July
22, 2006
2003
Masseto & Montalcino Value
In This Issue
A
Note from Sergio
A few years ago, l'Eté du Vin held a charity auction
for American Cancer Society. I donated a week-long tour
through Toscana that I would lead. When it went for $114,000,
I knew I was responsible for giving the buyers an astounding
experience. I didn’t know that one of them would reciprocate.
Despite the fact that the price was fodder
for a year’s worth of teasing from my older brother
Stefano (“We’d pay that much to leave you at
home,” he liked to say every time we spoke), I was
ecstatic that so much money had been raised, and I was excited
for the trip. Two of the high bidders— Tom Black and
Billy Ray Hearn—were clients of mine whom I liked
and wanted to get to know better. The third was John Lindahl,
a famously philanthropical energy magnate about whom I had
heard, but whom I had never met. Tom brought a date, Billy
Ray brought his beautiful wife Joannie, and John brought
his loving girlfriend Suzanne.
When we arrived in Italy, we went straight
to Montecastelli,
an agriturismo and vineyard in the Tuscan hills that had
donated a villa for the trip. There, in the buildings he
had reconstructed by hand from ancient ruins, the owner
Jens had prepared for us an authentic regional feast. An
expert chef had built an old-fashioned spit amongst the
olive trees and was slowly turning a whole baby pig over
it. That night, we sat with Jens and the chef in the villa’s
enormous kitchen, eating crispy golden brown pork and drinking
1990 Ornellaia. By the end of the evening, everyone was
slumped together, beatific expressions pasted on their faces.
We were off to a promising start.
The next few days were spent doing some version
of the same thing: Eating and drinking in the middle of
heartbreakingly beautiful landscapes. The women would go
sight-, shop-, and spa-seeing, and Billy Ray, Tom, John,
and I would drive from vineyard to vineyard in Bolgheri,
Chianti, and Val D’Orcia, and drink Super Tuscans
and Sangiovese classics. Usually, Billy Ray and Tom—two
well-traveled wine enthusiasts, both of them much older
than I, who had built massively successful companies from
scratch—would find at least a dozen ways to tease
me and then, impressed by their own creativity, would burst
into laughter like a couple of teenagers. I have two older
brothers; it felt just like home.
John was my perfect ally. At eighty years
old, he looked like a weathered cowboy and had the calm,
authoritative presence of the military man he once was.
He seemed impressively unflappable; I couldn’t imagine
him breaking a sweat. On each trip, he sat up in the front
with me so that the bumpy roads wouldn’t bother his
bad knees so much. We talked about our families, our businesses,
our pasts. These men were all becoming my friends as well
as my clients.
One afternoon, we were on our way to Montalcino
to visit Il Poggione, where we were to taste Brunellos from
’77 to ’82. As we made our way through the countryside—Billy
Ray and Tom cracking jokes in the back—John seemed
lost in thought.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“After this hill, I think there’s a bridge
to the right,” he said.
“What. How do you know? You’ve been here?”
We passed a small wooden bridge.
“During World War II, I was stationed
in Sardinia,” he said. “This was my bombing
route. I used to study it from my plane, memorized every
nook and cranny. There’s a church coming up on the
left.”
We passed a white stucco church.
“There’s a river over that way,”
he said. It was all coming back to him, flawlessly. “Never
thought I’d return like this,” he said.
After a long lunch, we took a different route back to Montecastelli.
“A farm coming up,” John said.
“A pond... a vineyard after the turn... a fork in
the road.” Billy Ray, Tom, and I watched in awe as
we passed the water, the vines, the split.
The next day, the seven of us had dinner planned
at the Frescobaldi estate in the small Chianti appellation
of Rufina. On our way past Firenze, John turned quickly.
“I remember a mountain up ahead,” he said.
“I bombed the castle on top.”
Tom interjected with a joke and I forgot about John’s
comment; I think he did, too.
After driving up a winding, two-mile-long
driveway, we arrived at the elaborate Frescobaldi property—a
grand 600-year-old castle and its adjoined villas, all made
of gray brick, overlooking the slopes and town below. The
Marchese Fernando Frescobaldi and his wife Rosa, both looking
like they just stepped off a polo court, welcomed us into
their dining room, where we sat at a heavy, antique farm
table and drank Pomino Bianco and Chianti. After a dinner
of chicken liver bruschetta and mushroom stuffed ravioli,
the Marchesa took us on a tour of the property. John, his
legs a little unsteady, hooked his arm in mine.
