Sangiovese

In 1988, the Boscarelli family acquired the Vigna del Nocio – four hectares in the eastern part of the estate, named after the walnut trees that once lined its edges. A small vineyard, but one with an intrinsic complexity that transcends any simple description: The soils are of alluvial origin, but of completely different textures depending on the location – sandy zones alternate with loamy ones in close succession. The same grape variety, the same plot of land, and yet several characters that only reveal themselves to the attentive eye. The family has not simplified this complexity – they have mapped it.

On the CastelGiocondo label, a condottiero is depicted on horseback: Guidoriccio da Fogliano, the figure from Simone Martini's famous fresco in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico, who once led the siege of Montemassi Castle. For the Frescobaldi family, this image marks the beginning of their centuries-long adventure with wine. The estate itself dates back to a fortress built in 1100, whose origins lie far before the start of modern viticulture.

Filo di Seta is produced in small batches and is an impressive wine. With only 4,000 bottles produced, it reflects the extreme power and depth that can be achieved in this cooler microclimate of Montalcino. The vineyards are located on steep slopes and surrounded by dense forest and vegetation. One cannot help but detect a wild and thorny element in this wine, reminiscent of forest floor, truffles and autumnal foliage. These pretty accents add complexity to the solid core of dark fruit. The powerful mouthfeel is polished and dense. SUPERIORE.DE

In just a few years, Alessandro Mori's wines have made Il Marroneto one of Montalcino's most famous wineries. Today, he runs the company together with his son Jacopo. The wines reflect their passionate, simple and outspoken character, which appears reserved and austere at first glance, but slowly opens up to reveal a harmonious synthesis of elegance and power. In 2019, he decided to produce a selection from some of his best grapes - named after his son Jacopo - and in such small quantities that we are the only ones on the German market to be allocated a few cases. SUPERIORE.DE

The 1.6-hectare Loreto vineyard is located on a slope right next to the winery and has an ideal south-east exposure. Vigna Loreto is only vinified in the best vintages and is an even more intense interpretation of the Sangiovese grape. On the palate, the texture is both creamy and robust, with a depth and fullness that make it very rich and exceptional. With further aeration, beautiful notes of black fruits, tobacco and spices. Aristocratic, powerful and very long. SUPERIORE.DE

The Romanesque Pieve di San Marcellino was built in the year 1000. It still stands today – in the middle of the vineyards of Rocca di Montegrossi, seven kilometres south of Gaiole, at the southern tip of the Chianti Classico. The vineyard bears its name. And the vines that surround it are older than most of the appellations that appear on labels today. Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi is a descendant of Baron Bettino Ricasoli – the "Iron Baron" who defined the formula for Chianti Classico in the 19th century. Not as a marketing idea, but as a genetic link to this soil. The vineyard has been certified organic since 2010 and has been planted with Pugnitello alongside Sangiovese since 2006 – an autochthonous Tuscan grape variety that was almost extinct in the 1980s. Pugnitello deepens the colour, thickens the structure and sharpens the profile of the Sangiovese grape. Hand-picked, separate fermentation of both varieties on wild yeasts in upright wooden tanks, 24 months in Allier barriques and tonneau, bottled unfiltered. Only produced in outstanding vintages – the 2020 is one of them.

When Sergio Rossi took over Podere Colombaio from the Biondi-Santi family in 1976, nobody could have guessed that the Milanese advertising expert would become one of the architects of modern Montalcino. He was one of the 24 founders of the Consorzio, one of the first 35 Brunello bottlers of an appellation that will number over 250 by 2024. What he brought with him: the legendary Sangiovese clones of Biondi-Santi, planted on marl and limestone in Canalicchio – vines that are now over forty years old. Brunello 2020 unites two souls: the cool elegance of the north from the historic Canalicchio parcels and the sun-kissed vigour of Castelnuovo dell'Abate in the south. The wine rests for three years in large Slavonian barrels and a further eight months in the bottle – time that you can taste.

