Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2017

Wine description for Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2017 by Pian Dell’Orino

Antonio Galloni named Pian Dell’Orino one of the absolute top estates in Montalcino – and this Rosso shows why. Jan Erbach from Karlsruhe and Caroline Pobitzer from South Tyrol have been farming six hectares of Sangiovese strictly biodynamically since 1997, right next to Biondi-Santi, achieving Demeter certification in 2018. Their Rosso is no by-product of Brunello, but a wine in its own right: precise, varietally pure, unblended and transparent.

Colour & appearance

Clear ruby red with a fine sheen – clean, bright and without any haze.

Nose

Elevated and dark: blackberry and plum, accompanied by cassis and elderberry. A chocolatey note rounds things off, while cinnamon, juniper and delicate liquorice emerge, with fine hints of leather and subtle roasted aromas in the background. The wood is impeccably integrated.

Palate

Cool, racy and distinctly mineral. The tannins are grippy yet ripe and supple, mouth-filling without ever feeling heavy. Savoury in expression, flanked by a fine liquorice note – a wine that truly whets the appetite.

Finish

The tannins hold firm and linger long on the palate: an almost endless finish in which the entire aromatic spectrum of the nose blossoms once more.

Terroir & origin

The grapes come from four vineyard sites – Pian dell’Orino, Pian Bossolino, Scopeta and Cancello – at altitudes of 300 to 400 metres around Montalcino. Soils of fossilised shells and galestro lend the wine its cool minerality. Erbach and Pobitzer created their own geological maps for this purpose – a level of soil research unmatched in Montalcino.

Grape variety & vinification

Pure Sangiovese Grosso. Yield reduction follows a simple creed: one vine, one bottle. In the cellar, fermentation is spontaneous in open wooden vats, followed by ageing in large casks – without any oenological intervention.

Food recommendations

Rack of lamb with green beans and sweet potatoes, flank steak with potato and pumpkin mash and creamy spinach, or as a vegetarian option, caramelised parsley root with beetroot and lamb’s lettuce salad.

Special features

Following the Brunellopoli scandal in 2008, Erbach and Pobitzer published the analytical data of their harvests – transparency instead of obfuscation. Together with the group Sangiovese Per Amico, they remain absent from the official trade fair. This Rosso bears the same uncompromising signature: cool, precise and marked by its fossil origins – a Montalcino that fully justifies its price in the glass.