Day 5- Montalcino
Back in Montalcino on Wednesday, we had a fantastic tour and tasting at Argiano winery- our favorite winery visit of the trip! Pepe Schib Graciani treated us to a wonderful private tour of the castle and the grounds- followed by a wonderful tasting. Argiano has 100 acres, 50 of which are Brunello, 4 acres are Rosso. We learned that 25% of Argiano’s wines go to the US, 25% stay in Italy, 10% to Germany, 10% to Switzerland, and the rest- 30% is distributed in 35 countries. (www.argiano.net)
Pepe showed us their 2 new guest apartments- Suolo- done in reds and whites and Solengo-done in blues and whites, they were really nice with kitchens, living rooms, fireplaces. This would be a great place to stay on a future trip. The wines were all fantastic and impressive, we wished we could have bought several bottles of each!
First we tasted the 2001 Rossi di Montalcino, from their Sangiovese Grasso (smaller berries). The wine at 14% alcohol, was aged 5 mos. In Oak and was very polished and elegant with fresh red and black fruit. WE bought a bottle for $9 euro. The 2002 Rosso, ($10) just bottled in Sept. 2004 seemed a bit jucier and fruitier, with raspberry and blackberry fruit. Delicious! The 1998 Brunello ($25) was super! The wine spent 1 year in small barrels( barriques) and 1 year in larger oak casks. The wine was drinking great, with softened tannins and deep, rich fruit- we loved it!
The 2002 Solengo - $50, (1/3 Cab, Merlot and Syrah) was named for the French word Solitaire, for wild boar, alpha male. 1995 was the first vintage of this wine. The 2002 was fantastic- a huge wine with concentrated black fruit, slightly sweet spiced oak.
We did not get to try the 2001 Suolo, but we bought a bottle for $60 as little makes it to the US. Suolo means soil, terroir. 2000 was the first vintage of this wine, made for the Countess Argiano. They use the oldest Sangiovese vines, cold maceration and natural fermentation to produce 2500-3000 bottles of this “Super –Brunello”. The wine is aged in small barrels for 15 months.
Pepe also told us about Argiano’s new venture in Patagonia, Argentina. Their 2002 Bodega Noemia Malbec (95 pts Wine International) is made from old vine Malbec and is inky-black and concentrated. 2800 bottles were produced in 2002. Pepe was very excited about the wine and said that a little makes it to the US but is very expensive and hard to find, so we bought a bottle, $60. At Pepe’s suggestion, we also bought 2 bottles of their second label, J Alberto from Argentina , which is not sold in the US. The wine is
95% Malbec and 5% merlot- $30. He said the wine was fantastic for the priuce!
After spending 2.5 hours at Argiano, we were really feeling the wine and needed lunch before our tour later that afternoon of of Ciacci Piccolimini. We drove to Castel Nuovo Dell’Abate where we only found one place open, a small family-run tavern-like restaurant where there were no menus and they did not speak English. We were offered Porcini Mushroom Zuppa and Pici Pasta with a Ragu Sauce (meat). Both were very good- and inexpensive- it cost us $16 for everything.
At Ciacci Piccolimini, we had a great tour with Jena Paterson, who spoke perfect English and we were joined by another couple from Long Beach, California. Jen explained that they had just moved into a new winery facility and we were told that we were the second group to tour the new facility and visit their new tasting room. (www.ciaccipiccolimini.com)
The winery’s new modern facilities were impressive- we saw their different cask rooms- from the smaller barrels to the large Slovanian Oak Casks to the large old Cement tanks that they use for neutral aging. We tasted: 2002 Rosso di Montalcino, 100% Sangiovese, released the first Sept. after harvest. The wine was balanced and juicy with ripe red fruit. The 2000 Ateo, which has been made since 1989 was 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cab, 25% Merlot and was brownish-red and a bit raisiny. Jena explained that 2000 was very hot and ripe, thus the raisiny characteristics. The 1999 Brunello was very good, but needed to be cellared for several years, as it was quite tannic.(900 bottles went to the US of the 99 Brunello)
We also tried their newest wine- the first release of the 2003 Montecucco Sangiovese, which was just $14 Euro. 12,000 bottles were produced. The wine spent 4 months after harvest in small barriques, was bottled in April 2004 and released in June 2004. Jen said it should reach the US by early 2005. I wish now that I bought some, but was worried about how to carry it back on the plane! It was fantastic- aged in small, all-new Spanish Barriques with a medium golden-honey toast- with wonderful spicy toasted oak and forward ripe black fruit and plum notes. Very ripe and fruit-forward, syrah-like. The wine is 85% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot, 5% Syrah. YUM!
Jen explained that 2002 was a difficult year for Brunellos and many wineries would be putting their juice planned for 02 Brunello into their 02 Rossos. She said that many wineries doing this would do it very quietly, so her current mission was trying to find out which wineries as many of the 02 Rossos will be of a much higher quality. Jena told us that 2003 was a very ripe vintage with dark, black fruit so she was excited about the 2003’s.
Our last Dinner in Tuscany was at La Chiusa in Montefollonico, halfway between Pienza and Montepulciano. La Chiusa is a renovated old farmhouse and oil mill that is now an elegant restaurant and Inn. The dining room was beautiful and we were glad that Pinuccia at Le Traverse had told us to dress up a bit. While we had a wonderful dinner, but being the most expensive dinner of our trip, even though it was excellent, we thought it was overpriced. We started with the wine list and found the best option to be the 98 Argiano Brunello for $80. We really did not want to spend that much, so our waiter offered to open the bottle for us for $12 a glass- (a much better deal at $48 for 4 good-size glasses). We started with complimentary Arranci (rice balls) with La Chiusa’s first press olive oil- delicious! It seemed we were the only Americans in the restaurant and after we ordered , our waiter asked if we would like to tour the kitchen and meet the Chef, Danilea, which really made us feel special. The kitchen was large but cozy, with a wood-fire in the center for grilling.
Our first courses were Zucchini Flowers stuffed with ricotta and a Crepe stuffed with porcini mushrooms, ricotta and pecorino. For pastas, we had Tagliatelle Daniela with garlic, tomatoes, chiles and pecorino and gnocci
with a ragu and pecorino followed by a lemon and a plum sorbet intermezzo. The entrees here were the hi-light: I ordered a Veal Chop grilled with fresh herbs and it was the most tender, flavorful meat I have ever eaten. It was also huge! Joe had a Giant Grilled Filet Mignon topped with porcini mushrooms- the best he said he has ever had. It was truly memorable- but expensive at $40 each entrée. We finished sharing a wonderful silky carmel gelato with chocolate sauce. A great dinner- but definitely a special-occasion type place! |