Col d'Orcia Poggio Al Vento Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva D.O.C.G. 2016 (750ml)

 

Rated 98 Points by James Suckling

 

“Super classic Brunello from a classic vintage, being released now.  The perfume to this is really something, with cherries, flowers, lead pencil and light hints of graphite.  Then it moves to raspberries and black cherries with some sandalwood shavings.  You just want to smell it.  Clear and transparent.  Full-bodied with very fine and succinct tannins that fill the mouth and show super tension and form.  Extremely long and structured.  Beautiful now, but this will age for decades ahead.  Drink or hold.”

 

Rated 97 Points by Vinous Media

 

“Classic to the core, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Poggio al Vento takes its time in the glass, slowly gaining in depth and nuance as dusty roses and leather give way to dried strawberries, then hints of cedar and spiced blood orange.  It’s elegant and refined, with polished red berry fruits and silken textural waves contrasted by sour orange notes.  A core of vibrant acidity maintains a wonderfully fresh persona.  This finishes long and staining yet also youthfully structured.  A coating of fine tannins grips the remnants of red currant and spice.  Ultimately, the 2016 Poggio al Vento leaves the taster longing for another sip while lamenting its impossibly youthful state.  It will be many years before we can fully enjoy the depth and complexity currently in reserve, but I hope to be there when the day finally comes.”  Eric Guido, Vinous Media

 

Rated 97 Points by Wine Spectator

 

Packed with vibrant cherry, strawberry, rose, mineral and tobacco aromas and flavors, this red is racy and pure, with a superb aftertaste.  Defined by its bracing acidity and precise fruit flavors, this still has some tannins to resolve.  So youthful and fresh, it feels like this has hardly budged in its evolution.  Best from 2027 through 2045.  2,100 Cases Made, 300 Cases Imported.  B.S.

 

Rated 96 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

The nose is primarily savory, with aromas of old leather, dirt and mixed spices, like a general store in the Old West with cherry and licorice candy in bins.  The palate is more fruit-forward, with notes of cherries and figs, with currents of coffee and sambuca mingling to create a subtle sense of edginess.  Tannins and acid oversee affairs without intruding, like a good party host.  Taub Family Selections.  D.C.

 

Rated 96 Points by Kerin O’Keefe

 

“Aromas of underbrush, wild berry, leather, camphor, and Mediterranean herb waft out of the glass.  The full-bodied palate is still young and primary but shows great aging potential, delivering juicy red cherry, pomegranate, licorice and tobacco set against firm, noble tannins.  Bright acidity keeps it balanced.  Drink 2023–2043”

 

Rated 96 Points by Jeb Dunnuck

 

“There is another level of refinement to the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino, with layers of pure cherry, incense, and leather, woven together with rosemary, and herbs.  It has fine tannins and is elegant yet structured, offering a wine with precision and length.  Well-balanced, its warming spice harkens to its more southern location and sense of place.  Drink 2025-2045”  Audrey Frick

 

Rated 95 Points by The Wine Advocate

 

"The organic Col d'Orcia 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento (in a medium-heavy glass bottle) is quite beautiful, truth be told, with a unique sense of direct power, medium-rich texture and evolved fruit.  This Riserva takes us back in time to one of the most successful vintages in Montalcino history.  The bouquet is distinguished by dried fruit, rose potpourri and roasted chestnut husk.  The tannins are resolved, and the wine ends on a softly silky note..."  Monica Larner 12/23 

 

Col d'Orcia Poggio Al Vento

 

Brunello Di Montalcino

 

Riserva D.O.C.G. 2016

 

Organic

 

Main Features

 

Colour:  Intense ruby red.  

 

Bouquet:  Rich bouquet, complex and elegant, made up by hints of cherry and small red ripe fruits, perfectly combined with spicy aromas and hints of oak from the long stay in the wood.

 

Taste:  Well-structured on the palate, rich and full, the powerful and ripe tannins are supported by a pleasant freshness.  Excellent long-lasting and elegant aftertaste in accordance with the bouquet.

 

Alcohol Content: 15 %

 

Serving Temperature: 18° C

 

Pour the wine into ample glasses

 

Production Information

 

Production Area:  Montalcino - Siena - Sant'Angelo hill overlooking the Orcia River facing South-South/West.

 

Vineyard:  Poggio al Vento.  Average Height:  300 m above sea level.  First planting in 1974 and subsequent years.

