2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Poggio al Vento, Col d’Orcia

2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Poggio al Vento, Col d’Orcia

£495 per 6 bottle case in bond
 

The big news for Col d’Orcia fans is the release of the 2016 Riserva Poggio al Vento, which stands shoulder to shoulder with the best vintages ever produced of this wine.
Eric Guido, vinous.com

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Occasionally we aren’t the first to offer a wine. Occasionally a client will say that they already saw an offer of a particular wine a month or so ago. As you know if you have followed our regular offers, we want to taste what we offer ourselves to see if we think it is worth offering. We assess wines based on the style, quality, longevity, and the value they offer. Seldom do we blindly offer something which has just been released without tasting it ourselves, and if that is the case we make it clear to you that we haven’t tasted.
 
What has this preamble got to do with today’s offer? Well, in part I am keen to explain what sets our approach apart, and secondly, I have no idea when Col d’Orcia’s 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Poggio al Vento was released! All I know is: I have just tasted, it impressed me greatly and I have secured some stock!
 
Col d’Orcia is not as well known as I think it should be. It is a large estate, which was purchased by Count Alberto Marone Cinzano in 1973. This estate lies in the southern half of Brunello, on south-facing slopes at over 300 metres in altitude. This is an historic estate which has been producing Brunello since the early 1900s – in fact, this estate promoted its Brunello at the very first Siena wine show in 1933. You might think that a large estate might take its eye off the detail, or veer towards a more modern approach, but that isn’t the case here as the approach centres on detail and blends both traditional and modern aspects of viticulture and vinification. For example, they work with the University of Florence on clonal selection for replanting. They have also carried out extensive experiments on vine density in collaboration with the University of Milan.  You quickly get the impression that this is an estate that is looking for ways to improve, those one percent gains that add up over time. Count Francesco who has taken over the running of this estate from his father has a firm grip on what he wants to achieve, and the results are nothing but encouraging.

The jewel in the crown is the ‘Poggio al Vento Riserva’ which comes from a single vineyard that was planted in 1974 at 350 metres over sea level. The name translates as ‘windy hill’, perhaps not as attractive a name in English, but it underlines that this is a deceptively cool, exposed site for the southern sector of Brunello. It achieves a balanced ripeness retaining good acidity even in the warmer Brunello vintages. They do not make it each year – only when conditions deliver the finest quality of fruit. You may recall we offered a parcel of 2001 and 2004 directly from the estate a few months back – unsurprisingly, this was one of our fastest selling offers of the year. It is equally unsurprising that they opted to make a 2016 vintage of Poggio al Vento as this is widely regarded as a five-star vintage that will offer exceptional longevity. At the time of initial release, Antonio Galloni commented on the 2016 vintage in Montalcino as follows, and I think it is worth sharing these comments once more as our tastings over the last four years have done nothing to change our view that 2016 was a fabulous vintage:
 
If I had to think of one way to universally describe the majority of wines from the 2016 vintage, I would offer that they are like a well-muscled black stallion in its prime. They are dark yet radiant, expressive, nearly explosive at times, yet pure, poised and structured. These are wines that capture your imagination; and no matter how youthfully tense they are today, you simply can’t help but revisit a glass over and over again; because in many cases, the aromatics alone are intoxicating. I frankly cannot remember the last time I tasted young wines from Montalcino that possessed such symmetry from start to finish. Antonio Galloni, vinous.com (November 2020).
 
Now, Poggio al Vento is slow to unfurl…everything is there in great harmony, but it is currently held in check. The team at Col d’Orcia macerate juice and skins for up to 25 days, so it is an extensive maceration by regional standards. Then 90% of the wine is aged in large Slavonian oak botti or casks, with 10% in French oak barriques, for up to four years, which is twice as long as the legal minimum. Again, you get the impression at Col d’Orcia that, when it comes to Poggio al Vento, they know they have a special vineyard, which is capable of making great wines for the ages. My tastings to date have done nothing but reaffirm that is the right decision as they have proven some of the most magical Brunello that I have tasted with bottle age.
 
Please see my note from last week below, and Eric Guido’s note from November 2023. Eric Guido now reviews Tuscany for vinous.com.