San Polino, Brunello di Montalcino 2016

There is a small nirvana just northwest of Montalcino where Luigi Fabbro and Kaita Naussbaum founded San Polino nearly 30 years ago. The couple set out to create wines that are complete reflections of the biodiversity of the terroir. The estate is a tiny 4 hectares, farmed organically and biodynamically by this couple your pour all of their heart and energy into these sublime wines.

From vineayrds around 300m above sea level, the grapes here are hand harvested before being pressed and fermented with natural yeasts. the wines then undergo 45 days of maceration with the skins before a month long malolactic fermentation and a further 20 days lees ageing. Finally the wine spends 5 years in large oak casks, a mixture of Slovakian and French, only 5% of which is new. 

The resulting wine is elegant, well structured and incredibly complex. Dark plums, blackcurrant, tobacco, spices, liquorice, violet and orange zest are all present. It remains fresh and yet is full bodied, with unbelievably smooth tannins and a long, long finish.