Top-Rated Italian Wine Vintages Represent One Of Italy’s Most Important Wines

As he arrived in Montalcino, a hillside town in Tuscany, the young Italian man noted to himself that it was no wonder that Tuscany was the name that captured the hearts of those who wanted to live a life filled with beauty and enjoyment. Being Italian was one thing; even further, being Tuscan was something else. Still, the rolling valleys covered with vines, forests and olive groves, accented by the iconic centuries-old cypress trees created an enchanting world that made Montalcino like no other place on earth. Surrendering to the glory of great wine, delicious local food and the peaceful energy that is at once electrifying and meditative brings one to an ancient way of life that has survived extinction.

Leonardo Berti had already worked as an assistant winemaker at the legendary Tignanello estate while also participating in essential studies at the University of Florence regarding research into vineyards and their relationships to making great wine. Tignanello is a “Super Tuscan” wine where the famous Italian native red grape Sangiovese is blended with Bordeaux grape varieties. But Montalcino, especially the winegrowing areas for the Brunello di Montalcino wines, is about only 100% Sangiovese and is the purest expression of Italy’s most arguably important grape.

Leonardo Berti
Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

Eventually, Leonardo moved to Montalcino in 2016, and although he was well acquainted with beauty and living his best life as an Italian, he truly was taken by this Garden of Eden called Montalcino, which was rich with the abundance of some of the most delightful delectables in life, such as truffles, wild boar, excellent olive oil and wines that expressed the exquisite aromatics and flavors of the noble Sangiovese grape, all wrapped up in lush green woodlands. He found his wine home as the winemaker at the Poggio di Sotto estate, a place with remarkably steep vineyards and various clones (a.k.a. biotypes) of the noble grape, different Sangiovese vines that have slightly different characteristics, and the courage to be very hands-off in the winery, respecting the purity of expression that comes from this enchanting land.

Recently, he was happy to showcase several different vintages of Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, with five of them receiving the top rating of five stars from the wine trade organization, Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, who set the ratings for the Brunello wine vintages.

Uniquely Beautiful Estate

Sangiovese grape bunch
Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

“It is the easiest job in the world to be the winemaker at Poggio di Sotto,” said Leonardo, discussing their uniquely beautiful estate and the incredible Sangiovese grown in their vineyards. The sole mission of Poggio di Sotto is to express the multifaceted “noble soul” of Sangiovese that is enhanced by the mixture of soils, different elevations, as well as the various clones of the grape variety that are all special facets of the estate.

But Leonardo also brought attention to the fact that from the very beginning of the establishment of Poggio di Sotto as a winemaking estate in 1989, the owner, who knew nothing about making wine, brought on Giulio Gambelli, known as one of the great masters of Sangiovese. Gambelli believed nothing was better than the “purity of Sangiovese” that wasn’t covered up with too much oak or over-extraction. So even though there was a trend to make big, structured wines with lots of oak to help compete with other ultra-premium wines in steakhouses in the 1990s, Poggio di Sotto always stayed true to the elegance of Sangiovese.

A piece of galestro in the Poggio di Sotto vineyards Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

The energy in Montalcino is a mystical force that cannot be explained entirely but must be experienced. Part of that enchanting mystery in the wines is due to keeping to the ancient practices and continuing to follow the advice of the masters who truly understood how to allow space for the “noble soul” of Sangiovese to blossom. So, it is about keeping a hands-off approach in the cellar and honoring the old ways in the vineyards by randomly replanting the different clones of the Sangiovese grape. The estate has always used massal selection, taking cuttings from old vines to propagate new ones. Poggio di Sotto has a unique collection of 182 clones in a research vineyard on the property. Yet, keeping faithful to trusting the place and past generations more than some systematic approach, as they will aimlessly pick cuttings to use from this collection, although the Sangiovese masters might say that there is a greater power at work that does have an aim, as those in Montalcino pray at the alter of their vineyards.

Top Rated Vintages

Sangiovese grape vine
Photo Credit: Poggio di Sotto

The tasting that Leonardo led had eight vintages; as noted above, five were given the top rating. The 2010 vintage was seen as the vintage of the century at the time, that is, until 2016 and 2019, which were also represented in the tasting. For longtime Brunello lovers, it is undoubtedly a great time to be alive and a fantastic opportunity for those who always wanted to try this titan of the Italian wine world. Above all, the vintages share the qualities of multifaceted aromas and flavors, impeccable balance, distinctive expression of terroir (a.k.a. sense of place) and overall elegance.

2015, also a top-rated vintage, shares these qualities but had the great misfortune of being followed by the exceptional 2016 vintage with deeper concentration and more structure, so it is more sought after by collectors who want a wine that can be cellared for several decades. Finally, the fifth outlier of the top-rated group is 2012, a heterogeneous vintage with varying quality levels among producers depending on the exposition of their vineyards and the timing of their harvests. Some wines are off-balanced with too much ripeness, too little acidity, and, in some cases, green, rough tannins. Others, such as Poggio di Sotto, have juicy fruit, fresh acidity, and silky tannins, so it was a five-star vintage for some, but others may not live up to that prestigious rating.

