcino vineyard with Altesino’s Montosoli side by each, both upon the hill of hopes and dreams. The Corton of Montalcino if you will and here an example of a Vigna wine showing high glycerol content mixed with the mineral white, blue and grey Galestro of the vineyard. Makes for a potent and beautiful mix. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Seta 2017

Filo di Seta, done up only in concrete eggs, the first vintage being 2010. A clay and Galestro vineyard, ancient soils at 180m just above Montosoli. Aging in 500L barrels of first, second and third usage. Looking for crunch, chew and roll. Two picks, two or three weeks apart and “you feel the down valley character,” says Filippo Chia. The opposite of high altitude Brunello, “we call it the campone,” a vineyard that existed going back to the 1700s. A place “where there are monks there is wine.” Potent by glycerin as viscosity and an intimate connection to sangiovese’s chiaroscuro. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted November 2021

Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG A.D. 1441 2017

High-toned, fruit cumulate, juicy appropriated and just fine textural example of Vigna. In just a few vintages Tricerchi has climbed from there to here with a refreshed and nuanced understanding of how to turn their vineyards into the freshest andsmartest of Montalcino wines. There is a fine complement of wood on A.D. 1441 but not without reason and merit. The fruit is up to the task, especially because there is a naturally curated swarthiness to its character. This Vigna will show best in two to three years. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo Del Drago 2017

Here Vigna in a prime example of a wine showing brilliantly if less concentrated than certainly the previous two vintages. That said having tasted both the ’16 and ’17 Annatas it seems apparent that some ’17 fruit normally destined there has remained in this Campo del Drago ’17. A gain to a loss and such is life though hard to think another avenue might have been taken. Nevertheless this fortunate one drinks with substantial weight, stone, fruit filling and desire. Spicy piques at every turn and a long, creative if turbulent finish. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Cava d’Onice Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colombaio 2017

Colombaio steals the 2017 Cava D’Onice show, perhaps to the detriment of the classico but as with past adversarial vintages such is life and the show must go on. Here the fruit is plenty good and substantial, pooling with macerations of cherry accented by hints of rosemary and fennel. A fine, stylish and even chic Brunello that shines and will live well into the future. One of longer probabilities it would surely seem. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore Del Vento 2017

The first of three Hayo Loacker investigations into the specificities of his Corte Pavone terroir is this Fiore del Vento, literally “flowers of the wind,” an expression that does well to describe this windswept section to the west of Montalcino. A lovely and fruit pectic thickened Vigna in 2017, concentrated yet expertly so, pretty and almost soft but with some shadowy power beneath. Smooth, silky and yet red chalky, almost an iron sensation though the wine that never feels elemental or metallic. Fine bone structure and far from grippy. Lovely, as mentioned at the top. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore Di Meliloto 2017

These flowers in Hayo Loacker’s second of three Vigna Brunelli are the delicacy in an otherwise firmer and more distinctly gripper one, again with florals also poking in tines and ferric under tones. This time there is an ionic, mineral and powerful feeling, with stronger tannic chalk and stony address. Still resides in the realm of fine and precise, a bit more chiseled but not expressly demanding. Will take longer to develop and with fruit in good shape this should drink well into the next decade. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo di Marzo 2017

Clearly the most concentrated and also powerful of the three Vigna Brunelli produced by Corte Pavone and then one to wait, wait some more and finally wait again before seeing this fruit and that structure work together as one. Great and important concentration with vineyard intendment makes Campo di Marzo (field of March) a sangiovese to reckon with and one you will have to show great patience for best results. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG I Poggiarelli 2017

I Poggiarelli is picked a week to 10 days later than La Mannella and so necessary to allow the acid-tannin structure to develop, lengthen and replicate. A Brunello very much set up in a community and chain of command, fruit imagined as the lead bird behind which all other parts draught, for ease and decreased resistance. In I Poggiarelli’s case the length of time requires acids, texture and tannin to all take turns, in formation, in antecede and relegation. Depending on when this is tasted in the first seven or eight years from vintage there is no telling which will stand out and above the rest. Equally or rather proportionally perfumed and fragrant like La Mannella but from the start you sense the higher levels of backbone and structure. “But our idea is to play with the balance, to keep the link with the sangiovese of Montalcino and in a warm vintage not to go too far,” tells Tommaso Cortonesi. Neither in extraction nor maceration and to deliver a respectful wine. Usually 25-30 days but more like 18-20 in 2017. Also a 26-30 degree fermentation when some vintages it can be as high as 34, if only for a few days. Definitely a vertical Brunello and time matters. Always with sangiovese and especially with I Poggiarelli. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Progetto Prime Donne 2017

Most excellent exhaling of sangiovese blood, sweat, tears and love emits from Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s 2017 Vigna of great northern Montalcino importance. A project that Donatella, her daughter and team of women have come to create, foster, nurture and gift. For all of us today and set up to keep giving throughout future generations. Few wines find the precise nature of their vineyard and in how they are able to interact so gracefully with human emotion and flavour. The earth and deep-rooted fruitiness in Prime Donne acts swarthy and wild in youth but this wine has not yet begun to become the fine Vigna example it will eventually accede. Top ’17 for sure. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2021

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2017

Vallocchio at 320-350m and its old 35-40 year-old vines has done well to find resiliency in 2017 with thanks to its very deep and experienced roots. Faces south by southwest and though the lack of water and 35-plus degree temperatures were a clear and present danger this vineyard knew what to do to survive. A selection more direct than other vintages because no Riserva was made and so Vallocchio is both and neither at the same time, with the maceration kept shorter (25-30 days) to minimize bitter aromas and possible astringencies. Certainly a warm Vallocchio for Fanti steeped like a viscous cherry tisane and seasoned with extra spice but always maintains its pedigree and then length. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Del Fiore 2017

More specific of course, focused and looking at a vineyard that has been studied for decades. A vineyard of more than five hectares with the resilience to handle the stressors of the 2017 vintage, thanks to many stones and the surrounding woods. “We have been paying taxes on this vineyard for 400 years, so that’s how old it is,” tells Stefano Cinelli Colombini. The current vineyard was planted in 1982 but some parts have been redone. Finding fineness is no easy seek and task at all times but most of all when water and cooling temperatures are absent for many months at a time. This is Vigna of polished fruit, consistency in hyperbole and while less austere than many vintages there is that elusive and often hiding combination of elegance and finesse. The wine achieves what it sets out to do, if no other way, in attitude. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG Rosildo 2017

A fine and finessed Rosildo, concentrated though at the precipice without asking too much of 2017. Rich and inviting, picked late enough to gather the optimum quality available through vintage adversity multiplied by possibility. The length and linger here is outstanding, a quality response to how fruit sumptuousness and fine-grained tannins interact. Quite symbiotic in relationship it needs saying. A requiem for specialized success. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2017

A Massive attack of fruit and power comes at you fast and furious in Ciliegio from La Màgia. Not just a wine of concentration and substance but some of 2017’s grippiest set of surrounding parameters. Big bones, barrel impart and really impressive facial structure. Chiseled and upright, linear and near formidable. A bruiser now that will bring so much umami later. Imagine the porcini possibilities. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2021

Fattoria La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Manapetra 2017

Manapetra exhibits no shortage or lack of fruit flesh and development and it must be wondered what filled this glass that the Annata did not receive. A top vineyard is needed in times of trouble and so mother Mary fruit was surely reserved in full for this Vigna sangiovese from La Lecciaia. This packs a wallop and a punch though the acidity remains shy and remote. No remorse though as a big glass of Brunello with Vigna credentials is available by the factor this Manapetra emits out of 2017. Perhaps a but atypical for the estate if a credible response to vintage variation. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Rasina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Persante 2017

Sweet and substantially rendered fruit forms a great and needful response to a vintage of hoops and hurdles, frost, aridity and grapes so desperately wanting to shut themselves down. The rose to violet florals and high toned peppery piques are quite unrelenting and there is some real structure here. A bit on the acetic side and something that can’t be ignored but the wine maintains its composure and seeks out its main objective. Real Brunello in 2017. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Le Gode Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2017

Such an earthy, swarthy and ferric wine from this northwestern section of the northerly Montosoli Hill and a wine that’s really hard to get to know. So much wild behaviour, microbial manifestations and conjecture. Where to begin and when will it end? Needs time and the question is will it go sideways, will the fruit outlast or will the feral-ness get stronger and stronger? Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casanovina Montosoli 2017

From the northern hill at approximately 300m facing east, just past the cellar on the right. Another 2017 that stands apart because of the location though not as glaring as the Passo del Lume Spento at 620m. A sweetly sound and calming liqueur of red fruit and fresh herbs, well scented, floral and as a Brunello, notes darker of fruit and even a bit of tar. More complexity than many, severing and forking into the dimensional and though comparison can be pedantic there is a tightly wound tannic feeling that reminds of nebbiolo. Surely not one to last ages and live in infamy but it should be considered a 10-12 year wine. From a bottle opened two days so that really tells us something. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Passo Del Lume Spento 2017

A most dramatic way to describe a place that essentially means “a pass so windy it could blind travellers, or literally put out the lights.” Actually the pass across the highest point in Montalcino before heading down towards the southern valley below. The most ironic and interesting single-vineyard wine in Montalcino, formerly an IGT and here from the warm and dry vintage. The elevation is 621 meters above sea level and unequivocally the most singular aromatic profile of any in Montalcino. Approximately 60 per cent is used for this Vigna of sandstone on a plateau, flat and even keeled across its perch. Smells of the freshest herbal field but on a dry and crisp day, or crispy perhaps. That cured salumi aroma is so special for sangiovese and especially Brunello and then the palate really elevates the freshness, with just terrific acidity and the precociousness of young vines (planted in 2012), excited plants that could afford to be a little bit more aggressive in a hot vintage. Oh if more ‘17s could be like this and if more vineyards in Montalcino were above 600m. But I digress. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2017

V.V. as in Vigna Vecchia, a place of old vines, planted in 1968 at 600m. With the concentration of ingress by the vines this is a very structured wine of depth as compared to the new vineyard and also Montosoli. Faces southwest so plenty of sun, especially in 2017. Also the most texture of the 17s in terms of glycerol from Le Ragnaie but also the most backbone and early austerity when it comes to the tannins. Yet there is an orange component, not the skin but a gelid or granita of orange. Time is the vanishing point essential perspective and plenty of it, as V.V. always needs, with 2017 being no exception. As much Vigna Vecchia as it is anything else. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Loreto 2017

Just a classic 2017, fruit ripe, juicy and red cherry inflated, a specific vintage concentration and made all the more pinpointed in Vigna form. Loreto does what needs and wants for a consumer looking for vintage answers and reply. Likely an earlier drinking Vigna for ’17 and one that will gift plenty of mid-decade pleasure. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2017

My if Helichrysum does not double down on San Polino’s classico, here in a Vigna with quite a push in terms of tannin. Rides to the end of the fruit’s property and build a fence so high there can be no escape until the barriers begin to fall away. In this case that could be ten years but worth beginning to taste and check in three or four. Chalky in swirling liquid form, forceful, youthful, exuberant and maybe even rebellious. Will see where this travels. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Podernovi 2017

The 1991 planted vineyard of three hectares faces southeast across the Orcia where on a clear morning in November the fog layer settles in the Valley. Aged in tonneaux of 40 and 50 hL for approximately 30 months. Cool and reticent aromatics whilst sweetly floral and easily leading towards the succulence accessed upon the palate. Very gardenia in fact, like a vertical herb garden leading the senses up to clay and stones that compact and make for a concentrated restraint. Podernovi’s softer complexion reflects a more delicate and perhaps also finessed Vigna as compared to sister block-designate Brunello Vignavecchia. The names alone should tells us this in a new versus old vein and so fineness and delicate structuring is the order of this very pretty wine. While the disposition may be understated the white peppery acids and scintillant of piques are surely not. Delicate perhaps but Podernovi still opens one’s eyes and palate to the possibilities of 2017. Awake now because of the freshness and croccante character of this wine. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vignvecchia 2017

The 1989 planted vineyard of two hectares faces southwest on a steep slope aged in tonneaux (lightly toasted) of 60 hL for approximately 30 months. Smallest of the estate’s berries, ratio of flesh to skin minimized and without equivocation the most concentrated wine at San Polo. Like Podernovi also a cool and reticent nose but you can feel the power behind the veil. Hard to hide the ability, musculature and grip of the tight juice extracted from the small and profound tract of localita San Polo land. Clearly the stronger, deeper concentrated and more structured of the San Polo’s Vigne Brunelli and such a contrast in hue, texture and grip when tasted side by side with Podernovi. There is a thickness and swath of Rothko brushstroke in Vignavecchia, its sale captioned and finalized by a firm grip in handshake. Such a chewy wine, of tree fruit in pods and liquorice. Needs time to settle, integrate the notable amount of wood and elasticize towards a brighter future, more so than Podernovi, perhaps to outlive and outlast. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Sasso di Sole Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Sasso Di Luna 2017

Cherry sangiovese liqueur in all its pooling and welling red fruit incarnations with fine acidity and not easy but also not formidable structure. A Vigna that surely does not try too hard and if it’s not the most substantial version of “Brunello” it surely takes off straight from where the Annata left off. All about love and happiness. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piero 2017