As we passed through cool stone hallways,
we turned into different rooms—each of them airy,
elegantly preserved, as perfect as a museum. We found ourselves,
after some time, in a big front room with an intricate mosaic
floor. We were all astounded by the splendor of the place,
and relaxed from the wines. No one was thinking about anything
outside of that very moment.
“This is gorgeous,” Joannie said. “How
old is it?”
“This is the one place in the house that isn’t
so old,” the Marchesa said.
“Oh no?” Joannie asked. “It’s an
addition?”
“The only thing original in the room is that wall,”
she said.
“That’s unusual,” Tom said.
“All new?” Suzanne said. “Interesting.”
“Now, why is that?” Billy Ray asked.
“Because during World War II, some low-life bombed
the place,” the Marchesa said.
I gasped. John squeezed my arm with a strength
I never thought an octogenarian could muster. His face drained
of color. The Marchesa was explaining the mosaic detail
to Joannie.
“Get. Me. The. Hell. Out. Of. Here,” John whispered.
I had the urge to flee, too, just in case
the Marchesa spontaneously realized whom she had just given
a tour of her castle to. But instead, we finished wandering
the place—we climbed to the top and looked out at
the olive trees and vineyards stretching out below. We had
one more glass of sparkling wine, and then we all—John
included— kissed the Marchesa and Marchese on their
cheeks and piled into the car.
On our way back to Montecastelli, John just
gripped the door handle hard. Everyone shook their heads
in amazement; we had officially entered a strange vortex
of coincidence and history. It was, I realized, indicative
of the new American relationship with Italy—a terrain
Americans once knew intimately only when they’d had
to destroy it, and are now relearning because its wines
and beauty are their passions. Back when John was shelling
the castle, no one in the world could have imagined that
some 60 years later he’d be spending thousands for
the privilege of eating dinner with the royal family—the
unknowing royal family, but the royal family nonetheless.
Both John and Joannie recently passed away.
They had become friends of mine. I often thought of our
travels through the countryside, and of John’s full-circle
journey back to Toscana. It illuminated for me how far Italy
and America have come, and how wine has been essential to
that voyage. After I told this story at a wine lecture last
month, I was asked to write it down for John’s family,
and I thought I would share it with you. Today, in the memory
of John and Joannie, I’m offering wines— all
of them with their own complicated history—that impressed
us on that trip. Enjoy.
My best,
Sergio Esposito
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Tenuta dell'Ornellaia: Masseto
Sassicaia,
Masseto, Paleo Rosso, Grattamacco Rosso, Guado al Tasso....
It’s an all-star list any wine enthusiast would like
to manage. Miraculously, these wines all come from the small
zone of Bolgheri, where the Super-Tuscan movement began
more than thirty years ago. And while Sassicaia can be labeled
Bolgheri’s Babe Ruth, Ornellaia would certainly be
its Lou Gehrig. Simply put, Tenuta dell'Ornellaia makes
outstanding wines even in difficult vintages—better
than any other. The estate again proves that critic generalizations
to vintage are incorrect, maintaining the signature balance
and structure.
Brother to Piero Antinori and cousin to Marchese Mario Incisa
della Rocchetta of Sassicaia, Lodovico Antinori left his
family in the seventies to start his own winery with an
emphasis on Cabernet and Merlot. Like the neighboring Marchese
Mario Incisa, Lodovico believed that the steep, south-facing
coastal slopes of this zone were a calling card for great
claret-style wines. However, Lodovico did not just look
to Bordeaux or Sassicaia for inspiration. He quickly acquainted
himself with Andre Tchelistcheff, one of the fathers of
California Cabernet, as well as Bordeaux’s leading
enologist, Michel Rolland. With the team and plantings in
place it wasn’t long before a space-age facility was
built to produce the highest quality wines of Italy.
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia 2003 Masseto
Masseto is Lodovico Antinori’s crowning achievement!
In fact, Masseto has the distinction of being Toscana’s
most widely sought wine. With Andre Tchelistcheff's guidance
and persistence, Lodovico established a plot dedicated to
the noble Merlot. The unique spot contains a blend of three
clays in the soil and has its own distinct microclimate which
is akin to that of Pomerol. For the 2003 vintage, winemaker
Axel Heintz again chose quality over quantity: only 20,000
bottles will be released, as opposed to the usual 35,000.
