2013 Fornacina Rosso di Montalcino

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 87.8 points

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  6/3/2015 - bevetroppo Likes this wine: 90 Points

  When Chambers Street discovers a new, traditional producer in Montalcino you can be sure I will sit up and take notice, assuming I can overlook the oxymoron. No prior knowledge of Fornacina, but the offer in the email was impossible to resist. A good Rosso can express sangiovese the same way as a lesser brunello, or frankly, blow by a lot of brunelli from inferior producers or sites. I always feel this way about Poggio di Sotto, but to be candid, that is a feminine and elegant interpretation compared to the more forceful and rugged version here. My current Rosso favorite of all time, the '06 Poggio, is magnificent today. To be sure, this stuff is not Poggio di Sotto, but it's also at least half the price.
  
  Remembering how young this one is, it's a dark yet translucent red. The nose is a bit wild, full of red cherries, leather and bramble, sauvage in its own way. In the mouth it's somewhat closed (no surprise), but still conveys red fruits, ample acids and a spunky tannic and mineral driven finish. This isn't your nonna's rosso, or maybe it is, depending on how much moxie she has left. Surprised if not shocked to see it labeled 15% alcohol. Would never have known though once I looked at the label it tends to make the finish feel a tad heavy. In short, a rustic but full blooded sangiovese experience without a whiff of modernity about it. Suspect it will improve with a year or two of additional bottle age.

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  2/6/2015 - drfloyd Likes this wine: 92 Points

  This wine is a beauty and a beast - pretty cherry, even some candied notes, pencil shavings, minerals on the nose - but big, big on the palate - lots of tannic power, 15% alcohol (I usually drink low alcohol wines) and mouth watering acidity. Really well done and a great food wine to boot - this is can stand up to anything. Also has a nice purity w/ no oak - my kind of wine. Outstanding

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