Riccardo Talenti’s Brunelli spend over two years ageing in fine Allier and Slavonian oak. Pian del Conte is a Riserva from the oldest vineyards, near the centre of the estate (400m above sea level) and only made in exceptional years. This selezione Piero comes from two of the 20 estate hectares in Castelnuovo dell’Abate dedicated to the vineyard Paretaio, planted to a sangiovese clone selected by Pierluigi Talenti. Fruit gets no more developed and carried along to this level of ripeness and while Talenti’s Piero is showing evolution so early in its tenure the purity, honesty and admonition here must be noted. Not just a remark but an opening for props, kudos and general lauding. No pretence and absolute Talenti heart worn on a Vigna sleeve to say this is the vintage, deal with it, work with it and run with it. No forevers but drinking windows open and ready as soon as anyone feels the necessity for ready. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Tassi Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Colombaio DOCG 2017

Quite the open and blessedly pretty Vigna from Tassi di Franci Franca, on the lighter if lightning red fruit side of Vigna 2017 things, sappy tang, cherry liqueur and fine circulating acids. Simply stated, put and offered. No pretence neither, either way you look at it. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Oliveto P. 56 2017

Oliveto is the original name of the farm and the winery before the change in ownership in 2012. From the iron-rich red clay soils and the finest blocks of the vineyard. The location is a hot one but in 2016 there was not too much adversity to find and marry both sugar and phenolic ripeness. Also thanks to a vintage of higher acidity, picked between the 16th and 18th of September. There is a balance between some of Tenuta Buon Tempo’s best ever quality of fruit and a level of acid meets fine tannin structure that also reaches an historical peak. Two weeks of fermentation followed by four days of cappello sommerso and here some new Slavonian oak. A beautifuL Riserva, crisp, sweetly savoury and in perfect harmony. Says Alberto Machetti, “I think it’s the best wine we’ve made at Tenuta Buon Tempo. By a wide margin.” Who are we to argue and so the recommendation is tend to agree. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021. Drink 2023-2026

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Doria 2017

Casale del Bosco dates back to XVII century, but the origins of this site are Etruscan. It was bought by Silvio Nardi in 1950 and is the source for the cru Brunello Poggio Doria. Uniquely singular Vigna-designate 2017 Brunello, deeply welling like an aperitif with fine bitters and natural sweetness, black cherry type fruit and well developed texture. Turns fiercely tannic and so the ultimate takeaway is big pressing, full extraction and every little grain that might come through from those stressed 2017 skins. This wine needs plenty of time. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tiezzi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Soccorso 2017

Quite the developed and verging towards oxidative Vigna Brunello from 2017 with sharp acids and tight if also brittle tannins. Continues along the road to acetic and stays the course. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Pomona 2017

Pomona in 2017 is a fine and bright Vigna Brunello of sharp red fruit, tart angles, piques, valleys and blessed pinpoint control. Tart and direct with enough finesse to keep a straight and fine line. Finds the best it can be from a less than generous vintage. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Il Greppo

Brunello di Montalcino and Vigna DOCG 2016

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta “Greppo” 2016

As with Rosso 2018 there is magic in 2016 and for Federico Radi it was just a matter of blending, having inherited the wines already waiting in cask. Magic because a tempered in control level of alcohol and purity of satin-glycerol consistency is purely and expressly Biondi-Santi. Bottled seven months ago and will be released in March of 2022. The notion of optimum balance will likely set in two or three months from now with a lingering peppery pique and kick still in tow. Also a freshness of summer making for a minor balsamico but one that is far from concentrated in dark syrup. The alcohol is at 14 which for the vintage and current day Montalcino is relatively low, or at least modest. And yet the wine captures your immediate attention, partly because the fruit is fortified but more so by dramatic acidity and a lingering austerity. Also the reddest of citrus notes, almost pomegranate. The acidity number is actually 0.5 per cent higher than (Riserva) ’15, with notes of orange skin, violet and subtle underbrush. More Paco de Lucia than Slash. The latter will fall away in two, better still three years. The Brunello will likely remain in that next state for 10 years and then begin to evolve, slowly, incrementally towards and through a few to several decades life. Drink 2024-2041. Tasted November 2021

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Here a perfectly tidy and veramente example of the possibility for existential beauty out of the 2016 vintage. Ripe fruit beyond harmonious compare, weighted in concentration, mildly structured and right there for the taking. Just another year will allow this Brunello to drink at peak. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted October 2021

Filippo and Elisa Fanti

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

The clarity and translatable Fanti terroir in 2016 from the “normale” shines like the bluest of Montalcino days. It’s that simple in terms of growing, picking, fermenting and aging sangiovese from a grounded, persistently consistent and harmonizing vintage. Not a hot one but one hitched upon a long and linear even keel for the Brunello to reach that coveted arena of the elegant. Just what those who get it now want and quite frankly need from Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Taverna dei Barbi

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

“In the beginning ’16 was…not enough,” begins the soliloquy by Fattoria dei Barbi’s Stefano Cinelli Colombini. “But after a year it changed.” Reading deeper one understands that time is the answer, for sangiovese, Brunello and 2016. “This is why Riserva should be sold after eight or 10 years,” continues Cinelli Colombini. “The problem with tradition is we make a mistake that if it exists, there must be a meaning inherent, otherwise it would not have taken so long. The mistake we make is between what is actually a tradition and the sense of tradition. You only need to taste to know that wine is the most democratic thing in the world.” Yes this Barbi is showing as it should or as it should be beginning to, but tradition is what holds it back, for now. In time it will speak on behalf of what it must be. That is as a sangiovese with a true sense of itself and the tradition it not only represents but one it intrinsically and existentially is. Here from 2016 is one of the great Barbi Annata Brunello. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted October 2021

Fuligni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Fuligni’s is well, Fuligni. A classic Brunello with new bones and old school heart. Spice above freshness, seasoning over warmth. The most properly developed layers of southern Montalcino red fruit in a vintage aching to speak in a vernacular passed on through generations. Well seasoned casks impart their wisdom, structural slats and flavours, piqued right across the palate. Feels like white sand with calcareous veins and grey to ochre argiloso, a.k.a. the pangs of tradition and soil tang that historically run through Montalcinese sangiovese. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Giodo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

A different sort of 2016 feeling here from Giodo’s Località Casanova, Sant’Angelo in Colle Brunello. Mixed sensations, savoury and hillside brushy, of rosemary, fennel and lavender, but also mustard, arugula and cress. A masala of Montalcino earthy spice, seasoned purple fruit, tart and full of high-toned energy. Quite wood spiced and very long. Needs time to settle and find the grace. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2021

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Same 35,000 bottle production and like the 2015 a Brunello of great freshness and acidity yet here deeper and less immediately motivated interaction. A sangiovese of richness, layers and yet to be discovered nuance, fleshy to the point of distraction and seeing the structure for the trees. Once again Andrea Pignattai shows the sensibility, humility and grace in his very personal Brunello, capturing the northwest of Montalcino with sincere and respectful exigency. His ’16 is built to age very well. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted October 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Tasted side by side with Riserva 2016 so its would not be stretch to expect great similarities. First things first. The difference between a Poggio di Sotto Annata and Riserva will always be on blatant display. Moments of clarity each of their own and this ’16 shows something specific, neither lesser nor better but a faithful and loyal expression of the upper vineyards. Great intensity, optimum concentration but not as if or needing to be compared to Riserva’s. Here sapidity swaths over the palate, pesto of herbs and brushstrokes of red velvet ganache. Sweetness of all parts, fruit to tannin, amongst the top for the vintage. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Nastagio 2016

Lovely Col d’Orcia liqueur from a newer Vigna-designate wine for the estate and here with as good a vintage as might be to come flying from the gate. It may be unfair because this is being tasted in the middle of dozens of 2017s but my how finesse, focus, depth and concentration all come together in this fine Vigna wine. Cool, ethereal, salt-licked and well, special. Can imagine drinking this for two plus decades. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted November 2021

Francesco Ripaccioli, Fabrizio Bindocci and Tommaso Cortonesi

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG I Poggiarelli 2016

It seems that I Poggiarelli will always be subjected to comparison because of the contrasting style to Cortonesi’s homefront La Mannella. Here the single-vineyard sangiovese rewrites itself in every vintage from the auspices of a warmer, southeasterly Montalcino location at 420m of elevation. Galestro sandy-grey is the ante-soil structure building block whereas La Mannella’s clay gifts earlier charm and elegance. Furthered élevage is a necessity, to instigate depth and structure but not to encourage too much power. Lastly I Poggiarelli is almost always picked a minimum seven days after La Mannella. In 2016 this all adds up to one important, profound and vintage defining word. Fluidity. That’s the ideal to emulate, replicate, relipucate and remunerate. Tommaso’s ’16 Vigna is a fluid mosaic of sangiovese, as if its components were composed of phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins and carbohydrates. Even if they are seen simply as fruit, acid, texture and tannin they all move seamlessly as one, within one membrane, a perfect biological model, effortlessly layered elastic and fluid. Poetic structure. La liquidità di Montalcino. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Luigi Peroni and Natalie Oliveiros, La Fiorita

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore Di NO 2016

First vintage was 1993 and Natalie Oliveros came on board in 2011. Fiore Di NO is a special wine for her, a combination of three vineyards and only made in abundant years so as not to cannibalize the Annata. NO, as in the owner’s initials but also “no compromise,” no chemicals, barriques or tonneaux. NO is a wine of grace and power, one that exhales instead of holding in thoughts, emotions and feelings. It expresses itself with confidence and control, deserves all of our respect. Drink it now and for the next five years. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted October 2021

Claudia Callegari, San Polo and Michaela Morris

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

One of the few estates that made the decision for 2016 (by winemaker Riccardo Fratton) to not produce any Riserva. Simply because it was too fresh a vintage and the thinking was that an extra year in wood would compromise that ideal. Still a combination of Vignavecchia and Podernovi which means that all the best fruit outside of the single vineyards are in this freshest of fresh Annata. If you are at elevation and want to maintain the integrity of your vineyards then this is what you do. A wine of ethics, unification, probity, trenchant purpose and if simply idealized there is much complexity to assimilate. Grande. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted November 2021

Viola, Gigliola and Sofia, Le Potazzine

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

This and this only, at least for today is the vintage of “I parfumi di Potazzine,” a set of aromas that define and depict this very particular place. A volumetric aroma set of land and space, woods and air, the transfer by “le donne” through a capture of their home. An “eleganza” and “ricercatezza” unparalleled, a wine of charm and obvious grace, controlled passion and incremental steps taken towards the most natural world of parochial perfection. Wild ferment, no filtration, 42 day maceration, long and slow, a risk taken and now such important reward. You had to do it it is said to Gigliola. “I didn’t know exactly,” she says. I don’t believe her. Such a special Annata and one we can trust with every part of our palates and hearts. Drink 2022-2036. Tasted November 2021

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino Poggio Alle Mura DOCG 2016

How can there be any surprise to behold this massive capture of fruit and structure in Banfi’s much heralded yet somehow under-valued Poggio alle Mura? A wine clearly Riserva over Vigna, not just stylistically but all ways counted and speaking. Feel the barrel spice, notes of iodine, soy and scorched earth, the depth and the welling deep into the ground. Baritone sangiovese, a bit of an ode to the past, set in standard bearing and harmony. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

With Elisa Fanti

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2016

The emotional calculation for Fanti’s Vigna wine in 2016 is a special vineyard multiplied by an exceptionally understated vintage to equal a Vallocchio for the ages. The old vines block upwards of 350m could only love the cool, mostly cloudy and elongated season. Every year the best sangiovese comes from this plot on the hill looking up and to the right (north) of the winery. Vallocchio’s Galestro soil is poor and filled with grey to charcoal stones and was identified back in 2006 as the best block for sangiovese. More depth here than Annata to be sure but also an extenuating and extended level of calm, comfort and satisfaction. Just a wonderful and singular estate expression. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted November 2021

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ugolaia 2016

Bright red and juicy concentrated fruit defines and designs this ropey, rosy and ripe liquorice Vigna from Lisini. Tightly wound but with ample to exemplary 2016 fruit of a very specific kind. A Selezione that exhibits all that 2016 truly is, can and wants to be. A vintage of fruit that benefited from hang time so that acids, texture and structure could all catch up to sugar and alcohol. The balance is here. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Classica, an Argiano perfume that fills the glass and then the air, florals and wispy earth, a spray of rose, violet and finely decomposed argilo. There is a restraint, closed constraint and almost no tempt of fate in such a Riserva, sangiovese of maximum occupation if no real hurry to go anywhere and certainly not too fast. It can be imagined that this 2016 will remain almost frozen in this meditative state for up to 10 years. Having tasted through older vintages recently and knowing the current winemaking oeuvre, this grand notion is a given. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Some 2016s come out at and with great force, or speak so vividly. Riserva by Cannalicchio di Sopra is not so much quiet as it is confident, linear, upright and perfectly sturdy. A wine of great force but only willing to use that power incrementally, one essential step at a time. This is 2016 in a perfectly captured and preserved photograph, a mix of eastern and northern vineyards that gather with near perfect equanimity. Nothing left behind, all there and yet not quite ready, a preserve of Montalcino 2016 that will always persevere. Bank and bet on such a wine to pour with strength and elegance for decades. Last tasted November 2021

