Montesecondo, Sangiovese, Toscana IGT, Italy, 2021 (recommended)

Overview of the Wine
Deep in the heart of Chianti, Montesecondo is born in 2000 when now vigneron Silvio Messana comes back to his native Chianti after years abroad and, deciding to distill the soul of his terroir through authentic natural wine, asks himself the following question: “What wine will this land give me?”. Purchased by his father in the 60’s and up until then destined to produce grapes to be sold in bulk, the farm is comprised of 10 hectares planted with Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Colorino and Cabernet among others. Silvio takes biodynamics with a passion and decides to carve his own path moving away from soulless, modernized Chianti styles. His wines sing of passion, enoic truth and the passionate union between terroir and the hands of the vigneron.

Grape / Blend
Sangiovese

Origin
Tuscany, Italy

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
100% Sangiovese. This is Montesecondo's largest production and always the first release of the vintage. Montesecondo comprises two different properties: two separate properties: both are biodynamically farmed and both lie in the San Casciano zone of Chianti Classico but are quite different from each other. The original family vineyard, generally referred to as "Montesecondo", is lower-altitude, warmer, flatter and with heavier clay soils in the town of Cerbaia; the newer one, referred to as Vignano for the name of the tiny village, is up at 500 meters and is cooler, hillier and rich in limestone. The fruit for the IGT comes from both properties, often from the younger vines and always picked earlier than the Chianti and the "Tin" red. Harvest is by hand and the bunches are mostly but not all destemmed, with varying proportions of whole bunches layered with whole berries in the concrete fermentation tank. The juice ferments spontaneously with natural yeasts and no sulfur. The maceration is shorter than for the Chianti and there are no punchdowns or other extractive measures. Aging is in concrete tank for about a year.

93 Points - Ian Blackburn
This wine haunts me as I find it so lovely and gentle... but of course it has a tannic frame like a Cybertruck! The fruits feminine poise, and plush features pulls you and gets your attention like a beautiful women in a stunning outfit, holding a long hunting knife behind her back.  Beautiful and dangerous this wines has "great meals" and "great memories" all over it.  At its price - its fights way above its class.  14/23/23/33  - I'm 93 points and may improve my score if I can get that knife out of my dreams.  NOTES:  Perfumed red fruits, soil, and stones in balance; fresh ruby color (nothing over extracted here) classical chianti notes but a elevated purity and focus here... a big time sangiovese and a small price.  The stones start to emerge as you taste and feel the balance of the wine in the mouth. The tannins are immense but as to be expected from a nice Tuscan classic.  Wine has nice concentration and a tremendous finish.

Product size: 750ml