Emotional Sensation

Since it seems that Poggio di Sotto was very smart in the choices they made in the toughest of vintages as well as the easy ones, it was interesting to note that even though Leonardo has an impressive background in researching viticulture and winemaking, he says that it is the “emotional sensation” that drives his decisions at Poggio di Sotto. Yes, they do conduct analyses of the grapes in various sections of their vineyards for many days before they decide when and how to pick the grapes, yet the emotional response they have when they taste the grapes from the vines, as they will taste grapes as well as place them through analyses, will have precedence over the scientific readout of the composition of the grapes. And they will go to great lengths to make great wine out of a challenging growing season, allowing the “emotional sensation” to lead them in the right direction, such as the 2011 vintage, where they picked berry by berry as some of the berries in a bunch were excellent while others were too overripe and desiccated.

In many ways, globalization has brought opportunities to those even in the far-flung, isolated areas of the globe. Yet, in other ways, it has made others abandon the ancient ways of their cultures to keep up with an international standard. It is not so black and white, where one is wrong and the other right, but it is more about finding equilibrium in a world where it is easy to go to one extreme or the other. It seems absurd to think that at one time, the locals were giving land away in Tuscany during desperate times, even in Montalcino, and now it is one of the world’s top travel and wine destinations. Among the Brunello producers, some keep up with international trends, while others keep to the old ways, even when it seems it could be a detriment to their business.

And so when Leonardo, a man who has already studied and worked with some of the top people in the wine industry, walks through the collection of 182 different grapes clones on the Poggio di Sotto property, knowing that some of the clones could have been continuously propagated from a vine that can be traced back hundreds of years, and stands there among these great treasures passed on by several generations, he hears the voice of the late Sangiovese master Giulio Gambelli to keep the purity of Sangiovese, Montalcino’s most precious jewel, at all cost. Leonardo doesn’t need to seek excellence by using techniques and equipment from the outside world, as excellence is already right in front of him, preserved by great sacrifices from those who stayed during the darkest of times, and all he needs to do is not ruin it.

Poggio di Sotto Vertical
Photo Credit: Cathrine Todd

Vertical of Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino:

2010 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Stunning pristine fruit flavors of red cherries highlighted with notes of rosebud that is underpinned by a stony minerality with an exquisitely fine texture and a good amount of fleshy fruit on the palate with added complex layers of espresso and cocoa nib with a magnificent finish with lots of energy and an incredible mouthfeel.

2011 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Overall juicy wine with cassis flavors intermixed with fresh red strawberries with a touch of plush fruit on the palate with incredibly silky tannins.

2012 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Spice box right off the bat with hints of toasted sesame seeds that has a broad body with lots of rich fruit that is lifted by floral notes and has an overall delicacy in structure that is simply charming.

2013 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. 2013 didn’t receive a five-star rating, perhaps because with the higher acidity and lower ripeness it doesn’t impress with a bang but instead wins one’s heart with its subtle complexity and vibrancy that is represented by dried herbs, crushed rocks and fresh leather that has zingy cranberry fruit with blackcurrant leaves with an electric, linear drive on the finish.

2015 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. The structure of this wine is breathtaking, like delicate lace that caresses the palate with nuanced finesse and has an extraordinary purity of fruit that is expressive on the very long finish. This wine is showing exceptionally well right now.

2016 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. 2016 will take a lot longer to fully mature than 2015. Still, it is already a legendary vintage with intense concentration and layers beyond layers of complex aromatics such as black truffles, smoldering earth and hints of bacon bits with decadently delicious flavors of cherry tart and raspberry preserves that has big tannins that are seamlessly intertwined with the wine and an overall freshness that gives an ideal balance to such intense concentration.

2018 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Leonardo is very proud of this wine as it was an extremely challenging growing season and he said it is really easy to make a great wine in a year like 2016 but the toughest vintages separate those willing to go the extra mile from the rest. This vintage is an incredible achievement for Poggio di Sotto because the best estates can be trusted to make top wine even in the worst vintages and they have risen to the occasion. Savory spices, forest floor and bright red cherries with finely sculpted tannins and broken earth with dried flowers that has crunchy cranberry fruit on the palate.

2019 Poggio di Sotto, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Leonardo noted that 2019 is extremely young at this time and is not showing its complete potential. Still, for those that are well experienced with various Brunello vintages, its potential greatness is unmistakable as it has a seductively plush palate with multilayer red and black fruit with subtle notes of blossoming jasmine and rose oil that is already extremely satisfying even though it is evident that there is still so much more to come with cellaring. The lively acidity brings a brilliance that makes this wine almost perfect.

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