Barrel Sample. A deeper well filled with that cherry liqueur and clearly more extract and concentration. The tannins are still fierce, intensely chalky and fine bitters are very much a part of the mix. A furthered texture Brunello with no less strength than most 16s will surely exhibit but the power is tempered by this feel and polish. Quite a potential here for 20 plus years of longevity. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Capanna Di Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Lithe and graceful for 2016, full yet reserved, a Riserva of purity and tight wind, also linear and sure. The fruit works a rich citrus edge, from pomegranate through blood orange, feeling healthy and spirited, at times coming down to a dry forest floor but always climbing back up. Quality grains of tannin run in chains, not just at the back but regressing in return through the channels of this most complex and grippy wine. Can’t turn away. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2021

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Deep and fulsome Brunello Riserva for Caparzo out of a vintage that offers as much as any winemaker wished to make use of. The richness of fruit is so northerly Brunello from an ideal vintage cut with argilo-limestone-Galestro mineral wealth. There is truly nothing lacking in the grape-acid-tannin structure in this all in sangiovese and the only question might be is this too much of a good thing? Is there such a thing? Ultimately time will provide the answer. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Gone for broke, full vintage capture and all in sentiment here from Caprineto’s warm and developed ’16. Will need a few years to render, melt and come together but there will always be the classic dustiness of a Carpineto sangiovese, seemingly no matter the Tuscan area from where it comes. Can there be a more consistent and recognizable house style? Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

Drogheria Franci, Montalcino

Casanuova Delle Cerbaie Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2016

Full-fruit in darkening cherry tone and the one Riserva 2016 to show some blueberry, unusual maybe but there it is. Good combinative crunch, some definite lift, salumi and while some may find this a touch acetic it should be suggested that the line is perfectly acceded and never crossed. There is a full compliment of Botti adding spiced and textured commission, also needing time to work within the parametric style. This will settle and when that happens all the parts will come together, swim in a pool of sangiovese liqueur and make for a truly promising future for the wine. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Looking east towards Montalcino from Castello di Romitorio

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Seta 2016

Filo di Seta is Filippo Chia’s intuitive “transavanguardia” sangiovese of place, over the ancient beach where he and his father Sandro once painted the Montalcino sea. Mostly early picked fruit, all in tonneaux, at first thinking croccante but that’s too simple a way to describe what texture and sensation is combed in this reserve wine. Bottled on the 29th of June so just arriving at the ready, to look at if not to consume. Here there is a fineness of liquid chalkiness, a fluido or scorrevole to drive the way this sangiovese plays and also sings, a Riserva to move with the wind and musical sway. Somewhat unknown, finely tannic and clearly what could and should be described as “mountain” Brunello. Coming in late is the spice, almost cinnamon and such. Hate to refer to any wine as the best from an estate but too bad. That this is, beyond the avant-garde such as it is. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted November 2021

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Only the old vineyards participate in the ’16 Riserva composition, in which beautiful means small in that air can pass through. A Riserva of sparsity, spargolo chicchi d’uva (grapes), from eight vineyards selected into one tank. Only the 10th Riserva in Romitorio’s history, harvested at 7.5 acidity and lower alcohol. There is muscle, ancient DNA, clonal diversity, forest floor, air and flora and then, time sliding into light strings and dappling all around. Not a flicker but a hum, almost imperceptible of electricity, kinetic, disciplined and smooth. No rattle, out of synch vibration, nor waste of notes to movement neither. A finished composition, Live at the Fillmore, effusive and light, of comfort and potential. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted November 2021

Conti Costanti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Colle Al Matrichese 2016

Molte sane, repeats Andrea Costanti as if by mantra through the course of the 45 minutes while we taste, consider and assess his Riserva 2016. Many healthy grapes, calories, syllables, words and then adjectives are needed to describe this important if never lithe or shadowy sangiovese. No, it is instead immediately upright, enduring as a vinous edifice and demanding of attention. Aromatically magnetic, floral and prepossessing of magnitude, drawing in close yet tantalizingly teasing at a safe distance. Intimates a feeling, as if standing in a deserted public space rendered in simple geometric forms. Animated de Chirico, mystery and melancholy, vanishing points and parallel lines. Crosses over the palate in mathematically fine lines, everything in order, at peace, perfectly groomed. A strict and generous Riserva, fruit moving two by two, contrapositions of history, tradition and life. In a Brunello for the sake of a Costanti Brunello there is so much to feel and say. Such a wine makes it hard to stop thinking but you must and you will, content with looking forward 12-15 years. Everything is in its right place but should not be disengaged. Not yet, or for a while. Steadily, fermamente, healthily, costantemente, constantly. Drink 2025-2041. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Anemone Al Sole 2016

This first of two Loacker Estates Riserva for their western Montalcino property is the “anemone in the sun,” surely a reference to sea fossils found in the vineyard, so very typical of this part of the territory. Also remarkable considering the elevation and the aspect where sangiovese does in fact bask in the radiation of the sun while also enjoying some of the area’s greatest temperature fluctuations. Deeply cherry, almost blackening but maintaining brightness with top quality acids. Not the most demanding tannins but they are there and will help see this wine move effortlessly through ten years easy. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Molino Al Vento 2016

The second of two for Corte Pavone in Riserva terms is from “the hill of the windmill” and speaks to the windswept crest where the vineyard is perched. As such there should be and clearly is more air and breath in this Riserva as compared to the saline cut that runs through Anemone al Sole. Crisp and crunchy sangiovese here, fruit just a shade less dark than the sister vineyard, tannins finer and also grainier with less openness and more waiting time required. One and then the other. Isn’t that always the case? Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Having an understanding that Tommaso Cortonesi knows how to make his wines and though Riserva is only made in what are deemed “suitable” vintages then 2016 is not an unexpected happenstance. Just so happens to emerge from that stellar growing season and if memory serves correct comes replete with a La Mannella upbringing poised and paused into the very fabric of this wine. A sangiovese of veritable home-front DNA, a torch passing from father and son with oenological consultancy aid and abetting by Paolo Caciorgna. Cortonesi’s Riserva is a linear one, firm of backbone built by later picked fruit and kept acidity. Neither dust nor agitated affectation presides as tannin over juice and in fact this is a very expressive Riserva. One of depth but also one that rises with constant upward movement. Onwards as well with 2016 a high point in the pantheon of the last 15 vintages. Tombola! Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

The purest sangiovese of greatest clarity for the Donatella classics is this Riserva, not just because it comes from 2016 but for the very fact that time has had a great effect in resolving the special needs of such a wine. What’s so very special about a Casato Prime Donne Brunello di Montalcino is the complex weave of northerly fruit, swarthy sumptuousness and textural crema. Never more on display then in this Riserva and from this vintage, bright and you can almost sense the smile on the face of this expressive and inviting wine. Also structured with great sneak and sly movement, sure, unlike the others, so beautifully crafted, painted as opposed to sculpted. Timeless. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted November 2021

Elia Palazzesi Collelceto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

On the lithe and even jammy side for Riserva out of 2016, pretty enough and fruit red, fine, sweet even though there is a difficulty in shaking the feeling of cherry to raspberry confiture. Chewy and ropey, red liquorice and salty tannins. Intriguing Riserva, more like a really fine Annata but lacking depth and complexity. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Macchiarelle 2016

As for Le Macchierelle ’16 the contrast to 2015 is not so much night and day but 2015 (and its extra year in bottle) is showing more caress and Riserva delicacy as compared to this really grippy and tannic 2016. More concentration of tannin and not necessarily conversion of fruit. But to split fruit hairs is silly and there is no doubt the grape substance will easily pace and run with the structure to make Le Macchierelle live a very long, fruitful and slowly developing life. Where this diverges into the realm of special and profound is in the architecture that starts from the ground up. Iron-rich, calcareously cemented, skilled and seasoned. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted November 2021

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Fattoi presents what can best be described as a Riserva for their place and time, a bright and effusive sangiovese of honesty, purity and estate vineyards’ transparency. Who could not be wooed, swayed and allayed by the freshness of such a pretty in pulchritude Riserva, cool and composed, with some of the finest acids and sweet grains of tannins imaginable. Top quality for the ilk and style. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Taverna dei Barbi

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

The question is increasingly asked whether 2015 or 2016 is the true Riserva vintage, of the two. Assessing Barbi’s at this early stage does not answer the question straight away but there are some clues. The mineral swath that owes to iron, volcanic and sedimentary Galestro presence really does dominate the aromatics on what is again a could be nothing but a Fattoria dei Barbi sangiovese. Dark cherries that swim, bob perhaps but never over-macerate in their own sweet juices is the hallmark notation of this vineyard’s aromatic pool. Fine tannins are tight but not overtly demanding, acids stream freely and easy, supportive but not in authoritative control. A bit closed (or let’s say contained) to be honest and the warming finish indicates the need for a few years more time. As opposed to 2015 which was necessary and now here a ’16 that might remind of Brunello from the 1970s. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2021

Fornacina Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Slide nearly due east down from the Montalcino hill and you will come to Fornacina, an estate set in this idyllic quadrant of the area where cypress and grey to white sandy clay mineral soils predominate. Expect classic deep dusty plum fruit from a Riserva and a vintage as co-conspirators of calm, breadth and ease of collective breath. These and this are so true to form if not a serious Brunello, then one so knowable, unshakeable and just bloody proper. This ’16 gets it very right. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted November 2021

Fossacolle Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Quite a deep and developed Brunello Riserva ’16, moving well along its way to arrive at the near your and its destination. Slip sliding away, slowly yet surely, feeling no adversity, pouring soft and simple. Make use of this now while so many firm and tannic kin take their time to find a way. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Pacenti’s Riserva straddles two worlds and works both rooms with remarkable distinction. The fruit is open knit, effusive and perfectly consistent with the vineyard’s gifting but there is also a depth to this sangiovese that makes for a two-part wine. By depth this means a down to earth, low tonality and an herbal, fully formed and dense foundation. This is really solid, grounded and architecturally sound Brunello di Montalcino. More so than many and definitive of style. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Il Poggione Brunello Di Motalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Paganelli 2016

Hard to find a more amenable and also soundly structured Riserva than this by Il Poggione, a Riserva that doubles as a Vigna (single-vineyard) Brunello di Montalcino. This is sangiovese for sangiovese’s sake, from a defined sense of place and made in a style that depicts meaning for a storied estate. Bright with depth, light tripping acids and grounding. Solid construction while always able to dance upon its feet. One of the best ever for the crew. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Hard to imagine a Riserva from 2016 with more openness and inviting behaviour than this from La Fiorita but what’s clearly at play is the attention to detail, starting with dedicated and regenerative agriculture. A warm location is a challenge and yet fruit here is so well preserved and lifted at the very same time. The mix of textures, at once chewy and then crunchy, the blessings of commitment, passionate and respect, finally the way this wine seamlessly moves with delicasse and power. These are all stages and layers that knit a really fine Riserva. Brava. Veramente brava. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Gli Angeli is true Riserva, of a density in the depths of earth and fruit while conversely rising with lifted guide. Bone density too, then highlights before returning back from whence it rose. Loads of charred herbs, dusty tannins and a late drying sensation. Needs aeration and time. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

A Riserva from Vallafrico southeast of the Montalcino village set in some of the territories’ most beautiful hills. While the rise and the piques alert the brows and put the buds on alert there too is sensory territorial understanding that gives this wine a grounded and calming sense of place. Leccaia’s fruit wells dark, climbs airy to ethereal and fulfills every point along the tasting journey. A complete wine in every respect, just, stylish and very fine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Rich and wholesome Riserva of great depth and breadth, though easy on the tannic power. They are there and highly involved but already developed, fine and near to relenting. A vanquished Riserva is a particular style, ready and willing but far from airy and light. Not so much a big 2016 but rather one of density in and amongst the many layers. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

La Poderina Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Abate 2016

From a hill above the abbey of Castelnuovo dell’Abate and a warmth running through this Riserva as much as any in the collection. Running tart and a bit brittle, hard tannins and sharp acids taking full control. A year should help settle the anger and the score. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

La Rasina Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Il Divasco 2016

At the height of what could be considered a lifted Riserva, especially for 2016, tones set to 11 in a sangiovese of great pulse and fiery style. After comes the wood, fulsome and chalky, grains of spice and chocolate through all its iterations. A bit old school and lovely for the sentiment. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2016

Never overstate the Lorenzo Magnelli way of crafting Riserva, that is by aging in cask longer than not just the average, but indeed all others. His Le Chiuse Diecianni carries, drifts and gifts the most succulence whilst exhibiting a spice force to ignite the most sensation and emotion. A veritable melting pot of a sangiovese, complexities bound and wound, circulating throughout the wine’s coefficient of existential and elementary positions. These are the smallest of berries picked to forge what only Riserva can, to be cool, mineral licked, ethereal. Already exhibiting fruit purity and also density for a look at what two decades forward will come from this finest of Brunello wines. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted November 2021

