Few wine professionals would argue that Brunello di Montalcino belongs on the very short list of truly legendary wines on Earth. Brunello’s dark cherry fruit, deep and savory aromatics, and layer upon layer of tannins are the quintessence of Italian red wine.
Unfortunately, there is a vast ocean of homogenous, egregiously over-ripened and over-oaked Brunello-on-steroids found all over the US. I am here to tell you that this is NOT real Brunello di Montalcino! Real Brunello is deeply textural, savory, and gorgeously rustic. Real Brunello needs time in the bottle to reveal its true soul. And almost always, Real Brunello comes from a rarified community of “mom and pop” family producers who farm small plots of vines and hand-vinify wines in the old style. The names Soldera, Poggio di Sotto, and Fonterenza will likely ring a bell – but for me, La Torre is among the most consistent producers in this small community, and perhaps the only whose wines remain reasonably priced. Pound for pound, this is as delicious and authentic as Brunello gets. And with five years of age, this 2011 vintage is absolutely on fire. Look no further if you seek a special holiday gift or a surefire way to make your next meal memorable.
In the vineyards that surround the small walled hilltop village of Montalcino in southwest Tuscany, the Sangiovese grape is called Brunello. Amongst the approximately 250 producers currently bottling Brunello di Montalcino, La Torre’s wines are not the most well known, nor the most expensive or the most critically acclaimed. This small family farm bottles a few hundred cases of this wine each year (all with a simple black and white label that hasn’t changed over my entire career) and then quietly goes on about its business, all the while hovering in relative obscurity. There is no hype or marketing, here. There is, however, a decades-long history of producing extraordinarily long lasting and stunning wines.
Perched on a hilltop 5 miles south of the town of Montalcino, La Torre is one of coolest and highest elevation properties in the region. This unique site affords the wines remarkable freshness, energy, and minerality. In the cellar these qualities are preserved by a hands-off approach to vinification: All grapes are destemmed, fermentation occurs naturally via indigenous airborne yeasts, and the finished wine is bottled unfiltered.
In the glass, the 2011 La Torre Brunello di Montalcino is dark crimson in the center with translucent red and orange notes at the rim. I like to point out that this is what traditional Brunello should look like. You should be alarmed if you see shiny dark purple wine coming from a bottle of Brunello – it’s often an early warning sign of mischief and tinkering in the cellar.
In the warm and generous 2011 vintage, La Torre offers an especially dense aromatic mosaic of dark cherry, black plums, black mission figs, black currant, tobacco leaf, pipe tobacco, Mexican chocolate and fine leather. And as always, this textbook Brunello’s palate is a dream: Perfect medium-full body, formidable but extremely nuanced tannins, and an impossibly lengthy finish. Even with five years under its belt, this 2011 is just entering its prime, so it will be most delicious when decanted for 30 minutes, then served into large Bordeaux stems at 60 degrees. If you are able to purchase – or even better, prepare your own – fresh pasta, please consider serving this wine alongside this
incredible Pappardelle with Duck Sugo. This recipe and this bottle are a match made in heaven. Cheers!
