2003 Podere Poggio Scalette Il Carbonaione Alta Valle della Greve IGT

JancisRobinson.com

• By Jancis Robinson, MW
  8/13/2015, (See more on JancisRobinson.com...)

  (Scalette, Il Carbonaione IGT Alta Valle della Greve Red) Subscribe to see review text.

• By Antonio Galloni
  Poggio Scalette: Il Carbonaione 1992-2007 (Jul 2008), (See more on Vinous...)

  (Poggio Scalette Scalette Il Carbonaione) Login and sign up and see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  7/13/2007, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (CARBONAIONE Poggio Scalette) Italy Magnum Dear Friends, Sometimes it pays to walk through the nether-regions of a cellar and just ask for the stars - you never know what will happen. Such is the case with this set of magnums, a wine I’ve never seen in this format and probably never will again. After we sold the 750ml bottles of this wine I asked about a small stash of unlabelled magnums that were in the back corner of the winery cellar - they turned out to be a hand bottled set of 2003 Il Carbonaione and were slated to go to their German and Swiss distributor (both had already received 12 of them but were set to get another dozen). This is an item that is not typically sold outside of Europe or Italy for that matter but I asked anyway. I was told there was no way as the wine was not properly labeled for the US, etc and it was really more of a bother than it was worth. Wine is never a bother to me (no matter how much work is involved to bring it to your dinner table) so I asked for them anyway. This was before the WA review came out and I finally received an answer a few weeks ago (literally a few days before Antonio Galloni’s review) - I could have the lot but would have to take all of them as it was just too much effort to split them up etc.... ...and then the review came out - one that captured the true character of what makes this wine different than most of the pretenders: breed and balance. The calls started coming in to the winery and the pressure mounted from those that believed they “deserved” the magnums (even though they could care less before the review came out). To make a long story short, the winery honored their word and this offer is the result - at a price that was agreed to before the review came out. For a Super Tuscan of this standing (in magnum), this has to be one of the best deals going - a treat and rare find indeed: VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - VERY RARE (never before in the US and probably never again in this format): ONE SMALL SHIPMENT ONLY directly from the winery cellar: 2003 Poggio Scalette Il Carbonaione IGT 1.5lt Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Italy7950

• By Jon Rimmerman
  6/28/2007, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (Poggio Scalette il Carbonaione IGT) Tuscany Dear Friends, Fresh off the press, one of Antonio Galloni’s favorite wines of his Tuscan review (out yesterday). This is a wine we’ve offered before as it is a testament to a philosophy and belief in your own ideals and not about following trends. Poggio Scalette’s Il Carbonaione was one of Tuscany’s original “cult” wines but they never paid much attention to the critical praise or Parker ratings - they just continued to make fascinating and ethereal wine out of their favorite grape - Sangiovese. Think of this as the intellectual Super Tuscan and one you would be very proud to serve to your dinner guests. This is a wine of style over substance and of complexity in its most elegant but powerful yin/yang. The 2003 Il Carbonaione has so much extract but it still retains balance and grace as its hallmark. A true rarity in Tuscany today (along with Querciabella) - a winery that seeks restraint and breed that goes hand in hand with the sheer size of the wine. It would not surprise me if many of you preferred this to a large percentage of the top 2001 Brunello and Brunello Riserva wines at a fraction of the cost. Put this wine in your favorite 2003 Bordeaux challenge ten years from now and I have a sneaking suspicion it will be quite the conversation starter: Not only is this wine exceptional for the style but is also represents one of the best bargains in the high-end Super-Tuscan sweepstakes. For a wine with this type of track-record (and high scores) to remain at this price level for the past decade is due to one thing - Vittorio Fiore and his desire for the consumer to actually drink his wine and not to speculate on it. Refreshing. This parcel is directly from the winery cellar with perfect provenance We have an excellent price on this wine, about the same as in Italy 2003 Poggio Scalette il Carbonaione IGT Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Italy9878