Today’s offer can serve as your periodic reminder that a magnificent wine collection could easily be assembled using only $40-$80 wines. I’m certain of it. Most people who “collect” wine and maintain wine cellars would disagree, which leads me to this question: Are you collecting wine to drink, or to re-sell sometime down the line. If it’s the former, then here’s a well-priced Brunello di Montalcino you’ll be thrilled to pull out of your cellar in 10 years—if you don’t drink up your whole supply well before then. I’ll bet this ’16 will appreciate, too, but that’s a different matter.
I’m talking about a glistening, organically farmed Brunello di Montalcino from La Serena that combines the best features of “traditional” and “modern” wines from the region. The woodland savor of the Sangiovese grape is right there on center stage, along with some glossy black cherry fruit, and there isn’t any overbearing oak component to cloud the picture. Although designed to age for 10-20 years, the wine also offers a boatload of heady pleasure right now, unraveling in delicious layers as it spends time in the glass. The simple fact of the matter is that it costs $50 but tastes way more expensive—the combination we’re always on the hunt for here. As we start to take the measure of a vintage hailed by critics as a “modern classic,” the excitement is building: A case of La Serena will serve you very well for many years to come, without blowing your entire Brunello budget in the process.
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Over the last few vintages, in fact, the La Serena wines have really found their voice, as a review of some of the press (and scores) on the wines will confirm. Since releasing their first La Serena wines in 1988, twin brothers Andrea and Marcello Mantengoli have farmed organically with an eye toward official certification, and today’s wine has that coveted “Made from Organic Grapes” certification on its label. The La Serena estate, which has been in the Mantengoli family since 1933, is situated on the east side of the Montalcino hill, not far from Biondi-Santi and at an altitude of about 400 meters. They’ve grown their vineyard holdings to nine hectares, all of them planted to Sangiovese for either Rosso or Brunello di Montalcino, and their cellars, designed by Marcello, incorporate a wide assortment of “eco-friendly” features, including solar panels used for water heating and a geothermal system of heating and cooling the buildings. Consulting enologist Paolo Caciorgna lends his expertise in the cellar.
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The La Serena Brunello begins fermentation in stainless steel tanks and is then transferred to large wood casks of 30- to 40-hectoliter capacity to complete malolactic fermentation. Their aging regimen for their Brunello is three years in 20-hectoliter French oak barrels (and larger vessels), followed by further bottle aging before release, as is standard in Montalcino. In the glass, it’s a concentrated ruby/garnet extending to the rim, with explosive aromas of black cherry, red and black plums, blood orange peel, leather, cedar, bay leaf, warm spices, espresso grounds, and underbrush. Medium-plus in body and firmly—but not aggressively—tannic, this is a relatively plush, ripe style of Sangiovese that nevertheless retains a clear varietal identity. It’s a transporting Tuscan red that’s delicious to drink now but has a real precision to its balance, which is a sign of great aging potential: There’s enough freshness and structure here for a 10+-year run at least, but that shouldn’t stop you from decanting a bottle about 60 minutes before serving at 60 degrees in large Bordeaux stems. My first inclination is to visit the meat counter when I know there’s a wine like this back at home—grilled Porterhouse and some white beans drizzled with oil is the recipe for success. To the market!