 

Weather Conditions:  Winter was rather dry with low temperatures in January and February.  Spring rains, within the seasonal average, provided the water reserve necessary for the months of July and August.  September was temperate with good day/night temperature excursions allowing a perfect ripeness of the grapes.

 

Grapes:  Selected clones of Sangiovese, locally called “Brunello” coming from the Col d’Orcia clone bank.  The choice of the harvest time was based on reaching the perfect ripeness to produce a long-lived, structured wine.  Manual harvest with rigorous selection of the best bunches, in the vineyard at first and then on the selection table in the cellar.

 

Vinification:  Fermentation at controlled temperature of 25-28°C. in stainless steel tanks of 50 and 60 hl.  Grapes from different parts of the vineyard were kept separate in order to select the best batches after fermentation.  During the maceration, that lasted 18-20 days, daily pump-over and long “délestages” were carried out.  Malolactic fermentation took place in concrete tanks.

 

Ageing:  3 years in Slavonian and Allier oak barrels of 25 and 75 hl, followed by about 2 years and a half of further aging in the bottle before release.

 

Winemaking

 

Col d'Orcia wines are estate produced and bottled, with grapes grown mostly on the estate and partly in surrounding farms whose vineyards are supervised by Col d’Orcia during the whole productive cycle.  The high density of planting, the choice of the rootstock suitable for the characteristics of each piece of land, the use of highly selected clones and an overall attention to the characteristics of each single vineyard ensure a limited production per plant aimed at achieving high quality grapes, healthy, concentrated and rich in colour and tannins.  Farming techniques include grass mulching, cluster thinning at the “veraison” and perfect ripening of the grapes on the plant.

Attention to detail characterizes the wine making process at Col d'Orcia, the same given to every other step of the production cycle.  The harvest, carried out exclusively by hand, is regulated by precise analysis in order to ensure the optimal phenolic maturation of every bunch collected: a sorting table at the entrance of the cellar allows an even more detailed selection.

Fermentation is conducted in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks shaped so that the surface of contact between juice and skins ensures optimal delicate extraction of the high quality ingredients such as polyphenols and colouring matters.  Ageing in wood takes place in Slavonian and selected French oaks.  The size of the barrels and the time of ageing vary according to the characteristics of each batch.  For some wines ageing in wood can take as long as 4 years.  Finally the bottles are kept for further ageing on the estate until their refinement is completed.  Therefore we can really state that each bottle of our wine is handcrafted.

 

Cellar

 

The wine-making cellar, made out of the original premises of the farm, has steel tanks with controlled temperature and capacity of 8.400 hectolitres.  The ageing cellar, built in the year 1990 and perfectly included in the surrounding Mediterranean environment, has Slavonian and Allier oak barrels whose capacity is 25,50,75,150 hectolitres for a total amount of 7000 hectolitres and no. 800 barriques for a total amount of 1.800 hectolitres.

 

The "Terroir" of Val d'Orcia and Montalcino

 

The estate is located on the southern slope of the Montalcino territory and is an integral part of the Orcia Valley, the Val d’Orcia.

 

The Val d’Orcia is a unique territory that was declared part of the Patrimony of Humanity in the year 2004.  UNESCO explains as follows the reasons for this:

 

“The Val d’Orcia is an exceptional reflection of the way the landscape was rewritten in pre-renaissance times to reflect the ideals of good government and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture celebrated by painters from the Siennese school.  The Val d’Orcia has come to be seen as icon of the landscape which has profoundly influenced the development of landscape thinking”.  On the hill overlooking the Orcia River, where the vineyards are planted, you can still today see some very old olive trees planted in rows.  They have survived for more than 4 centuries and testify the uniqueness of the microclimate on the Col d’Orcia hill.  Already 400 years ago this part of Montalcino was an agricultural exploitation thanks to the particularly favorable conditions of soil and climate.

The vineyards are located on the southern slope of the Montalcino territory, on hilly lands and extend over 540 hectares, from the Orcia River to the village of Sant’Angelo in Colle, at about 450 metres over sea level.  Its position is extremely favorable as it faces south directly, and it is also protected by the barrier of Mount Amiata (1.750 meters) against meteorological events such as floods or hail, and to the mild climate coming from the Tyrrhenian coast, in the west, where the sea is some 35 km away.

