2021 Marroneto, Brunello di Montalcino, Madonna Grazie

Three selections were made in this vintage that will go into the blend for the 2021 Brunello Di Montalcino Madonna Delle Grazie in final production. It is a noble and potent expression and takes on significantly more structure and potency. Here again, it retains driving energetic tension of acidity and freshness. This was my first time visiting the Il Marroneto estate, and everything I tasted there was from barrels, led by winemaker Alessandro Mori’s son, Iacopo, while the 2018s were tasted from bottle back home in New York. The winery was established in 1974, when Alessandro’s father, who was originally from Siena, was looking to create a small winery. He was encouraged by a priest in Montalcino to take a look at a church property on the northern side of the town, with its exposition overlooking Siena, and found the home for his winery. Today, the Mori family’s approach to the vineyard and the winery remains traditional in that they work by more natural methods of temperature control, they do not implement green harvesting of the vines, and they do not work the soil, looking for nature itself to create its selection. The ground here is 75% sand, the ideal soil for Sangiovese. Today they own eight hectares of vineyard, with their prime holdings just outside the winery, the two hectares that make up Modanna delle Grazie, at 440 meters above sea level. All of their vineyards have a northern exposition, which is important for the cold winds in the early evening and through the night.

Lustrous mid to deep ruby. Gorgeous perfumed red fruit with saline hints rising up from the glass and with top notes of damson and raspberry. Fluid, deep raspberry fruit on the palate layered with firm, chewy tannins that, at this moment, are a tad astringent. Still embryonic and with a tightly wound structure that demands much more time. (WS)