Anyone familiar with this winery / wine?
AG gave a glowing review (as did who ever looks after Italy at RP)
Would prefer any insights from you folks however.
Cheers!
Yes, a favorite of mine.
I visited them this week, an extensive tasting, including this (a winner), and 2009 & 2013 La Ricolma, and lots more, including, iirc, my first ever Vin Santo from 2002 vintage; from here, at least. All were excellent for different reasons. Luca is such a fine grower, person, and their commitment to BIO growing is real, and hugely successful. They use one of (imo) the finest agronomists in Toscana. Also, they are dialing back the use of barrique pretty severely (not much really gets used anyway), in the few wines that see it.
Luca and Bettina are such lovely hosts. Every single time.
Part of the tasting
a geek like me really digs their cement setup
That’s awesome! Thank you so much for the Intel and photos. I’ll pick up a few bottles as they sound like beautiful wines.
Cheers
This is probably in my top 5 for Italian Merlot from my experience. These are wines that need time though. I had a 2005 about a year ago and it still needed another 2-3 years for prime drinking. If you’re buying the 2015’s I’d assume they are going to need a minimum of 5-8 years before they’re “enjoyable” so try to have some patience.
Luca came to a local wine shop, where I was able to taste most of the lineup. Traditional wines that I plan to start opening at age 10. I preferred the Sangiovese wines to the merlot, but the merlot did not have as much polish as other Bordeaux-varietal Tuscans like Saffredi. Good sense of place. Will age well.
Worth checking out if you like Tuscan wines generally.
Kirk is spot on; obviously knows these wines quite well. The 2009 (ostensibly a less than vaunted vintage in the zone), is just now at peak. If you’re buying a current release, bury it deep in the coldest part of your cellar, and open in a decade, or two - for ALL of the fireworks, that is. They only produce one Merlot here - and it’s one that has structure, and balance, i.e. enough fruit to go the distance. salute
They make a wonderful, traditional, very transparent Chianti Classico, as well as the merlot and the barrique-aged, 100% sangiovese Per Carlo.
Agree on both the Chianti (which is terrific and a decent value) and the Percarlo (which is pricier but still not super expensive).