This atypical vintage gave a more opulent and approachable
Masseto that still demands another 4-5 years of bottle aging.
Masseto Offering:
Tenuta
dell'Ornellaia 2002 Masseto $216.71*
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 2003 Masseto $249.00*
*Indicates future arrival.
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Tenuta
dell'Ornellaia: Ornellaia
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia 2003 Ornellaia
Since its debut in 1985, the estate’s signature wine
continues to demonstrate excellence. The 2003 marks the first
addition of Petit Verdot to this weighty Cabernet Sauvignon
and Merlot blend that typically carries a splash of Cabernet
Franc. Heintz, increased the dosage of both Cabernets to provide
for a more structured wine. While still more approachable
than other vintages, the wine carries the signature complexity
and broad spectrum of flavors that make it one of the most
elegant Super Tuscans. The intense layers of flavor are structured
by medium acidity, moderate tannins, and warm alcohol.
Ornellaia Offering:
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1985 Ornellaia $899.00 (1.5L)
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1988 Ornellaia $245.00
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1988 Ornellaia $499.00 (1.5L)
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1989 Ornellaia $189.00
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1990 Ornellaia $1,495.00 (3.0L)
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1990 Ornellaia $325.00
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1997 Ornellaia $250.00*
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 1998 Ornellaia $219.00*
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 2001 Ornellaia $599.00 (3.0L)
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 2002 Ornellaia $127.45
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 2003 Ornellaia $124.99*
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 2003 Ornellaia $335.00 (1.5L)*
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia 2003 Ornellaia $625.00 (3.0L) *
*Indicates future arrival.
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about private tastings in IWM's Vintage Room!
Brunello's
Great Value: Il Poggione
Proof that Italy’s most collected wine does not have
to be astronomically priced, the wines of Tenuta Il Poggione
are exemplary values. Like Brunello’s patriarchs Biondi-Santi,
Costanti, and Cinelli Colombini, the late Pierluigi Talenti
is one of the great winemakers in the short history of Brunello
di Montalcino. His Il Poggione estate, owned by the Franceschi
family, has consistently delivered exceptional quality at
good prices and in doing so has become a favorite of educated
wine buyers. In fact, the 1999 Riserva may be the best value
from the historic vintage.
Il Poggione lies in the Colle, the southern central section
of the Montalcino zone. The Franceschi family has owned
the estate’s 100 hectares of prime vineyards around
the historic village of Sant’Angelo since 1890, but
the vines only began to live up to their full potential
in 1958, when Talenti was enlisted for his agricultural
expertise. Over the next 40 years, beginning with the 1965
release, Il Poggione became synonymous with classic, elegant,
structured Brunello. Though Talenti passed away in 1999,
Fabrizio Bindocci—who spent more than two decades
at Talenti’s side—carries on the tradition of
excellence.
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
The Riserva is created only in top vintages from a choice
selection of hand-picked grapes chosen from 40-year-old
vines in the I Paganelli vineyard. It is consistently one
of the finest wines of its genre. This full-bodied Brunello
is youthful and powerful, displaying layers of dark fruit
and spice that are supported by bright acidity and chewy
tannins. Over time, this cellar staple will prove its elegance.
Tenuta
Il Poggione 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva $74.32
Tenuta Il Poggione 1998 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva $57.99
Tenuta Il Poggione 1997 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva $98.50
Brunello di Montalcino
This signature wine is made from Sangiovese Grosso grapes
that grow on a 48-hectare plot 200 to 400 meters above sea
level. The 2000 is less acidic, less tannic, and more approachable
than the well- structured 2001 - which requires further
bottle ageing. This traditional Brunello, which is more
youthful than its neighbors, is a tremendous value for the
cellar.
Tenuta
Il Poggione 2000 Brunello di Montalcino $47.93
Tenuta Il Poggione 2001 Brunello di Montalcino $47.93
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collectors!
75 Wines
to Experience This Summer
Italy claims more grape varieties than any other country—in
fact, more than 2,000 indigenous varietals and clones are
found here.
There’s no better way to experience the diversity
and range of Italian wine than through the 75 wines listed
in this special edition newsletter. From the cultural crossroads
of Alto-Adige in the North to the Mediterranean influence
found in Sicilian wine, there is a lot to discover. More
than 14 regions and 40 grape varietals are included here,
all of which represent exceptional values and are approachable
for consumption this summer.
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