Tasted Tuesday, June 13, 2006 - Thursday, June 15, 2006 by trankin with 2,009 views
This is the second in a set of notes from a 2 week trip to Italy. Eight of us spent a week in a villa in Chiusi on the border of Tuscany and Umbria, with lots of time visiting wineries and enoteche, and lots of time hanging at the villa. The second week, 4 of us took a trip around Florence, Bologna, Venice, and Florence again, prior to returning home. This set of notes covers 2 wonderful days tasting in Montalcino, as well as a side trip to Perugia and a great birthday dinner.
Wow! What an incredible visit! We were shown around the property by a fun woman by the name of Danna (sp?). While we were doing so, we were fortunate enough to bump into the winemaker (whose name I can't recall), and the owner of the estate (Paola) was gracious enough to spend a few minutes chatting with us as well. We had a wonderful time in the tasting room, and then walked across the courtyard to the lovely restaurant located on the estate. These notes are from the tasting room.
Clearly one of the highlights of the trip for those of us who went, this was just a wonderful, wonderful lunch. The setting is spectacular - a large outdoor patio, well covered by umbrellas, overlooking the hills of Montalcino. It's a gorgeous property, and the setting couldn't have been better. As great as the setting was, the service was even better. Outstanding wine recommendations (the first 2; we wanted to try the 03 Madre), spectacular wine service, and overall service which was attentive and friendly without being overbearing. The food was also just wonderful! We all had their "piccolo" tasting menu which was anything but.
After their amuse bouche, we started with a red chicory and taleggio quiche which was excellent. Next was tagliatelle with vegetables which was incredible for such a simple dish. This was followed by a Chiniano beef wtih olive oil and pesto, served with a potato cake (again, simple but marvelous). There was then a cheese course (with the stinkiest goat cheese any of us had ever had), followed by a sorbet course, and an absolutely out of this world dessert course. Only in Perugia did the chocolate gelato even come close to the one on my plate here - and this was one of about 5 different things for me to taste. Everybody had different configurations of flavors, so there was much sharing to be done. Really just a wonderful, wonderful lunch!
After the big lunch at Poggio Antico, we headed down the hill to Col d'Orcia where we had a very nice tour of Col d'Orcia, followed by a taste of a number of their wines.
This wasn't our best visit, although it was enjoyable. I was a touch disappointed with the wines here. Additionally, the corked Brunello that they didn't think was corked was a bit of an issue. Also, that the lower-end wines didn't do it for me. In any event, I still am a big fan of a few of their wines, but it wouldn't be the first place I'd recommend to visit.
A variety of wines drunk at the villa that evening.
I can't believe I hadn't heard of the Madre before this trip. A wonderful wine, particularly in good vintages.
4 of us headed off to Perugia the next morning, and we stumpled upon a very nice lunch place just slightly off the beaten path. We had antipasti and crostini misti, and then I had the wild boar ragu served with polenta (which was just excellent). WH's penne with black truffles was also just amazing. As a quick aside, the gelato in Perugia - chocolate that is - is just out of this world. The "dark" was just unreal, as were the other chocolate based ones.
Some whites to get us started.
A fairly light evening - I think we all needed a break. We had a bit of a mixed grill to accompany the food on Wednesday. There were multiple sausages, some skewered meats, some grilled chicken breasts, some other meats I'm forgetting, a side of pasta and a salad, some nice antipasto, and ice cream bars for dessert.
The Poggio Antico was purchased at the winery the day before - intended as a treat for dinner tonight. It was decanted for about 3 hours. The others were decanted for shorter times.
Well this was an intriguing visit. We had booked this visit just 2 days prior, after having greatly enjoyed the 93 BdM from here. We were met by Nello Baricci - the 85 year old winemaker. As his son-in-law later put it, after describing how Nello was really an icon in the town of Montalcino, Nello is "like the oak from the barrels". A strong wonderful character. Unfortunately he only spoke Italian and our group's Italian was very poor. The son-in-law did an excellent job showing us around and explaining the wines to us after we spent 15 frustrating minutes trying to communicate directly with Nello.
