On a frosty, snowy winter day, the Ripaccioli brothers’ new Brunello di Montalcino, which comes from the dedicated vineyard on the hill of Montosoli, was presented.
After passing through a copious snowfall, we finally reach Canalicchio di Sopra incredibly unharmed by the adverse weather conditions. The occasion is the presentation of the winery’s new Brunello di Montalcino cru: Montosoli. In fact, the vineyard is located in the Gode di Montosoli area in the northern part of the hill where the marl is tinged with slightly clay-sandy notes, while still retaining the character of the more marl-flecked classic slope to the south (that of Baricci, Caparzo and Altesino).
The Canalicchio di Sopra winery in the last fifteen years has made a huge qualitative leap forward from being a historic winery in Montalcino-the first vintages bottled date back to the late 1960s-to one of the best in the appellation. Credit for all this goes to the three Ripaccioli brothers: Francesco, the winery’s front man; Marco, who takes care of the vineyards and the cellar; and Simonetta, who takes care of the hospitality in the winery’s relais, which is, moreover, beautiful and has an amazing breakfast.
The winery is located in the upper Canalicchi area (read about this very vocated area on the north side here) and the vineyards are all parceled out. After a long research some plots were chosen from which to make cru, the first was Casaccia with the 2015 vintage, while with the Mercatale vineyard, the oldest, reserves are made when they come out. Francesco is keen to point out that the birth of these crus does not detract from the Brunello vintage, which remains the estate’s most important wine as it dictates the estate’s style.
These are estate peculiarities that enhance certain characters of the estate soils. Hence the idea to debut Brunello Montosoli in a vintage, such as 2018, extreme as rainfall and low temperatures, which are not ideal conditions for this area. The Montosoli vineyard follows the estate’s philosophy of maceration in steel tanks for more than three weeks, a long aging in 25- and 50-hectoliter barrels that continues beyond 30 months in Slavic and French oak from various coopers.
Future vintages of this cru were also presented during the tasting, such as the truly fantastic 2019, which will be bottled soon; the extremely balanced and drinkable 2020, while for the 2021 it is too early to give it character.
But how is this debut? Very positive, read the attached sheet by clicking on the name of the wine.