 

The nature of the soil is undoubtedly favorable to grape growing, with fundamentally loose grounds, poor in clay and rich in limestone and inert materials.

 

The area is not affected by fog, ice or late frost, whereas the frequent breezes guarantee the best conditions for the vine health conditions.  Its climate is typically Mediterranean, with limited rainfalls concentrated in the months of March, April, November and December.

 

The high number of sunny days throughout the whole vegetative season ensures a gradual and complete grape ripening.  The vineyards facing south and the particular nature of the soil convey notes of structure and elegance to the Brunello produced on this side of Montalcino.

 

 

Col d'Orcia Winery

 

Montalcino

 

Welcome to Col d'Orcia,

 

Organic Producer of Brunello

 

Col d’Orcia literally means the hill overlooking the Orcia River.  The Orcia River marks the South West border of the Brunello di Montalcino territory and the name of the farm is intrinsically linked to the physical location were the vineyards are planted.  It is the mission of Col d’Orcia to produce the best possible wines that the exceptional combination of soil and climate of this part of Montalcino can achieve.

 

Col d'Orcia Winery, organic island in Montalcino

 

At Col d’Orcia, for many years now, we have always ascribed high value to the natural environment in which we operate.

 

For this reason, in the year 2010 we took the decision of submitting to the organic farming certification process in order to become the largest organic wine producing farm in the whole of Tuscany.  Since August 27, 2010 the whole estate including vineyards, olive groves, other fields and even the gardens are farmed following exclusively organic agricultural practices.

 

We are very proud of this achievement and we can rightfully define Col d’Orcia as an organic island in Montalcino.

 

History

 

Col d’Orcia is one of the oldest established wineries of Montalcino and is very much part of the history of Brunello.  Among the most notable contributions of Col d’Orcia to the fame of Brunello ….. 

The following is an extract from the article by Antonio Galloni on the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento by Col d’Orcia:

 

“Col d’Orcia is one of Montalcino’s most historic wineries.  The estate’s modern-day lineage goes back to at least 1890, when records show the Franceschi family of Florence purchased the property, then known as Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle.  As early as 1933 Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle presented its Brunelli at the Wine Exhibition of Siena, one of the first trade shows in Italy, decades before Brunello would become a prized, world-class wine. 

 

Brothers Leopoldo and Stefano Franceschi inherited the property and subsequently divided their holdings in 1958.  The terms of the separation prohibited the brothers from using the existing Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle name.  Stefano Franceschi named his farm Col d’Orcia (hill above Orcia) after the river that runs through the property.  Stefano Franceschi later married into the royal family of the future King of Spain Juan Carlos.  He and his wife had no children, and in 1973 Stefano Franceschi sold his property to the Cinzano family of Piedmont.  The Cinzano family was active in the spirits business, and used their extensive sales network to distribute the early vintages of Col d’Orcia. 

At the time of its purchase by the Cinzanos, Col d’Orcia was planted with a variety of crops, as was common, including wheat, tobacco, olives and grapes.  One of the main buildings is in fact the mill of the old Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle. 

 

In 1973 there were just a few hectares dedicated to grapes, but planting expanded during this time under the leadership of Count Alberto Marone Cinzano and reached 70 hectares by the early 1980s.

 

In 1992 Marone Cinzano’s son Francesco took over and continued to increase plantings to the current level of 140 hectares, of which 108 are Brunello-designated vineyards, making Col d’Orcia the third largest owner of Brunello vineyards in Montalcino.”

 

 

Rated 97 Points by Wine Spectator

 

Packed with vibrant cherry, strawberry, rose, mineral and tobacco aromas and flavors, this red is racy and pure, with a superb aftertaste.  Defined by its bracing acidity and precise fruit flavors, this still has some tannins to resolve.  So youthful and fresh, it feels like this has hardly budged in its evolution.  Best from 2027 through 2045.  2,100 Cases Made, 300 Cases Imported.  B.S.

 

 

 

Rated 96 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

The nose is primarily savory, with aromas of old leather, dirt and mixed spices, like a general store in the Old West with cherry and licorice candy in bins.  The palate is more fruit-forward, with notes of cherries and figs, with currents of coffee and sambuca mingling to create a subtle sense of edginess.  Tannins and acid oversee affairs without intruding, like a good party host.  Taub Family Selections.  D.C.