Padelletti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Finely composed and structured Brunello Riserva here from Padelletti out of the full and complete 2016 vintage. A sangiovese of cherries darkening to blue and black, of fruit oscillations that rise and fade, return and submit to the acids of this wine. Mighty acids they are, lifted and full of vim, vigour and relish. Not quite a vivid Riserva but surely one of what feels like a northerly ilk, cool, savoury and in its own world, blessed of a particular kind of wine. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Solaria Patrizia Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Brightness of tight lightning, red fruit sparked and ready to take on the world. Sharp tang, crisp and crunchy, shifting now, heading into an area occupied by the wood in the wine. Of a school where big cask and time conspire for older fashioning yet here of a clarity that speaks with clean admonition. In the end capitulates and commits to being a fine wine, nice and amenable. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Antinori Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Ferrovia 2016

Hard to imagine more warmth and deeply rooted red fruit development accessed and gathered in a Riserva from 2016. Pian delle Vigne’s doubles down on the vintage ideal, acting as both a Riserva and a Vigna wine, luxe and direct, full throttle and yet finely finessed. The lover of Brunello for Brunello’s just further back than most recent history will fall in love with this style of Montalcino Riserva. The credibility of the work can never be called into question. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Pietroso’s Riserva from 2016 is a lifted affair and also incredibly youthful, precocious and yet to be understood. Of all the Riserva from 2016 tasted in this session it seems to be one that needs air, contemplation and time. The fruit seems to mimic and intimate so many ilk, freshness mostly but also some moments feeling leathery and dry. Like cacchi (persimmon) for instance, also pods from certain trees and liquorice. A unique Riserva, solo artist from winemaker Andrea Pignattai, so worthy of distinction and as mentioned off the top, must be given plenty of time. In assessment and much further aging. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2021

Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Brizio’s gives away so many aromas in Riserva, from herbs and brushy hillsides to all the spices in the world. A wine of forest proximate scents mixed with barrel affectation like few others and finishing where all the chocolate lays. The finish is quite soft and the tannins relenting, already at this time. Drink this earlier than many. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Wanting to head straight away into superlatives it must be cautioned not to do so because thinking about how 2016 Riserva relates to what Poggio di Sotto really is must be the first and last consideration. La nota di magnete, a metallic note, florals, red to black fruit and the sapidity of località is more than anything else a classic way to imagine and convince the world that this is exactly what Poggio di Sotto has been, is now and always will be. The same team that has been here and will be here has made this wine, humble professionals that support the Poggio di Sotto expression. Penetrating, intense, opening slowly, acids doing everything they can to elevate the sweetness and persistence of fruit. Keep in mind there is no single vineyard 2016 to cannibalize the top selection for this wine. The idea for this Riserva was known going in and the wine achieves every aspect of the goal. Meraviglioso. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Renieri Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Straight away on notice for lovely work in Riserva by Renieri with more upfront, right, pure and proper fruit than many. Hard to combine and manage freshness with textural chew and that is the fine accomplishment in this 2016. That and a fineness of acids and tannins also working as one for structural gains. A harmonized, nearly settled Riserva in upright position that will round out when the time is right. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

San Felice Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Il Quercione 2016

Classical Campogiovanni, clearly Quercione and indisputably a wine factored, figured and crafted by Leonardo Bellaccini. Exceptional fruit quality meets barrel excellence, engages with one on one commitment and emerges married until death do they part. Richness and textural luxuries abiding and forever. Likely one of the biggest Riserva to discover out of the idealism of the vintage. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2021

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

The 2016 Riserva from San Polino continues a string of most excellent wines tasted by this esteemed producer, including high quality Annata and Vigna 2017s. The depth and commitment to finesse in the face of power lays somewhere between exemplary and extraordinary with a Riserva unrelenting in its nature of calm, poised and collected spirit. Plenty of backbone and drying grains of fine to wispy tannin helps to drive forth the definitive point. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2021

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Phenomena 2016

Exemplary and necessary Sesti vineyards put in the work here for a Riserva 2016 of real gastronomic presence. Feels like a complex preparation, locally sourced and raised, as if by nightshades and also beefy, slow cooked and lean, seared to act as a perfect compliment with a glycerin salsa rossa tying it all together. Chewy and ropey as a savoury confiture to sidle up to cured salumi in yet another gustatory way of looking at Montalcinese sangiovese. All in all a fine and delicate wine. An execution, style and finished plate of own purpose, tradition and accord. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2021

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Pian Di Conte 2016

Pian de Conte is without equivocation a very special wine. The best of Talenti’s vineyard blocks and selections make for a 2016 Riserva as finessed and fine as any. Perhaps the most important aspect and what matters to know about this Riserva is the restraint, the way the wine has gently travelled through its universe of maceration, fermentation and elévage. Pian de Conte is poised, perched and prescient within, upon and without all the points in between picking and pouring, always with an eye on the ultimate prize. That would be aging well into the next decade with one incremental structural step taken at wide, lengthy and unhurried intervals. Such a wine only comes around once in a while. Drink 2024-2038. Tasted November 2021

Azienda Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Di Franci Franca Selezione Franci 2016

Franci Riserva is a gift of fruit, actually a gift wrapped package with red fruit at its core and a surround sound of sweet acidity tabled by even sweeter tannin. The lack of grip, pomp, astringency and circumstance is almost remarkable in a Riserva for 2016 that well, hits the sweet spot. Gainful, respectful of place and just a really lovely drop to enjoy nearer and dearer to time and heart. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta La Fuga Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Unusually reductive, especially for sangiovese and for Brunello. Don’t even get started on this but…20 minutes later it has blown off. Make sure to aerate your ’16 Riserva to give them the full respect they so deserve. Behind the curtain is a Riserva of full riches, richesse and real magnanimous behaviour noted by how it swirls in the mouth with so much flavour. Truly a cup runneth over Riserva that will stand a good and credible test of time. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Ucceliera Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Have of late come to know and understand what a Brunello by Ucceliera smells like and this is it. In Riserva form but one of those sangiovese that feels like it has aged to an optimum point yet will almost surely remain right at this state of extant etiquette for many years to come. A Riserva that speaks to fruit edging into a cured, oxidative and dried spectrum though clearly suspended in fresh stopover animation. Brunello of salumi and the earth, of berries, plums and fragola, of bosco and nocie, umami and the future. If more were going in this 2016 there would not be enough bandwidth to take it all in. There is fortunately enough and at just the right amount. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2021

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Spuntali 2016

A combination of variegated fruit, red, also some orange and then this deep rooted earthiness. Hematic and a brush with forest floor success. Up level acids foil the earthbound nature and emotions run high in a Vigna Brunello of great parochial curiosity and much moving, stirring and complex behaviour. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2021

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Ventolaio’s Riserva is one of the very few that is simply not a really noticeable departure from the Annata. A sangiovese of incredible clarity and also transparency. If ever a Brunello would speak in exacting, this is what, who and why terms then Ventolaio’s might just be the spokesperson at the head. These are their wines, highly specific, notable, bright and fine. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Verbena Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

A recognizable style of Riserva here, part darker fruit and part high tonality, lifted skywards. Down to earth in terms of substance yet very much submissive to acidity, some tannin but much more of the former. A tart, edgy and drying sangiovese, likely best before too long and not too deep into the years following. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2021

Older vintages

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Bigger and more concentrated vintage, even for high elevation, cool and freshest of them all Le Potazzine. Clarity combined with finesse meet at the point where that clarity becomes vivid reality. More tannin and a sense of the Grandi Botti are in this vintage which means more time is still warranted to bring this to fruition. Will live as long as any in Montalcino. This is the reason 2015 is a Riserva vintage for Potazzine, more than most. It can handle and wants the extra year in wood. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted November 2021

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Cerretalto 2015

Explicit, outward, gregarious and highly expressive sangiovese, expansive in every way, by depth, width and breadth. Stretches elastically and widens fleshy with each inhale and exhale, sniff and sip. Wood is a major compliment with fruit the willing acceptor. Able to move freely, stitching parts seamlessly together and the length on this Brunello goes on seemingly forever. Prototypical Cerretalto from paradigmatic Neri, both of which always seem to calibrate shifts in Montalcino connotation. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted October 2021

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Colombaiolo 2015

Starts slowly out of the gate, a wine of understatement setting an even pace and in no rush to take the early lead. Charming no doubt, builds power, releases energy, based on high quality vintage fruit substance. Continues on a forward trajectory through sangiovese’s ability to self-assimilate reliable and relatable acidity throughout the taster’s experience. The wine takes over and you realize the freshness of volatility speaks to youthfulness and potential. Needs three more years easy. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2021

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

“2015 in my opinion, you will find more structure, the power and the generosity of this wine,” says Federico Radi. Submits to the idea that you won’t feel the power of 14.5 per cent alcohol and the power in your mouth. A gastronomic Riserva, gregarious, more grip than many Biondi-Santi Riserva while maintaining the DNA of pace in place. The vintage is felt, like a warm blanket and only 1997 reached this level of generosity and alcohol, with decisions made by Iacopo Biondi-Santi and a later harvest around the 21st of September. This is when poly-phenolic ripeness was finished but the alcohol rose over those past two weeks. A big wine for the estate, such a bambino now, full of ripe fruit at the apex of possibility, not austerity but near fierce tannins. They surround the grandiosity of fruit so that everything exists at a higher level. Needs more time and though will age for decades it should be suggested to drink these well before 2040. Drink 2025-2039. Tasted November 2021

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 2015

Since the 1980s it has been Count Francesco Marone Cinzano who continued plantings to the current number at 140 hectares, 108 of which are dedicated to Brunello production. Since August 27, 2010 the whole estate including vineyards, olive groves, other fields and even the gardens are farmed exclusively following organic agricultural practices. The vineyards are located on the southern slope of the Montalcino territory, on hilly lands and extend over 540 hectares, from the Orcia River to the village of Sant’Angelo in Colle, at about 450 metres over sea level. Tasting Poggio al Vento in the midst of dozens of 2016s is more than curious indeed and in fact this island in that deepening stream is a red faced beauty. Shows the great contrast in vintages with higher tonality and fruit of a very different ripeness. Makes for a style not quite apposite but of a clarity that shows place with more transparency. Also a liquid chalkiness to reflect on the more baritone notes played by many ‘16s. Hard not to compare and contrast at this time while in Col d’Orcia terms the PaV resides in that pantheon with great distinction. Will grace tastings through the ages as well as any that have come before. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted November 2021

With Elisa Fanti and Michaela Morris

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Macchiarelle 2015

Le Macchierelle is a bit lower down on the slope below and to the south of Vallocchio, same Galestro stone-strewn type vineyard but less grey and now some rosso, iron-rich soil. And so there is less calm and more power here but really only in a slight if relative quantity. Such a rich expression of Vigna Brunello, also concentrated by even older plants, three and a half hectares of 40-plus year old vines. Remarkable for the vintage, full and satisfying, not the meditative wine that is Vallocchio. Also remember that this is Riserva so accordingly acts and disseminates as one. As it should. Just about ready to go. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted November 2021

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

Still at this time a closed, iron-gated fortress, yet to reveal the expectation of aromatics but one taste and the full phenolic thrush circles right back to begin the begin again. Says so much about structure and time needed for this house and their truth with respect to Riserva in the vintage. A wealth of fleshy red sangiovese willingness is the dream to hang onto while knowing that three further years minimum are needed before the movement and evolution of the interested parties involved will initiate a secondary response. Only then can the entry be accessed with ease for a seamless and transitional parlay through Poggio di Sotto’s Riserva ’15. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted October 2021

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

Really quite perfect to taste this side by side with 2016 because it was also one of those vintages that would have also been a bit contained or constrained until a year or two ago. Now expressive in a gregarious and generous way, a Riserva excavating and expediting historical attitude and execution to the present day surface. Riserva 2012 is in a wonderful place, wide open and giving, Barbi cherry fruit mixed with Galestro mineral mining and this cool smoulder that graces every part of your insides. Timing for the lover of timeless wines. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2011

At nearly ten years there is clear development in this 2011 and also a most obvious stylistic that has since changed over the years. A little over 3,000 bottles were made and while wines have changed and are made differently these last five years or so this represents what Riserva is and must be with distinction. Persistent Botti spice and texture plus secondary notes in a tartufo, porcini and herbal Amaro vein. All parts have rendered and there is a ganache painting the berries long since melted through this wine. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2010

The 2010 was the second Riserva made in a string of six vintages between 2004 and 2019, the others being ’12, 15 and ’16. A bottle showing so well tonight because of its ideal structure (and a really good cork). Still some unresolved tannin, quite fresh, some layers, tiers and parts still needing to break down. Tart and demanding, fruit very much intact and surprising how little it has moved forward. After 30 minutes the umami, frutta di bosco, scorched earth and tartufo emerge. Which is just perfect. Last tasted November 2021.

