Dei Bossona Riserva 2010, the musical Nobile di Montepulciano born from tuff
Maria Caterina has an innate gift for singing: she possesses an intense and melodious voice, her heart beating for the seven notes. But it is far from her only passion: she also feels a strong love for her land, her wine, and the nature she breathes in from her vineyards and olive groves surrounding the villa and the family estate in the surroundings of Montepulciano. A love for the land inherited from her father Glauco, a man of great vitality and lucidity. But how did the family business of the Dei family come about?
The company is named after the Roman lawyer Gabriele Mastrojanni who, in 1975, bought the estates of San Pio and Loreto and therein planted the first vines. The vineyards are all about 40 years old and, to this day, they are still employed to produce wine. “A poor and virgin land, clean and unpolluted,” or so it was called back in the day. The hills are located between 180 and 440 meters above sea level and the Romea (Francigena), the ancient road used by pilgrims between France and Rome, cuts right through them.
The history of Roberto Voerzio, of his company and his wines is relatively recent, yet it is already rich in satisfaction and in excellent wines that elicit emotion after emotion.
The quirk of the Le Ragnaie winery is that a portion of its Sangiovese vineyards is located 600 meters above sea level, in the highest part of the Montalcino wine area. If you are curious to know why the winery is called The Ragnaie, it is, very simply, because it was named after the area where the heart of the company lies.
“We live in a house in the heart of our vineyards, and for us the transition to organic viticulture was a natural consequence of our hale, healthy lifestyle”.
Pure, unadulterated, naked in his essence. “Sergio is Nero d’Avola as it should be” in the mind of Baron Giovanni Sergio: without any contribution from wood. This red wine, so typical of Sicily, is derived from the island’s native grape par excellence: the Nero d’Avola. The Barone Sergio company is located in the heart of its typical cultivation area: southeastern Sicily, in the province of Syracuse. The vineyards are located in two districts: Le Mandrie and Gaudioso. This is the territory of Eloro Doc, one of the least known in the island.
Today’s top wine comes from the vineyard of Cerequio hill, 300 meters above sea level, shared by the towns of Barolo and La Morra, in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont region, North-West Italy). This is the historical Langhe area, recognized as a world heritage site by UNESCO. The Cerequio is a first class cru vineyard: the Boroli-owned Nebbiolo grapes are grown in the municipality of Barolo.
Today’s wine is the brainchild of Mario Falcetti (oenologist and agronomist, former Contadi Castaldi, Terra Moretti group), and it has the distinction of being produced by a winery I like to call “unconventional”. Falcetti, the manager of the Quadra winery since 2008, has a reputation for taking things into his own hands and revolutionizing both management philosophy and winemaking techniques.