Not every year gets a name. 2016 has earned it – and Montalcino does not award such honours lightly. A mild winter, a spring with heavy rainfall that got the growing season back on track. Then, from the second decade of June, a gradual, gentle rise in temperatures throughout July. And finally an August that brought everything together: large daily temperature fluctuations, no rain, perfect ripening conditions. The Consorzio called 2016 one of its best vintages in decades. And Col d'Orcia turned the best site into a Riserva. The Poggio al Vento vineyard is located in the heart of the Tenuta, halfway up the hill above the Orcia Valley, at 350 metres. Planted since 1974. The name – "hill in the wind" – is the programme: constantly ventilated, south-facing, on calcareous, skeleton-rich soils. Grapes are grown here that Col d'Orcia reserves for the most demanding category in the cellar, and even then only when the vintage poses the question: Is this more than a Brunello annata? Can this wine last for decades? In 2016, the answer was yes.

Vigna San Marcellino Gran Selezione is both youthfully fresh and ripe and complexly muscular. It contains a healthy dose of the deeply coloured Pugnitello grape, and on the nose liquorice, tarragon and broom mingle with lush plum and subtle roasted aromas that are highly seductive in their complexity. Deep, taut and lively on the palate, loaded with black cherry and rich, velvety tannins. The texture is silky, while subtle chalky notes and a salty minerality give it plenty of energy and lead it into a juicy, refreshing finish. Vigna San Marcellino is a convincing wine with enormous ageing potential every year. SUPERIORE.DE

Lisini's vineyards are located between Sant'Angelo in Colle and Castelnuovo dell'Abate on the inner edge of the Sesta area and are cleansed by the constant breeze from the Tuscan coast. The stony soils with a significant proportion of limestone and the altitude of over 300 metres help to maintain the freshness of the wines. The 2018 is wonderfully fragrant, almost exotic. Plump red fruits and sweet summer herbs fill the mouth, but instead of being heavy, it is balanced and transparent. The powdery tannins are fine and lead to a long, maritime finish. SUPERIORE.DE

Col d'Orcia began as an independent winery in 1958: the heirs, Leopoldo and Stefano Franceschi, divided the family estate; one half became Il Poggione, the other Col d'Orcia. Stefano had no heirs and sold his half in 1973. Count Alberto Marone Cinzano invested in Montalcino, a place scarcely known to anyone and where Brunello was considered a niche product. A year later, he selected the site for the estate's finest Sangiovese vineyard and planted it: in 1974, Poggio al Vento was established, from which the Riserva is produced in the finest vintages. Since 1992, his son Francesco has been running the estate as the second generation; since 2010, everything has been farmed organically, and 2013 saw the first certifiedharvest. The vineyard lies at an altitude of 350 metres between the River Orcia and Sant'Angelo in Colle; the wind gave it its name, and the soil consists of limestone and marl. Mount Amiata shields the estate from harsh temperatures, whilst its proximity to the Tyrrhenian Sea ensures the grapes ripen evenly. The estate's Brunello wines are predominantly aged in large barrels made from Slavonian and Allier oak.

Cepparello – named after the small stream that rises at the highest point of the Isole e Olena vineyards. Since 1980, this name has embodied Paolo De Marchis's revolutionary vision, at a time when 100% Sangiovese was still taboo in Chianti Classico. With this wine, the Piedmontese visionary not only created one of the first Super Tuscans, but also what is arguably the most authentic portrait of the Sangiovese grape – pure, uncompromising, unadulterated. The Sangiovese vines grow on the estate's finest plots, facing south-west at an altitude of 400 to 480 metres, on the characteristic Galestro soils. These schist-rich clay soils lend the wine its unmistakable minerality and elegance. The 2020 vintage embodies De Marchi's signature style in its purest form. Following a mild, dry winter and a sudden drop in temperature in March – which required the utmost vigilance against frost damage – a classic Tuscan summer ensued. Dry and mild until the end of August, followed by scattered showers before the weather settled in September – ideal conditions for grapes of exceptional quality and quantity.