Now talking post-aggressive behaviour in Riserva not yet advanced ahead of time. There are secondary aromatic hints but the tannins remain in tact, charged and controlling. There’s a circular motion happening hear as fruit and acidity whirl around, outrunning the tannins or at least attempting to. All the sweet things that grow wild and are picked to accent your braises are swirled into the aromatic potpourri of this fine sangiovese of whispers, shadows and silhouettes. It’s a chiaroscuro of a Brunello, all in and we are in turn fully engaged. Tasted October 2019

There are few Brunello vintages afforded more attention in the last 10-plus, certainly ’04 and ’06, increasingly better even from ’08 and looking forward towards what greatness will come in 2015. Yes but not solely magnified through the lens of patience and bottle time, from 2010 La Mannella has coupled upon and layered over itself like compressed fruit and puff pastry. Though it begs for drink now attention, another seven years will be needed before it can safely be labeled as uncoiled and to reveal all that is wrapped so tight. Rich is not the operative but unmistakeable as Cortonesi it is; that natural clay soil funk of resolution and fully hydrated chalk. This is to sangiovese as Les Preuses Grand Cru Chablis or Rangen Grand Cru Alsace are to Riesling. It carries in its pocket the absolute meaning and genetic responsibility of where it comes from, with a curative and restorative ability to get you lost. Drink 2019-2031. Tasted February 2017

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2004

Old leather, cigar box, aging yet raspy singing florals. Whether or not the consensus is top vintage matters little because this ’04 has travelled to reside in a slice of Montalcino heaven. Like a dream and a trip back to the club, as if in the 1980s or 90s, the band playing your favourite song, playing it all night long. As the wine airs the dream continues, spice, tar and brewed notes emerge, all tied back to beginnings, naïveté, early passions and plans for the future. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted November 2021

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Tenuta Greppo 1985

The longevity of this vintage is almost not to be believed. Has been in bottle for as many years as it would have matured in casks. The next year (2022) will se the re-release of this vintage (in 2021 that vintage was 1983) and the year 1985 is the one I entered university. A Biondi-Santi of resolved tannin but remarkably youthful. A wine that saw Grandi Botti more than before, seen in the gentlest of spice notes and the back to the future return of balsamic and pomegranate. Followed a winter of major snowfall, long and cold winter, a regular spring and uneventful summer. The acidity is just incredible, also youthful and so sweet, those lengthened tannins in liquid powdery-chalky form. The connection with 2016 may seem to be an uncanny one but so help me if the chain is not there. The bottle was opened one hour and forty five minutes earlier so grazie to Federico Radi and Biondi-Sandi for perfecting the timing. We can all learn so much from this wine, to be patient, calm, well-adjusted, confident and gracious. Style and temperament to live by. Should continue this way for at least 10 more years. Drink 2021-2033. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Fanti

A few IGTs

Tenuta Fanti Rosato 2020, IGT Toscana

Solo sangioivese from a very late green harvest in the first week of September. If you like soft-pressed, fresh from stainless, salty, little bit of lees cheesed Rosato then stop right here. Only 5,000 bottles are made of this thirst-quenching, satisfying and delicious stuff. Drink 2021-2022. Tasted November 2021

Cortonesi Lèonus Rosso 2020, IGT Toscana

Sangiovese, as always, like Rosso and Brunello but in Lèonus a quicker skin maceration on earlier harvested grapes. A performative style with low level extraction, especially of tannins and any possible green or astringent distractions. Looking for and finding immediate amenability with the same sangiovese from Montalcino indicator lights that signal place and time. Also higher acidity, better for matching food right now, easy to drink and the bottle will disappear before knowing it has happened. Fresh, clean, crisp and simple. So smart. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Troncone 2019, IGT Toscana Rosso

Bottled in August, of lovely sour orange, currant and pomegranate, just tart enough to call this spirited and full enough to keep you satisfied. Easy and functional with an extra layer of depth, fun and by the glass quality. In 2019 there were 40,000 bottles produced of this sangiovese from vineyards inside and outside of the Montalcino zone. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted November 2021

Tenuta Buon Tempo La Funba Toscana Sangiovese 2019, IGT Toscana

The label is drawn by a French painter (a friend of Camilla’s) that depicts “the first Thanksgiving.” Amphora raised sangiovese for six months, just for fun, pure sangiovese, woolly and youthful, a terroir wine doubled down by the whole bunches and the clay. It’s delicious sangiovese, a new texture and only Gaiole in Chianti’s Riecine IGT sangiovese compares, or perhaps that of San Donato in Poggio’s Le Masse. Changes in the glass so concertedly and becomes a beautiful wine. Just beautiful. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2021

Good to go!

godello

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

WineAlign

Twenty-one Canadian wines that rocked in 2021

Dec29

Another year comes to a close, one filled with the dark moments and the light, the romantic entanglements and debacles, highs and lows. In life, love and wine, here with any reference to a gesture, gaze, smile or any other sensory reaction coming from an account of someone who witnessed it. In this particular case that would be Godello and much of what he saw and heard included odd little episodes that reveal how grapes really lived under the conditions of not only this vintage, but also the ones that came before. This ninth edition of 21 Canadian wines that rocked in 2021 comes out as a derivative, spin-off and postscript to all of this.

Godello in the Similkameen Valley

As a reminder, year-end lists are a matter of personal fascination and should be met with a certain level of judgement so that highly subjective descriptors such as “best” or “most” can be consumed with doubt, thoughts askance and even heated moments of disbelief. That which makes us feel moved, stirred, excited, ignited and set aflame could very well be someone else’s nothingness. Classification, indexing and charting is truly personal and as such opens up wide for criticism and hopefully, healthy debate. So keep it real but also civil, if you please.

If we thought the 12 months that made up the 2020 calendar took things deep into the arena of the unfathomable and the absurd, then 2021 left the stadium and flew into the stratosphere of the preposterous. One silly year led to another but this one just seems to be concluding with some sort of level best described as fraught with “Vonnegutian violence.” Thank goodness there is Canadian wine to fall back onto and though it has been said before, this was indeed the very best year for the local stuff. A 2021 from which the highest to date level of greatness was achieved. Though these holidays are bittersweet and conditioned with some great unknowns, take solace in Canadian wine and what can be learned from their progression, evolution and continued excellence. They never give in or up but always strive forward, getting better all the time. To quote and then paraphrase from Britt Daniel and his band Spoon, “when you think your thoughts be sure that they are sweet ones. Don’t you know, love, you’re alright…don’t you know your (glass) awaits and now it’s time for (tasting).”

This latest rocking roster of Canadian made wine is now the ninth annual for an exercise that first began back in 2013. When 2022 comes to a close the 10th will come to fruition in print, with 22 of Canada’s best laid to order. In 2021 Canadian wines were made available at every turn, especially at the WineAlign tasting table. In July the WineAlign critics’ crü took in Niagara for a pseudo-i4C 2021 Cool Chardonnay weekend. Godello made his own way to Nova Scotia in September to meet with and taste alongside eight of that province’s great winemaking teams. In October the WineAlign judging cartel sat through more than 2,000 entries at the National Wine Awards of Canada in the Okanagan Valley. Events such as the VQA Oyster competition, Somewhereness and Terroir Symposium were still no shows, or gos, nor walk-around tastings neither. Once again sad to miss Tony Aspler’s Ontario Wine Awards and David Lawrason’s Great Canadian Kitchen Party, the artist formerly known as Gold Medal Plates. Here’s to hoping 2022 will finally usher in a return to assessing and celebrating together.

Related – Niagara’s cool for chards

As per previous incarnations of this annual compendium, “the numbers chosen to cant, recant and decant excellence in Canadian wine continue to march ahead, as promised by the annual billing. In 2019 the list counted 19. In 2018 there were 18 and in 2017, 17 noted. In 2016 that meant 16 and 15 for 2015, just as in 2014 the filtered list showed 14, after 13 for 2013. Last year? You would be correct if you guessed 20. “Whence comes the sense of wonder we perceive when we encounter certain bottles of art?” Note that a third of the 21 most exciting Canadian wines of 2021 are in sparkling form. Does that need to be qualified? Of course not. Godello gives you twenty-one Canadian wines that rocked in 2021.

13th Street Premier Cuvée Sparkling 2015, Traditional Method, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Racy sparkling wine of traditional ways, dry, toasty and of great vigour. Top notch autolysis, fine lees and guesses to the end would have to be in the 48-plus month arena. The real deal, richly rendered, acids in charge, instructive and carrying the fruit to the mountain’s peak. Hard to top this in Canada. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted blind at NWAC2021, October 2021

Avondale Sky Winery Méthode Traditionelle Blanc De Noir 2013, Nova Scotia

While Ben Swetnam had wanted to dabble in sparkling going back to 2009 he can thank everyone in the Nova Scotia industry for showing him the ropes. That includes Gina Haverstock at Gaspereau, Bruce Ewart at L’Acadie, Simon Rafuse at Blomidon, Jean-Benoit Deslauriers at Benjamin Bridge and others. The 2011 would have been the first vintage of pinot noir production with the intent of making sparkling wine, of hot to cool years and all others in between. Dijon clones and a warmer edge of a ’13 season, a riper style but brought in at classic sparkling numbers, acids 11-12.5 and brix 17-19, picking in the third week of October. An early vintage. Intensity meets richness halfway there, fruit flavours are exceptional, just shy of eight years on lees, disgorged three months ago. “For the pinot I always wanted to do a minimum five years and the acidity was always there,” tells Ben. “The tertiary qualities were not out yet so the pause every six months kept the decisions at bay.” Got this apricot chanterelle fungi character, mousse and bubble are really in tact, dosage is 7.5 g/L almost fully hidden by that Nova Scotia acidity. There is something about this sight that maintains higher acidity levels while sugars rise but as an example perhaps it’s the gypsum based soil underneath the whole vineyard, or the tidal rivers and the specific diurnal fluctuations, cooler at night and “it’s something we can always rely on, in every year, that backbone of acidity.” So very Nova Scotia. Usually 500 bottles produced per year. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted August 2021

Benjamin Bridge Méthode Classique Brut Rosé 2017, Nova Scotia

One of the first wines to come to the surface with Pascal Agrapart’s involvement with winemakers Jean-Benoit Deslauriers and Alex Morozov. When tasted the sentiment was that this particular vintage of this very particular sparkling wine was not yet there yet in terms of readiness or rather publicizing but truth be told, never have texture and acids come together as one in a BB Rosé. Crunch and chew, riff and rise, bellow and beauty, all despite the spiralling zeitgeist that underscores its urgency. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted August 2021

Blomidon Estate Winery Méthode Traditionelle Blanc De Noirs 2016, Nova Scotia

Give or take 76 per cent pinot noir and 24 meunier, a similar vintage to 2015 (though a touch warmer) and here picked on the 17th of November. Almost all from Woodside Vineyard and some meunier off of the Blomidon estate vines, no longer here. Disgorged today, yes today and my oh my the potential here elevates to a very high ceiling. Just under 6 g/L RS so exactly extra brut, really primary but with the dosage that will arrive before you know it. The pinot delivers more fruit than the chardonnay, perhaps a counterintuitive concept but that’s Nova Scotia. And every vintage will flip the head and make you think again. Small lot, 50 cases or so. Searing succulence, a structural richness and transformative beyond the complex, curious and interesting. Assiduous if conceited blanc de noirs, pejorative to chardonnay, entangled inside enigma, mystery and riddle. Literally. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted August 2021

Blue Mountain Blanc De Blancs R.D. 2012, VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

A varietal estate grown chardonnay that spent upwards of 78 months sur lie is nothing short of dramatic, if not unconscionable. Not that no one else, anywhere else does such a thing but to do so, change so little and deliver unquestionable excellence is what dreams, expression and delivery are all about. If the Brut Reserve is Fillmore East than this Blanc de Blancs is Montreux, electric, mind-bending and so very exotique. João Gilberto, Marvin Gaye and Lou Reed wrapped into one, a sparkling wine of influence that only incidentally expands into mainstream visibility. This has stage presence and breaks fresh ground with creative sensibility, not to mention a deliciousness of flavour and mousse. That and 2012 in pocket permanently affixed to to the album cover. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted March 2021

Henry Of Pelham Estate Winery Cuvée Catharine Centenary Estate Blanc De Blanc 2010, VQA Short Hills Bench, Ontario

As a reminder this top H of P traditional method sparkling wine is named after Catharine Smith, Henry of Pelham’s wife and this Centenary is the crème de la crème for the label. A rarity for the estate and for Canadian wine, partially (20 per cent) barrel fermented and aged for up to 100 months on the lees. All Short Hills Bench chardonnay, all in with a hyperbole of toasty development and the most brûlée of any bubble in the village. The sparkling stage presence and prescience of being so connected to grape and place make this true to itself. Not to be missed. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted December 2021

L’Acadie Vineyards Prestige Brut Estate Méthode Traditionelle 2014, Nova Scotia

Was embargoed until September 9th after having just received the Lieutenant Governor Award. Has evolved into a seriously toasted arena, gone long with lees contact, looking for peaceful co-existence between yeast autolysis and the fruit of the wine. “You don’t want conflict, you want that harmony, tells Bruce Ewart.” Disgorged January 2021 and so spent more than the minimum five years on lees. An insignificant dosage (more than most of these wines). Bruce’s program goes at it in terms of two and five year aging and he believes that while Nova Scotia can do ten or more there is only a minor incremental increase in complexity by doing so. This at six-plus has hit such a sweet spot, still in retention of currant and white/red berry fruit but also low and slow golden, tanned and long as an August afternoon Gaspereau shadow. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted September 2021

Two Sisters Blanc De Franc 2018, VQA Niagara River, Ontario

Stellar work here in blanc de franc, understated and effusive, lifted of black currants and sweet pepperoncini yet grounded by serious grape tannin. A sparkling wine of grape extract so full of depth and breadth. Not a wine of high autolysis but rather tart, tight and in command of all it wants to be. Last tasted blind at NWAC2021, October 2021.