We were incredibly fortunate in that we were offered barrel samples of the 03 and 05 Brunellos. I really couldn't tell anything from the 05, but the 03 was very very nice.
A great visit, well worth making, despite the fact it's one of the larger estates (this was one of the few that really felt like California). Incredibly friendly people, a great tour, good tastings and all for free. The winery includes a "library" section where they have multiple bottles of all their wines going back decades (I think it was the early 1930's if I recall correctly).
Following the winery tour and tasting, we decided to eat at the winery's restaurant, which was good but not great. We had a 99 BdM to accompany our lunch (I had the pork fillet with Brunello sauce).
After lunch, we headed on down to Il Poggione. This was an incredibly interesting visit. The winery is brand new (completed 2 years ago) and had by far the most technologically advanced fermentation tanks I've ever seen. All computer controlled, custom-designed systems for controlling temperature, pump-overs, etc., with a specially designed bottom for removing seeds and skins early on to reduce the tannin levels somewhat.
Our tour was given by Allesandro, the son of the winemaker, who was incredibly knowledgeable, spoke excellent English, and was a very friendly guy. The tasting room was amazing - a very large oblong table with sinks at each seat for spitting. And did I mention that most of the floors and all of the doors of the whole very large building were made from old barrels??? Really quite a joy.
And to top it off, finding the San Leopoldo was quite a pleasure. A mere 12 Euro supertuscan that ranks up there with most of the better names. Ok - not the very high end, but it would hold its own with $30-50 supertuscans any day.
The one bottle we popped before dinner.
This was an interesting experience. After getting a little lost, we found our way to Le Torre di Porsena - a farm-based B&B/hotel ("Country House") just over the border into Umbria with a restaurant which was recommended and reserved by the owner of our villa. A spectacular setting with views of 2 lakes, a glorious swimming pool, fabulous views of nearby mountain ranges. Really incredible.
Of course when we got there, it turned out that the owner of the restaurant hadn't bothered to tell the chef that anyone was coming! But they opened up anyway. The chef is an incredibly friendly, bubbly Philippino woman, and the restaurant is staffed by her family. Her husband handled the wine and much of the serving, her niece waited tables, and she cooked. Wonderful people and a great experience, and the food was pretty good too.
We worked our way around a number of local wines at this dinner, with mixed success.
We starated with antipasto, followed by tagliatelle with black truffles and tagliatelle with asparagus. Next was veal with rosemary and oil and veal with mixed whole peppercorns. Lastly, the chef was kind enough to whip up a makeshift birthday cake which only she could tell was makeshift, and a good time was had by all.
Another couple of wonderful days in tuscany!
2001 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino Altero 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
(6/13/2006)
Wonderfully floral nose. Beautiful thick red fruits on the palate. Roses and strawberries yet somehow thick and dark at the same time. Cassis, chocolate. Wonderful! 93++ Dying to try this in a few more years. 2 years in french oak, 2 years in bottle.
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2001 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
(6/13/2006)
Slightly less fragrant nose than the Altero. More red fruit and more delicate. Also more acidic, with slightly astringent tannins. Real strawberries, with a touch of cherry. Excellent. 3 years in Slavonian oak, 1 year in bottle.
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2000 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
(6/13/2006)
Nose of minerals and cocoa. Wonderful red fruits, great oak. Silky yet bold. Somewhat jammy, but with nice gravel, minerals, and maybe a touch of iron. Great acids. Incredibly well balanced.
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2002 Poggio Antico Madre Toscana IGT 90 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
(6/13/2006)
Round, thicker and chewier than the Brunellos. 50% Cabernet, 50% Sangiovese Grosso. Red cherries, maraschinos. Very nice, not great. Acidic, with some tannins.
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