Il Poggione Brancato Rosato di Toscana 2014
Winemaker Notes
One of the most highly regarded wineries in all of Tuscany, Tenuta Il Poggione makes incredibly powerful wines for collectors and everyday drinkers alike. Located in Sant' Angelo in Colle in the commune of Montalcino, Tenuta Il Poggione was established at the end of the 19th century by Lavinio Franceschi and is still owned today by the 5th generation of its founder, siblings Leopoldo and Livia Franceschi.
One of the original three producers of Brunello di Montalcino, Il Poggione and has helped to establish the standards of excellence for Montalcino. The estate covers a surface area of 1,500 acres, of which 350 acres are planted to vine, 175 acres with olive groves and the rest are sowable land and woodland used for grazing and raising cattle and pigs to promote biodiversity and a natural approach to farming. Many of the vines are grown at more than 1,315 feet above sea level and Il Poggione owns one of the oldest vineyards in Montalcino, Vigna Paganelli, planted in 1964. The estate is also blessed by its proximity to the Tyrrhenian Sea (about 30 minutes distance by car) to the west and the Orcia River Valley and Mt. Amiata in the south.
Led by father-son winemaking team, Fabrizio and Alessandro Bindocci, Il Poggione's guiding principle is to pay great care to the vines, because the secret to producing great red wines lies in the high-quality vineyard work. Harvest is conducted entirely by hand and the wine is made in the traditional method, though modern, state-of-the-art equipment is used. Total control of the vinification process is guaranteed, thanks to the new cellar built in 2004 and the introduction of extremely advanced technology, but as tradition is important, the company keeps the large Allier French oak barrels used for aging its wines five meters below ground. The winery is also committed to sustainable viticulture and 100% estate-grown, hand-selected fruit.
One of the most iconic Italian regions for wine, scenery and history, Tuscany is the world’s most important outpost for the Sangiovese grape. Tuscan wine ranges in style from fruity and simple to complex and age-worthy, Sangiovese makes up a significant percentage of plantings here, with the white Trebbiano Toscano coming in second.
Within Tuscany, many esteemed wines have their own respective sub-zones, including Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The climate is Mediterranean and the topography consists mostly of picturesque rolling hills, scattered with vineyards.
Sangiovese at its simplest produces straightforward pizza-friendly Tuscan wines with bright and juicy red fruit, but at its best it shows remarkable complexity and ageability. Top-quality Sangiovese-based wines can be expressive of a range of characteristics such as sour cherry, balsamic, dried herbs, leather, fresh earth, dried flowers, anise and tobacco. Brunello, an exceptionally bold Tuscan wine, expresses well the particularities of vintage variations and is thus popular among collectors. Chianti is associated with tangy and food-friendly dry wines at various price points. A more recent phenomenon as of the 1970s is the “Super Tuscan”—a red wine made from international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, with or without Sangiovese. These are common in Tuscany’s coastal regions like Bolgheri, Val di Cornia, Carmignano and the island of Elba.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.