The third vintage of Adam Pearce’s ground-breaking Blanc de Franc is as you would imagine a white sparkling wine made from the red cabernet franc grape. The aromas are distinct and secure, squarely wrested from the red currant and sweet peppery varietal post, expressed in a uniquely Two Sisters bubble that may once again, or rather should continue to rock one’s world. More richness and also excitement than ever before, risk taken and reward achieved. No acquiescence, no adjacent meanders but head down, goal in sight and hurdles overcome. At the end of the day this is one of the most impressive and essential wines made in Ontario. Nova Scotia is on the franc idea and others locally are beginning to follow. Autolytic and delicious, on point and regal. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted September 2021

Malivoire Rosé Moira 2020, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Escarpment, Ontario

From vines planted by proprietor Martin Malivoire “close to home” in what is the eponymous vineyard. Moira is a Beamsville Bench icon and has been for quite some time now, without question, nothing to discuss here, case closed. There is a complex and layered developed notation that Vivant does not have, not fort better or worse but Moira requires more thought and consternation. You can no longer think on it in terms of salinity, sapidity and satisfaction. Something more and other must be considered. Style. Style is what separates Moira from most other Ontario Rosé and in 2020 it exudes with prejudice and finesse. When a sip of a wine in this category stays with you for as long as Moira does, well you just know greatness is in the glass. This can saunter with the very best of Southern France. That’s the truth. Kudos to winemaker Shiraz Mottiar for this. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted April 2021

Martin’s Lane Riesling Fritzi’s Vineyard 2018, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Shane Munn’s riesling from the volcanic, clay and white quarts Fritzi’s Vineyard continues to get better, all the while with a wine he seems to do less and less to try and control. Must be the place and the fruit from this 21 year-old block (as of this 2018 vintage) seeking a 48 hour skin-contact for oxidatively handled juice. Pressed once, lightly and so softly treated, then transferred to German casks where it stays for up to eight months. Just bloody delicious, hard to not conjure a frothie for this freshest of phenolic rieslings, which incidentally was only sulphured once, four months into the trek. Walks about from grippy to lovely and back again, with silk stops along the way. Will shine brightest two years from now. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted twice, October and December 2021

Mt. Boucherie Original Vines Lost Horn Vineyard Sémillon 2020, VQA Okanagan Falls, Okanagan Valley

A really creative sémillon, rich, creamy and fulsome which is classic Mt. Boucherie while never abandoning the grape’s pointed and intense linearity. Hard not to be impressed by the soil intendment and how it creates a backbone in the wine, beyond acidity and into something sarsen-like, upright, timeless, forever. Plenty of grip, essential elements, minerals and metallics. Keeps the sémillon sensibility alive of an unconquerable nature, varietal invictus, solid construct but with more than ample fruit. Convincing follow-up to 2019 and really quite on par in every respect. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted October 2021

Closson Chase South Clos Chardonnay 2019, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario

Notable reduction marks South Clos’ youthful entry and with that first nose in the glass we are put on immediate notice that 2019 will be a structured year for winemaker Keith Tyers’ and Closson Chase’s chardonnay. This and the following vintage will trade blows for bragging rights, longevity and excellence, so pay attention to this pool of varietal estate wines. That is something CC so generously affords their customers. Here at the top level the fruit is glorious, pristine, pure and cut by diamond clarity. The reduction flies away and a nose of marzipan, lemon preserve and a fresh bitten Ida Red apple come away from the vineyard. Acids here are tight, crunchy, friable, felt from the tongue’s tip to the wisdoms. The liquidity is so finely chalky with all signs pointing to spirit and balance with that ’19 crop of South Clos fruit at the core. Does not get much better from PEC, Ontario or Canada. Anywhere. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2021

Hidden Bench Chardonnay Felseck Vineyard 2019, VQA Beamsville Bench

Tasted as part of an #14c21 seven year vertical Felseck Vineyard retrospective. No stirring, “I don’t like bâtonnage,” tells winemaker Jay Johnston, “unless I’m trying to get a wine to dry.” Never mind the lees aeration or the emulsification because texture in this ’19 is extraordinary to behold, gliding across the palate with Bench orchard fruit cleverness, penetrating perspicacity and juices running through unblemished flesh. Tighter and taut than ’18, while seemingly improbable but here yet unwound, far from the pinnacle at which point full expression will surely ache to be. The ’18 may be a beautiful thing but the ’19 is structured, manifold in destiny and ideal for those who know, or at least think they do. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted July 2021

Lightfoot And Wolfville Ancienne Chardonnay 2018, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

Frost year for the valley but again an escape by the vines at Lightfoot & Wolfville with thanks to the tidal influence to keep the chardonnay vines happy, healthy and secure. So much fruit and warm summer sunshine, a glade bathed in light and a luminescence rarely found in chardonnay. Consistent L & W elévage, increasingly into puncheons and away from 225L barriques. You can never forget and not remember what chardonnay has done for L & W, while now the richness and restraint work in optimized tandem. Less reductive than previous incantations, with new and improved connotations, consistencies and harmonic sway. Also a matter of vintage and cooperage. Stability is the key to being great. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted September 2021

Westcott Reserve Chardonnay 2020, VQA Vinemount Ridge, Ontario

Almost seems redundant to say anything about the Reserve from 2020 because what more is there that was not already expounded upon from the Estate chardonnay. Same soft entry, slow developing charm, fruit neither richest nor gregarious but yet in Reserve truly ideal, less variegated and hinting at opulence. That is the crux and the key, hints, in shadows, speculations, possibilities and in Reserve form most surely probabilities. Elevates the crisp crunch and gets real trenchant with the pulverulent and tactile sensations. Seriously credible, professional and still emotive work here from Westcott at the pinnacle of Vinemount Ridge, but also Bench and Escarpment chardonnay. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted October 2021

The Bachelder Vineyard Map

Bachelder Bai Xu Gamay Noir Niagara Cru 2019, VQA Four Mile Creek, Ontario

Bai Xu is unique within the Bachelder gamay domain encompassing whole cluster ferments and cru investigations. It reminds us all that time and patience are a must, an academic approach is not enough and one must follow their intuition, instinct and heart to deliver appreciated wine. In Niagara the philosophy has merged with gamay in ways the monk could never have known were possible. Here 20 per cent whole cluster may be less than the 22 and 52 crus, but this is a broader matter and one that fruits beyond the Wismer-Foxcroft Vineyard. In a sense, a villages-plus wine (think Côte d’Or) but as a conceptual one. The clarity and slow release of flavour in Bai Xu happens without power, grip or forceful intent. The acidity neither startles nor does it cry out, but instead acts as architect for the infrastructure and the mosaic. Bai (it is presumed) from a Chinese language, meaning “pure,” (depending on the dialect and vowel’s accent) and Xu, “slowly, calmly.” Thomas Bachelder is surely looking for the chaste gamay, unadulterated and one that rushes nowhere, takes the slow and winding path, feet securely on solid ground. More than anything else, this gamay cru won’t chase after what it thinks may make us happy or search for things that deliver one and done, immediate and short-lived excitement. As another one of nature’s mysterious constructs the captured poise and effect make cause for great delight. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted June 2021

Cloudsley Cellars Cuesta Vineyard Pinot Noir 2018, VQA Twenty Mile Bench

Cuesta as a vineyard has more history behind it than one might have assumed, having been planted back in 2002. Adam Lowy has made 65 cases from Cuesta’s deeply resonant and soulful fruit, so as a consequence given it more new oak (28 per cent) than any of his other three single-vineyard pinot noirs. Clearly the brightest, most tonally effusive and transparent of the quadrangle, as Burgundian as it gets when it comes to mapping or contemplating the connectivity with the mothership. Just a lovely, elegant and sweet-scented pinot noir, classically arranged, scientifically opined and romantically delivered by Lowy’s prudent if so very hopeful elévage. The Côtes de Nuits notation is clearly defined, intuited and understood. Not quite but resembling Marsannay, or perhaps even something just a plot or three further south. Cuesta conduits as the “Robbinsian” one for which “the scientist keeps the romantic honest and the romantic keeps the scientist human.” Drink 2022-2027. Tasted August 2021

Checkmate Silent Bishop Merlot 2015, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

One of four Checkmate merlots, regional expressions, here a blend of three benches, Osoyoos West, Oliver North and Golden Mile. A Silent Bishop and a merlot are more powerful than those who speak and their ordinations may also be called consecrations. Here the silent 2015 is one that is dedicated, coordinated, devoted and sacred to proprietors, winemaker and place. When a merlot is silent it moves in dynamic tactical effect and like the bishop moving on a position, does not capture or attack an enemy piece. Truth be told this is a stealth merlot, of fruit so dark and mysterious, of structure hidden, enigmatic and prepared to go the distance. Such an efficient wine and the kind to cause a ripple effect. Taste this and you too will want to pursue making profound Okanagan merlot, an endeavour as frustrating as it can be elusive. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted June 2021

La Stella Maestoso “Solo Merlot” 2017, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

The decision whether to listen to Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.2 or Handel’s Allegro Maestoso (Water Music Suite 2) while tasting and sipping through La Stella’s “Solo” merlot is a difficult one. Less obvious than it might seem and the question is which piece best exemplifies “the highest peak in the crescendo, that moment of realizing you are in the presence of majesty.” Both, to be fair and so I find myself in good ears, and taste by the triad grace of Chopin, Handel and La Stella hands. Let’s revise to encompass all three, in decadence, rolling rhythm and Okanagan Valley merlot-defining precociousness come crashing onto a shore of strings. This is where the maestroso moment happens, in cumulative fruit substance joined by fine acid intensity, wrapped up in structural soundness. All this after a great deal of strong tempo variations which are prominent features in this Severine Pinte interpretation. The instruments are Glacio Fluvial and Fluvial Fan; Clay and Gravel mix, Alluvial deposit and Clay, playing in the orchestra of Osoyoos Lake District and Golden Mile. Support from the Okanagan’s best, written as a top merlot composition and executed flawlessly by the winemaking team. Bravissimo. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted May 2021

Phantom Creek Phantom Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Two weeks later than the usual norm defined the 2017 spring but hot and dry summer weather confirmed the intensity of Phantom Creek Vineyard’s southern Okanagan growing season. The cabernet sauvignon grows on the lower terrace of the Black Sage Bench’s Osoyoos sandy loam and it has been approximately 15 years that these vines have been fostering these wines. Magnanimously ripe and conspicuously copious fruit sees the unabashed generosity of (75 per cent new) French wood in a bone dry, healthy acidity endowed and elevated pH cabernet. This is essential edging up and into quintessential Okanagan varietal chattel, a wine of substance, grip and winched binding, oozing with expensive taste, fine dark chocolate and a depth of fruit that aches to be heard. That will have to wait and so should you because the structural parsimony will need three years or more to release and allow for stretching and breathing room. A prouheze as they say. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted May 2021

Stag’s Hollow Syrah 2018, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Roes floral, elegant, ethereal, really effusive and just lovely stuff. Nothing remotely over the top, no blow to the head nor a crashing upon the senses. Sweet acids and silky tannins are the finality in what is clearly generated to conclude upon the notion of a very great wine. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted blind at NWAC2021, October 2021

Good to go!

godello

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

WineAlign

Twenty-one mind-blowing wines of 2021

Dec26

The greatest wines are considered as the ones that talk to us, connect with that part of our being that elicits sensory and emotional responses, feelings of zeitgeist and great release. Throughout the course of a year I taste thousands in my glass, countless banal, innumerable competent, others correct and many exceptional. Then there are the rare and peerless capable of altering time and space, chosen ones that after listening we then speak directly to. The mind-blowing wines.

This is what I might say to such a splendid creature. “I look upon the flash of your sheen, you a wine of scientific strategies. Your aromatics sum up for me my educational studies in science and lifelong memories. Your flavours remind me of experiments in vinous physics, your textures of exercises in galactic mechanics. Your structure recalls infinite chemical reactions and architectural engineering. Your energy, though carefully controlled, threatens to ignite and destroy my laboratory and yet binds my existential life together. You blow my mind.

Last year’s 20 for 20 was a much different list than ever before. Only 25 days of travel and while I did finally make a return to global discovery that number was even less in 2021. Two trips to Italy and one to B.C. in October and November. Once again just 25 days in total. A yearly schedule usually adds up to 100-plus but fortune also shines on the critics of WineAlign. Through quarantine, isolation and safe-distancing we still managed to taste through thousands of wines. I recorded well and above 4,000 tasting notes in 2021 so it would appear that palate discovery is still alive and well. For the first time ever there are three dessert wines on the list because well, stickies just don’t get enough love. And never before have I included a Canadian wine because I pen a separate list for local but a Thomas Bachelder chardonnay is wholly deserving of going global. These are Godello’s 21 mind-blowing wines of 2021.

