My living situation has been so crazy since this summer when I had to scramble to find a place to stay. I haven’t had access to all my stuff but recently was able to retrieve these photos that I took when I visited the cellars at Il Poggione in Sant’Angelo in Colle (Montalcino) back in May, 2005. Click here to read my post about that experience.

Above: the oldest bottles are conserved in sand. The glass used decades ago was not as sturdy as it is today. The sand helps to support them gently and to absorb liquid if they break.

Above: the night of our dinner, Fabrizio (below), grabbed a bottle of 1978 Rosso di Montalcino from this stash and we crossed the tiny town’s main square to the Trattoria Il Pozzo (so-named because it stands behind a well, pozzo in Italian).

Above: Fabrizio Bindocci’s family has been making wine for the Il Poggione estate for generations. His son Alessandro has already completed his degree in enology and currently represents the estate abroad. They are among the nicest people I’ve met in the business and they are steadfast defenders of traditional-style Brunello di Montalcino. Note the large barrels behind him, used for aging Brunello.

Above: a two-hundred-year-old olive tree on Il Poggione’s estate. Fabrizio is a firm believer in “promiscuous” farming; olive groves lie side-by-side with vineyards and he allows game to forage there; these elements, he explained, are fundamental to the terroir-expression of his wines.