Silky, open and graceful, it is characterised by outstanding elegance and the finesse typical of the northern sector of Montalcino. Rose petals, sweet red berries and graceful, minty notes adorn the palate in a sensual, silky Brunello that exudes its class and pedigree from the very first sip. The traditional Marroneto style with fine-grained tannins and subtle salty notes contrasts excitingly with the classic structure and extract sweetness. A great wine! SUPERIORE.DE

As the Tuscan sun rises over the San Lorenzo Valley, it casts its golden light on the eighteen-year-old Pianigiani and Ricucci villas – the historic walls that gave this extraordinary Gran Selezione its name. It is a moment of silence before the story of a wine begins, which carries the quintessence of four legendary vineyards: Bellavista, Casuccia, San Lorenzo and Montebuoni. The 2021 vintage was a gift from nature to the winemakers of Chianti Classico. A rainy spring, which gave the vines the moisture they needed, was followed by a warm but not scorching summer. These climatic conditions gave the grapes a fullness and fleshiness that would later reveal itself in the glass as velvety opulence. Marco Pallanti, the driving force behind Castello di Ama since 1982 and former president of the Chianti Classico consortium, immediately recognised the extraordinary potential of this vintage.

In just a few years, Alessandro Mori's wines have made Il Marroneto one of Montalcino's most famous wineries. Today, he runs the company together with his son Jacopo. The wines reflect their passionate, simple and outspoken character, which appears reserved and austere at first glance, but slowly opens up to reveal a harmonious synthesis of elegance and power. In 2019, he decided to produce a selection from some of his best grapes - named after his son Jacopo - and in such small quantities that we are the only ones on the German market to be allocated a few boxes. SUPERIORE.DE

In the year 994, the son of the Lombard king Berengario gave what is now Gagliole to his bride – a token of love whose legacy lives on in the vineyards to this day. The Pecchia, named after the Old Tuscan word for "bee", embodies the essence of this legendary terroir in Panzano's Conca d'Oro. Here, at an altitude of 500 metres on the north-western edge of the golden valley, the purest Sangiovese thrives on that rare Pietraforte limestone which lends Gagliole's wines their unmistakable minerality. "Vinificazione integrale" – a process developed in 2002 by Baron, France's oldest cooperage – is what makes this wine so special. Whole bunches of grapes ferment in specially designed barriques with enlarged openings, allowing every hint of aroma from the hand-picked berries to infuse the wine. Eighteen months in French oak, followed by a further eight months in concrete tanks and at least one year's bottle ageing, create a depth and complexity that is only possible in the very best vintages.

Podernovi is San Polo's great single-vineyard Brunello. Ruby red colour with light garnet reflections. On the nose, floral aromas of violets, cyclamen and jasmine, notes of fresh fruit and spicy notes. In the mouth, round, full of harmony and with a good structure and acidity, as well as very soft tannins that show excellent persistence overall. A wine of almost endless length, depth and with a distinct character that lingers in the memory. SUPERIORE.DE

The fruit for Tenuta Nuova is harvested from a south and south-east facing slope at 250 to 300 metres above sea level. The soils are loose and mixed with gravel, which allows access to air and moisture.

Giovanni Manetti was just twenty when, in 1981, he was due to press the first vintage together with Oenologist Franco Bernabei: a pure Sangiovese, at a time when the rules governing Chianti Classico still stipulated a proportion of white wine. What began as an act of rebellion became a legend. Flaccianello della Pieve, one of the first single-varietal Super Tuscans, proved that Sangiovese can achieve world-class status without any blending. The name derives from the original vineyard, but since 2001 Flaccianello has been a selection of the finest grapes from three plots on the estate, primarily those at the highest altitudes of 480 metres, where Pietraforte soils predominate. This conglomerate of sandstone varieties lends the wine the freshness and structure that set it apart from the rest.

Tenuta Nuova. The name carries weight: when Giacomo Neri acquired the land around Le Cetine, near the Abbazia di Sant'Antimo in southern Montalcino, in the early 1990s, no one had ever planted Sangiovese there. This was no oversight – it was a judgement that Giacomo Neri wanted to overturn. Not out of defiance, but out of conviction: that this terrain, this microclimate, these soils held the potential for a Brunello with a character all of its own. What followed was not a gut feeling, but a methodical approach. Systematic studies of the microclimates, the optimal exposures and the soils – clone selection, rootstock research, planting distances; everything was scrutinised, every decision made. The first result came in 1993. A few years later, the rest of the world was talking about it.