Berlucchi Riserva Familia Ziliana Franciacorta DOCG 2001, Lombardy

A blend of chardonnay and pinot nero matured on lees for 218 months and a further 31 months after disgorgement. Zero dosage, tirage in June 2002. Tasting from “the stolen bottle,” and one would swear there is some sweetness in this wine, offset by twenty year-old persistent and rising acidity. The state of grace and ability this 2001 finds itself sitting royally in is quite something to behold. Stands firm and can stride with most any 20 year-old sparkling wine. A simple fact tells us that Arturo Ziliani’s father Franco and Guido Berlucchi decided to create sparkling wines in Franciacorta. They are the pioneers. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Krug Vintage Brut Champagne 2002

The year 2002 dubbed as “ode to nature” marked the first Krug “vintage of the millennium” and was presented after Krug 2003, just as Krug 1988 left the cellars after Krug 1989. A clement year, relatively dry to make for a homogeneous harvest. The blend is 39 per cent pinot noir, (40) chardonnay and (21) pinot meunier. Disgorgement would have been in the autumn of 2015 after having spent at least 13 years in Krug’s cellars. All this tells us that the vintage is one treated to great respect with the acumen to age seemingly forever. This bottle shows some advancement but mostly in toasted and spiced notes while acting so expertly oxidative, in total control of its own and also our senses. Smells of orange skin, zesty and by citrus spray, then pickled ginger and wild fennel. Tasted blind it feels just exactly 20 years old but it’s not hard to be tricked into imagining even older. I admit to guessing 1995 with thanks to a presentation of at once wildly exotic and then exceptional bubbles. Just a matter of being hoked up with celebration. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted November 2021

Kabola Malvazija Amfora 2017, Istria, Croatia

Kabola’s is malvazija istarska raised in traditional clay amphorae in combination with oak barrels. Kabola is found in Buje, not far from the coast and south of Trieste. While the combination of clay and wood seem to confuse or blur the game there is something wholly credible and intriguing about this wonderful aromatic mess. You can not only smell and sense but more deeply intuit the phenolic qualities inherent in here. Skins, pips and even a bit of herbaceous stem. Peach and orange tisane, exotic spice and high, high quality lees. Great winemaking here in the context of leaving your grapes to do the work but both timing and execution are spot on. Raises the varietal bar and shows what’s possible. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted April 2021

Livio Felluga Rosazzo Terre Alte DOCG 1998, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia

A wine in which the switch has been flicked at least five times, at least three past the family’s preference but let’s be frank. This is a fascinating Friuli-Venezia-Giulia wine to taste. Oxidative in the most beautiful way, sapid and laden with 23 year-old tang. Very much a young adult of confidence and swagger borne out of phenolic fruit maturation. A long-hanging vintage, a note of botrytis, a late harvest sensation but truly salty, mineral and showing the biodiversity in clones and vineyards that one would expect a white blend of this ilk to display. Just a terrific example of friulano, sauvignon and pinot bianco in their arena of characterful array. Drink 2021. Tasted October 2021

Bachelder Grimsby Hillside “North Slope, Starry Skies” Chardonnay 2019, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore

New in the pantheon for Bachelder and Niagara wines as an entity is this from Grimsby Hillside, the new frontier, next level up and future for the industry. In fact the time is already upon these precocious vines and their fruit specially formulated for the most wound and cinched kind of chardonnay, so precipitously witnessed in Thomas Bachelder’s “North Slope, Starry Skies” 2019. The vineyard was planted to vitis labrusca and used for Kaddish wine through the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s and just less than 20 years ago re-purposed to vinifera. Just two decades later winemakers like Thomas and Ilya Senchuk have discovered the magic of possibility and greatness of probability. Tasted this first in July with Thomas though it had just gone to bottle. Now the textural level of this GH-N triple-S has hitherto arrived at the immaculate, sweetly viscous, gleefully gelid and just right there at the apex of sensory enjoyment. Tight and delicious is a good combination. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted December 2021

Stellenbosch, Western Cape

Raats Family Wines Chenin Blanc Eden 2018, Stellenbosch, South Africa

A single vineyard chenin blanc and the first vintage to the Ontario market for a unique project celebrating the family farm called Eden. From their Stellenbosch ward of Polkadraai and high density plantings on dolomitic, granitic soils. Of a richness, an intensity of parts and a presence only a handful of South African blanc ever reach. A wine that achieves a level of status by its work underground (through root competition) and a clone called Montpellier that produces small berries and even smaller yields, not to mention the plot is just 0.6 hectares in size. Eden is the mothership and matriarch of this clone and for that variety in South Africa. All parts contribute to a wine of outrageous acidity that is never sharp, vivid or dominant. Fruit, mineral, focus, elements and precision. Wet stone is pure Polkadraai, vaporous, omnipresent, all over the wine. “The most successful winemakers (and wine projects) are ones that specialize,” says Bruwer Raats. This Eden follows the credo to a “T” and with a capital “E.” Really cerebral and also age-worthy chenin, in the upper echelon of the finest in the pantheon. If ever a chenin signified “Bringing it all Back Home,” the Raats Eden is it. “Discuss what’s real and what is not. It doesn’t matter inside the Gates of Eden.” Drink 2022-2030. Tasted June 2021

With Sofia Ponzini and Vico

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso Vigna Vico Pre-Phylloxera 2018, DOC Etna

Just another immediately memorable Piano dei Daini Etna Rosso Vico, Sofia Ponzini’s Cru-Vigna nerello mascalese (with 10 per cent nerello cappuccio) at 700m from the northern side of Mount Etna. Grown as alberello on a volcanic, sandy matrix with some stones from 100-plus-plus pre-phylloxera vines located in the town of Passopisciaro, Contrada Santo Spirito, parcels “Belvedere,” “Seimigliaia” and “Calata degli Angeli.” A tempest of steel and a feeling that runs with waves of acidity throughout, in many parallel and horizontal lines, at all levels. Spice cupboard, rich waves of red fruit, viscous wisdom, confidential and confident elegance, finishing at precision without recall. True value, scattered patterning, significant and relevant. A vintage of force, restraint and powerful lightness of being. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted October 2021

Domaine De Bellene Nuits Saint Georges Premier Cru Aux Chaignots 2019, AOC Bourgogne

The limestone soil Climat of Chaignots lies in the northern part of Nuits-Saint-Georges, up the slope and edging in location but also feeling towards that of Vosne-Romanée. The affinity is much discussed, real and therefore puts the Premier Cru at the top of what is most desired out of Nuits-Saint-Georges. A tiny (0.14 hectare) plot and simply a coup for Nicolas Potel to be able to secure this fruit. Everything about the aromatic front speaks to the Bourgogne mind and Chaignots heart. Cola but from the root, a tuber underground rubbed, that and a cocoa nut crushed between fingers. An almost diesel waft but not gaseous, instead sapid, nut-based, a liqueur toasted and intoxicating. The fineness of structure is the sort of wiry winding by winch that could cut through limbs due to tension so taut. All that you know, love, don’t know and hope to experience is in this wine. Neither I nor Nicolas Potel will be around when it blows someone’s mind in 2074. Look forward to that day young Alphonse. Drink 2025-2045. Tasted May 2021

Angela Fronti, Istine

Istine Chianti Classico DOCG Vigna Istine 2019, Radda in Chianti, Tuscany

One must have to look at, walk this and stand in awe of of this vineyard, the steepness at 30-50 per cent grade with a terrace in the middle to break it up. Heavy in Alberese inclusive of massive yellow calcareous boulders and also Galestro. In fact the medium stones removed were transferred to create terraces for olive trees on the other side of the cantina (by Angela Fronti’s father no less). The vineyard faces north so the freshness is off the charts, while the ripeness is so matter of purposeful vintage fact. The label represents the position of the vines in coordinates, echoed in the machicolations of a Fronti sangiovese that drops all the Radda stones on unsuspecting palates through fruit openings between supporting acid corbels of a projecting tannic parapet. Vigna Istine is at the forefront of Chianti Classico’s battle to win over the world. Follow this example. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted October 2021

Isole E Olena Cepparello 2011, IGT Toscana

“Molto parfumato,” binds an aromatic agreement between myself and Paolo de Marchi upon sniffing this ’11 found on Locanda Pietracupa’s wine list. “Cepparello needs time,” says Paolo, understatement of the obvious for the evening, year, decade and history with respect to sangiovese grown in the Chianti Classico territory. Also truth succinctly spoken, roses and violets exhaling and a 100 per cent varietal (or so it seems) profile of succulence and one to fully draw you in. Mint to conifers, multiplicity by complexity value, not to mention vigorous acidity sent straight to a mouth with a full compliment of wisdoms able to think about the situation. A linear Cepparello seeing its wide open window at the 10 year mark. And now a Paolo de Marchi story. “One side of the vine’s grapes were burnt and so I called up (Consorzio Direttore Giuseppe) Liberatore and asked are we changing the name of the appellation? Liberatore said what? To Chianti Amarone replied de Marchi, or sangiovese Port? Joking aside, a stringent selection and a five per cent inclusion of trebbiano did for this ’11 Cepparello what viognier might do for syrah. Not a Chianti Classico so perfectly kosher. A secret until now but all above board. Totally cool. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted October 2021

Querciabella Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1999

The 1999 was the last (original) Riserva produced until it was again resurrected in 2011 and what’s so cool about this vintage is how it was held to some early esteem, though paling in comparison to that “vintage of the century” that was 1997. Underestimated over the last 20 years, drinking so beautifully now, with frutta di bosca, tertiary tartufo and fungi. Just doesn’t strike as a fully mature adult reminiscing about the way things used to be but more like a wine with an outlook for more promise, good times and adventures still ahead. If you are still holding onto ‘99s from this part of Toscana you will be very pleased. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted May 2021

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Seta 2016

Filo di Seta is Filippo Chia’s intuitive “transavanguardia” sangiovese of place, over the ancient beach where he and his father Sandro once painted the Montalcino sea. Mostly early picked fruit, all in tonneaux, at first thinking “croccante” but that’s too simple a way to describe what texture and sensation is combed in this reserve wine. Bottled on the 29th of June so just arriving at the ready, to look at if not to consume. Here there is a fineness of liquid chalkiness, a “fluido” or “scorrevole” to drive the way this sangiovese plays and also sings, a Riserva to move with the wind and musical sway. Somewhat unknown, finely tannic and clearly what could and should be described as “mountain” Brunello. Coming in late is the spice, almost cinnamon and such. Hate to refer to any wine as the best from an estate but too bad. That this is, beyond the avant-garde such as it is. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted November 2021

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Tenuta Greppo 1985

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1979, Tuscany

A cooler vintage, especially as compared to 1978 and truly a Piedmontese style because the cellar workers closed the tanks, went on strike and returned two months later. Resulted in some carbonic maceration and surely an increased amount of vim in freshness. That mixed with true porcini, fungi and fennochiona. The extended maceration makes this act 43 years forward like an older nebbiolo, rich and once demanding tannins now long since melted away, tar and roses still showing with earthly perfume. Fabulous mouthfeel, lingering and lively. Surely the mean steak astringency would have been in control during the first 10 to 15 years but the beast relents and gives way to charm. Patience breeds gentility and the story is now unfolding. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted October 2021

With Stefano Cesari, Brigaldara

Brigaldara Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico DOCG 2016, Veneto

Stefano Cesari’s farm concerns itself with all things sustainable and while that may seem like a catch phrase, In Brigaldara’s case it most surely is not. The family supports its workers financially, culturally and in health. The young winemaking team is encouraged to study and stage abroad, to learn new oenological skills and languages. The other farm workers and their families are additionally supported by being given stake in the profits of the farm. How can this not reflect in the qualities of the wines, including this very special vintage 2016 Amarone. A magnificent wine and one you can easily drink beyond one glass. Not that it’s a light example but it speaks in soft tones, clearly and with a distinct, precise and honest weight, in vernacular and feeling. All things fruit lead to roads of sweet acidity and fine tannin. A rare Amarone of this ilk and one to savour. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted October 2021

Errázuriz Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve 2012, Aconcagua Valley, Chile

Don Maximiano 2012 is a blend of 75 per cent cabernet sauvignon, (12) carmenère, (8) petit verdot and (5) malbec. No cabernet franc back in 2012 and aside from the obvious notions ushered in by age there is a distinct lack of herbal notes as a result. This is just in a great place nearly nine years forward from vintage, now settling, acids still in charge but tannins having done most of their melting and rendering. This wine is far from done, in fact the next level notions have just begun to have their say and from a vintage as great as this there should very well be nine years nigh before true earthiness, umami and truffle set in. Pour this blind at dinners with old world counterparts and watch with awe as to the results. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted November 2021

Château Pétrus 1993, Pomerol, AC Bordeaux

Never easy to live in the shadow of siblings clearly designated as mom and dad’s favourites but sometimes overlooked vintages left for dead show greatness later on in life. The 1993 Pétrus is definitely a late bloomer and from a year when only 200 cases were produced, where normally 4,000-plus is the standard. Softened to an almost Burgundian sense of calm but the richness and concentration multiplied by a Spring verdant freshness and sweetly herbal pesto can only indicate one thing and that is Right Bank Bordeaux. I tasted this blind and immediately thought of Pomerol and its close proximity at the eastern border with Saint-Émilion because of the “fromage à pâte molle” feeling gained, along with vestiges of once formidable black fruit supported by a push-pull posit tug of merlot-cabernet franc acidity. A good hunch indeed and a more than surprising set of excellent parameters come to this for a 1993 Bordeaux. All in all a really satisfying and come together wine to hush the naysayers and win in the end. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted November 2021

