Alfonso weighed in yesterday with another earth-scorching post devoted to wines made “Under the Tuscan Scum” (and I highly recommend it to you, especially if you’re a sommelier working with Italian wine). But the post I can’t stop thinking about this morning is another fantastic document culled from the archives of Il Poggione’s library. In […]
“Let us debunk the common misconception that irrigation serves solely to increase production,” wrote my friend and Brunello producer Fabrizio Bindocci (above) on his son Alessandro’s blog Montalcino Report this morning. “Today, the appellation rules establish low yields and monitoring is implemented in the vineyard to see if these yields are real. For this reason, […]
Cousin Marty had a hunch about what wine I’d be bringing to our BYOB dinner last night in Houston with friends. And when I arrived and revealed my bottle of 2006 Brunello di Montalcino by Il Poggione, he opened the evening with the line of the night: “If it’s a blend, I will not attend!” […]
My friends at Il Palazzone in Montalcino have just reported that voting in the secret ballot to change the Rosso di Montalcino appellation (to allow international grape varieties) has been completed. The Consortium is currently tabulating the votes. Producer Carlo Cignozzi has threatened legal action: as Franco reported yesterday on his blog, Cignozzi believes that […]
It would seem that the editors at Decanter and Gambero Rosso spoke too soon when they reported that Brunello di Montalcino great Franco Biondi Santi (left, photo via Weintipps) supported proposed changes to the Rosso di Montalcino appellation that would allow for blending of international grape varieties in Rosso di Montalcino (current legislation requires that […]
Above: Mt. Amiata as seen from Castelnuovo dell’Abate (Montalcino). I took this photograph in September 2010. Click the image for a high-resolution version of the image. According to the chatter, it would appear that a change allowing international grape varieties in Rosso di Montalcino is a fait accompli. Neither I nor Franco have access to […]
In the wake of my Friday post where Franco and I revealed one of the “hypotheses” for a new Rosso di Montalcino category that would allow the use international grape varieties, a lot of folks have been asking, what the hell is going on in Montalcino, anyway???!!! Today, on his blog, Franco asks rhetorically, is […]
In the wake of an aborted vote to change the Rosso di Montalcino appellation, Brunello producers association president Ezio Rivella (above) has broken the silence and explained the reason for wanting to add international grape varieties (Merlotization) to the currently monovarietal (100% Sangiovese) wine. Speaking to his new public relations mouthpiece (ItaliaTV, which calls itself […]
Above: When I made my annual pilgrimage to Montalcino in September of this year, I took time out to visit the monument at Montaperti, commemorating the 1260 battle there between the Guelphs of Florence (the Papacy) and the Ghibellines of Siena (Holy Roman Empire). In her recent interview on the Wall Street Journal wine blog, […]
Source: Alfonso Cevola. Check out his truly stunning post on tasting Sangiovese in Tuscany in the 1970s, Our Sangiovese. The above image of Ezio Rivella (now president of the Brunello producers association) has been culled from the December 1-15, 1982 issue of the Wine Spectator. The article, filed from Florence, was written by Burton Anderson […]
Do Bianchi 