Paul Jaboulet Aîné La Chapelle 1990, AC Hermitage, Rhône

Jaboulet’s 1990 La Chapelle is a kind of an echo of the year in history, an Hermitage of impeccable harmony, much like balance restored in relative peace and prosperity. In 1990 the Soviet Union fell, ending the decades-long Cold War. Hard to find more shiny opaque purple in a 30 year-old syrah plus a splendid floral nose of stone roses, pencil shavings and graphite. The combinative effect of heft and freshness elicit pleasantries from a bad boy able to play soft ballads to mellow a crowd. La Chapelle is a communicative, entertaining and business-like syrah, a link between the northern Rhône and the taster, an internet Hermitage that changes the way we think and feel. Things will never be the same after tasting Jaboulet’s 1990 and for good reason. Has 10 years left without worry of decline. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted November 2021

Reynvaan In The Hills Syrah 2017, Walla Walla Valley, Washington

Reynvaan is a family production of Rhône-style wines from two vineyard properties in the Walla Walla Valley. “In The Rocks” is their first vineyard located in Milton-Freewater, Oregon and the second vineyard is called “In the Hills.” short for “Foothills in the Sun.” It is found at the base of the Blue Mountains on the Washington/Oregon border and is planted to syrah, viognier and a gaggle of cabernet sauvignon rows. As one of the highest elevation vineyards in Washington (at 1200ft) and in this syrah co-fermented with up to 10 per cent syrah you might get a rendering of a northern Rhône-ish picture. Sure enough the perfume is floral but more than anything a smoulder of pancetta and smoked meat. Reductive as well, different as such than any syrah, anywhere else on the planet but liquid peppery and tire on asphalt nonetheless. The credibility and accountability here is profound and while the sheer concentration and beauty of In the Rocks in captivating, this In the Hills is alternatively vivid, dramatic and powerfully restrained syrah. Which one is you? Drink 2023-2033. Tasted January 2021

Sine Qua Non Syrah The Hated Hunter 2017, Santa Barbara County

The hated hunter is named after Austrian immigrant and Los Angeles restaurateur turned winemaker Manfred Krankl’s grandfather, depicted on the label in gear, with rifle and hound. The blend is led by 82.4 per cent syrah with (7.8) petite sirah, (5.2) mourvèdre, (2) grenache, (1.2) petit manseng and (1.4) viognier. Clocks in at 15.9 alcohol but in this regard hardly garners even one per cent of the discussion. All anyone can talk about is the infinite expanse of pretty, pretty floral capture and personally speaking it simply reeks of syrah. A game of meat juices and marbling, part smoked meat and part pancetta. The only question tasting blind is whether to imagine it as Hermitage or Central Coast California. Once the abv is disclosed the answer can only be the latter but a syrah of such reclusive exclusivity is hard to pin down. Derives from a group of prized vineyards; 32 per cent Eleven Confessions (Santa Rita Hills), (41) The Third Twin (Los Alamos), (25) Cumulus (Santa Barbara) and (2) Molly Aida (Tepusquet Canyon). Adds up to the most luxe, deluxe and ultra-fantastic instrumental of a syrah, no lyrics needed. Man, Manfred, take a bow. A hunting bow. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Fèlsina Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Tuscany

An absolutely lovely vintage for Fèlsina’s Vin Santo and for Chianti Classico Vin Santo as a rule because extract, temperament and adaptability are all in collective balance. All that you want, need and expect from this traditional and loyal dessert wine are present and accounted for. Dried and glazed fruit, low and slow developed nuttiness and a freedom of territory spoken through airiness and layering. The upside cake of life turns over to reveal a generational wine of clear standards, perfect layering and endless conversation. Nonna and Nonno would be proud. Drink 2021-2035. Tasted June 2021

Agriturismo Hibiscus Zhabib Passito 2020, C.Da Tramontana, Sicily

From the island of Ustica in the Tyrrhenian Sea, 70 kilometres (36 nautical miles) of the coast of Sicily’s capital Palermo and the work of Margherita Longo and Vito Barbera. The vineyards for this zibibbo (moscato d’Alessandria) are grown very close to the water on volcanic soil and Hibiscus is the only winery game in town. There are other farmers that contribute grapes to this tiny production; also grillo, cataratto, inzolia to go along with the zibibbo that makes this Passito. A place where tomato, grapes and peached co-exist, in the gardens and in the wine. This carries that uncanny sweet to savoury feeling in the most specific and ethereal dessert wine both mind can conjure and emotion shall receive. Of orange, grapefruit, peach and tomato. Balanced, harmonious, silky, woollen and with a super-tonal capacity to love. Drink 2021-2032. Tasted October 2021

Taylor Fladgate Very Old Tawny Port – Kingsman Edition, Douro, Portugal

A bottle of wine is rarely tied to a film, let alone a Douro Port but Taylor’s Very Old Tawny has been blended and bottled to coincide and be product placed in the second Kingsman film, in this case a prequel to the first, this time set in the 1920s. Head Winemaker David Guimaraens chose reserve Tawnys from 70-100 years of age, wines crafted and set aside by generational predecessors past, no stretch for the master blender because we are talking about a house with extensive stocks from which to reach back into. Guimaraens was looking for harmonic balance between concentration and elegance and just a whiff will tell you he and his team have achieved a crossing between a magical vortex and a vanishing point of complexity. Two manifest matters have developed; concentration of sweetness and in this case by association, a focus of acids as well. Together they inspissate and cling comfortably to the skeletal structure. It feels like you are nosing 100 unique aromas, with just seven of them being marzipan, red velvet hazelnut cake, candied ginger rose, rau răm, roasting banana leaf, calimyrna fig and grilled pineapple express. Step six feet away from the glass and the aromatics persist just as sharp as if the glass were in hand. As for a sip of this maraviglioso Tawny, warmth, comfort, delicadeza and forever length make just an ounce last forever. Timeless. Approximately 1000 bottles were produced and in Canada 100 will be made available next September. That is when theatre goers should likely make a return to the cinema to take in the Secret Service spy thriller and Tawny Port fantasy up on the silver screen. Drink 2021-2050. Tasted February 2021

Good to go!

godello

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WineAlign

Wines in the Similkameen they are, sometimes they blow my mind

Nov5

Ben in back, Goode standing tall

Last month the WineAlign judges spent an evening under the Similkameen Valley stars against a rugged mountain backdrop of glacial rock formation, the vineyards quiet, their fall foliage bright at dusk above stony, gravelly, and silty loam soil. The pizza oven was firing and the Similkameen growers hosted our motley crew with wines pouring all night long.

Similkameen Valley

These are the facts. The Similkameen Valley lies west of Osoyoos with the majority of vineyards located around Cawston and Keremeos. Significant winds help naturally keep vineyards in this arid valley free of pests and disease, making this region well-suited for organic farming. Due to the steep surrounding mountains, and the reflectivity of the rock, heat remains in the valley long after the sun sets. Did I mention how beautiful a place this is?

WineAlign judges Janet Dorozynski, Michaela Morris and Michelle Bouffard

Our hosts were the owners of Crowsnest Vineyards, a Cawston property purchased by the Heinecke family in 1985 and named after the Crowsnest Highway #3. The family was an early contributor to the development of the Similkameen wine region, led by second generation family siblings Sascha and Anna Heinecke. Here are 12 wines tasted that evening.

Clos Du Soleil Winemaker’s Series Pinot Blanc Middle Bench Vineyard 2020, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Pointed and punchy pinot blanc, stone fruit with a verdant piquancy. Not exactly edgy but crisp, quite precise and yes, surely punchy. Early picked acids maintain freshness and this is nothing but bloody delicious. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Wines in the Similkameen they are, sometimes they blow my mind

Clos Du Soleil Capella 2020, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

From the Upper Bench of the South Similkameen Valley and winemaker Michael Clarke’s signature Bordeaux-inspired white blend of sauvignon blanc and sémillon. Knowing the maker’s education and professional past one might look at this Capella as a branch of blancs that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. In other words Capella a.k.a. the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga, presents a case of two complimentary grape varieties made profound by the abstractions of soil, gently inclined land and the reflectivity of mountain rock. These building blocks of terroir and warmth may be real but it is the philosophies and methodologies of growing and winemaking that allows us to vindicate the greatness in this 2020. A virtuoso deportment of fine salinity and truffled perfume speaks in subtle Similkameen tones and a light touch is noted by both délestage and elévage restraint. This pure citrus distillate is sharp and pointed but then come the poignant flavours. Like the assyrtiko of the Similkameen with Bordeaux structure. Theoretical and physical, void of experimental tools and yes, c’est bon. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted October 2021

Vines in the Similkameen

Corcelettes Micro Lot Series Chardonnay 2020, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Fulsome, not bullish, cream centred and with exteriors all bite and wood spice. Almost too youthful still, previously misunderstood, not yet in full perfume bloom. Hinting at what’s coming, tree fruit part orchard and part tropical but no bloody pineapple. Chard of interest. Last tasted October 2021

Part of the Micro Lot Series and a cool to gelid chardonnay well into the yogurt and lemon curd with finishing almond flavours. Texturally speaking there is flesh and fluidity in a Similkameen chardonnay that receives much barrel addendum. Silky and creamy, all about mouthfeel and development. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted September 2021

Brad Royale and Crowsnest Gourd

Crowsnest Family Reserve Chardonnay Stahltank 2020, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Stahltank as in stainless steel fermentation for full retention of freshness, which this energetic 2020 shows, but also big and substantial fruit. Crowsnest Vineyards is located near Cawston in the Similkameen Valley and chardonnay is clearly a specialty. Soft, creamy and devoted, available and amenable. Subtle spice, crafty and just crisp enough to remind of the fresh intendment and lively persistence. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Hugging Tree Moonchild Merlot 2016, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Solid merlot in many respects, rich and caky, thick and chock full of ripe fruit. Edgy as needed, split by a streak of right proper greenness and out of a quality vintage. Steeping in acids and tannins running down grain for a result that has and will continue to please for a few years yet to come. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Orofino Riesling Hendsbee Vineyard 2018, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Made from the other Alsatian Clone (as opposed to the oft employed 49) from the 2006 planted vineyard by Cheryl and Lee Hendsbee adjacent to and with great soil similarities to Orofino’s home block on the Cawston Bench. A place of rich caky soil atop gravel and river rock for 100 feet. Prudent to experience this with some but not too much age and the hope is to have an experiential moment, say one or two years forward to do so again. Just now moving into some development, a secondary dance step, trip of the tongue, coupling fruit and mineral salts. Quite dry with elevated but knowing and promising acidity. At present a true matter of delight mixed with complex notions in this time of emerging secondary emotions. The appendages work together, in rhythm and forward motion. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted October 2021

Orofino Gamay 2020, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

So bloody primary, a fresh smack of Similkameen juice, a touch turbid and seemingly not quite at the curtain call of its final act towards being a finished wine. Still swimming in carbonic waters, openly fragrant and inviting. A squeeze of blood orange and tart edging while in full control to effect positively on the palate. You think it might turn botanical or volatile but it never does, instead staying a fruit persistent course. Can see this being underestimated when in fact it is simply a joy to drink. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Orofino Wild Ferment Syrah 2014, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

A well developed smoulder, purely be variety and place, not by wood. Still persistently and openly fragrant, earth, brush, flora and fruit intertwined as one in a syrah of end game integration. What was once folds, waves and shadows is now seamlessness, inertia and assimilation. Orofino’s WFS resides in a place of great comfort and equally important regard. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted October 2021

Robin Ridge Winery Gamay 2016, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Has advanced well into the denouement of its life with fruit persistently black of cherry and what tannins there ever were have melted into a glass darkly. Even the acids wane, effecting little to no meaning at this stage. Drinks quite well actually if showing signs of imminence. Nothing wrong about a glass with a good slice of pizza on a cool Similkameen night. Drink 2021-2022. Tasted October 2021

Seven Stones Speaking Rock Estate Chardonnay 2015, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Reductive even after all this time, spicy chardonnay chai and wasabi spiced though still some juicy fruit. Showing well for its age, far from oxidative, of clotted cream and some drying to desiccating flavours. Lemon namely and a dollop of that cream. Fully developed and soon to finish all the softening. A lovely drop at this moment. Drink 2021-2022. Tasted October 2021

Vanessa Vineyard Syrah 2018, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

Quite a big syrah expression while balanced and showing an ease with which it carries itself this way. Maintains composure and control in the face of a deep and hematic meatiness, high-toned culture, level, pulse and pace of play. Clearly a wine of site, revealing in a meaningful style because it just seems to be the kind of weighty wine it needs to be. No two ways around it. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted October 2021

Vanessa Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2018, BC VQA Similkameen Valley

A whopping 16 per cent alcohol but truth is you’d not really fully feel or know it. The level of fruit and the flesh it expounds hangs snugly, fitted and tied to the bone. The chalky and peppery liquidity want to be about juiciness and freshness, some way, somehow. The cigarillo smoulders still and the wine finds those realistic and honest moments. Suffers and survives, delivers the varietal goods. Well perhaps there is a moment of shock and awe but ultimately the wine is the wine, for its time and place. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted October 2021

Good to go!

godello

Ben in back, Goode standing tall

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