Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 69

O LD WO RLD

Top 100 Wineries

Poggio di Sotto

Masi

ITALY | TUSCANY
The Tipa-Bertarelli family continues to uphold Poggio di Sotto's
cult status with meticulously made Montalcino reds.

ITALY | VENETO
Masi combines traditional practices with scientific research
and technological innovation to keep pushing the quality of its
Amarone wines to new heights.

LUCA
MARRONE

1989
Claudio
Tipa and Maria
Iris Bertarelli
FOUNDED:
OWNERS:

WINEMAKER:

Luca Marrone
VITICULTURIST:

Giuliano Guerrini
40

ACRES OWNED:

CASES PRODUCED:

After ClAudio tipA And his sister Maria Iris
Bertarelli established a track record in Bolgheri at Grattamacco, they set their sights on
Montalcino, acquiring Piero Palmucci's venerable Poggio di Sotto estate in 2011. The estate's
ethereal wines are the product of many factors,
starting with exceptional terroir. Its 40 vineyard acres are in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, Montalcino's southeastern sector, on slopes reaching
1,300 feet, protected from humid sea breezes
by Mount Amiata to the south. Exclusively
planted to sangiovese, the estate's organically
farmed vines range in age from 15 to 46 years
and encompass 120 biotypes, a factor that Tipa
believes builds complexity in the wines. At harvest, the team drops up to ten clusters per vine,
keeping only the best fruit. This severe selection
limits production to less than 3,000 cases. Luca
Marrone vinifies all of the grapes the same way,
with spontaneous fermentations and extended
macerations in upright wooden and stainlesssteel tanks, before moving the wine into large
Slavonian casks. Then he evaluates the casks,
designating each for one of the winery's three
labels. All of the wines age at least twice as long
as regulations require, adding to the complexity
and lending a silky sheen to the tannins. -s.J.

100%
IMPORTER:

Leonardo
LoCascio Selections/Winebow
Imports, NY

SANDRO
BOSCAINI

2011 Amarone della Valpolicella Campolongo di
Torbe Classico ($160, 95 points) Masi was one of
the early advocates for single-cru Amarones, vinifying
Campolongo di Torbe as a single cru since 1958. The
vines reach elevations of 1,200 feet in Negrar, where
they benefit from cooling breezes; those breezes
made a difference in the warm 2011 vintage, when
Masi harvested about three weeks earlier than average. This wine aged for three years in Slavonian botti
and 600-liter casks, where it developed a voluptuous
texture and rich flavors of spiced black plum and
cherry. It layers notes of fresh tobacco, licorice and
roasted coffee with velvety tannins-remarkably integrated for a young Amarone.

2013 Brunello di Montalcino ($400, 97 points)
A relatively cool, late growing season produced this
harmonious Brunello, its deep fruit flavors layered
with notes of Tuscan herbs, cherry tomatoes and fine
spice. The tannins are ripe and generous, creating an
open-knit structure that makes the wine delicious to
enjoy now with a rare steak, yet it has the freshness
and density to improve over the next decade.
2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva ($600, 95
points) Poggio di Sotto's elevated vineyards performed exceptionally well in the warm, dry growing
season of 2012, giving a wine that is intense, concentrated and perfectly integrated. Aged in cask for five
years and another in bottle, it combines power and
precision in the way of a high-performance BMW.

2,900
ESTATE GROWN:

for An estAte thAt trACes its roots to the 18th
century, Masi is anything but a staid, conservative producer. A walk through its cellars and
drying lofts with Sandro Boscaini, Masi's sixthgeneration proprietor, reveals the lengths he
will go to achieve his high standards. He has
implemented a computerized system in his drying lofts that monitors and controls temperature
and humidity, keeping the conditions ideal for
the long, gradual drying of the grape bunches
that he believes is essential for developing complexity in Amarone. In the cellar, some 47 microvinifications are underway, part of a project with
the University of Milan to identify native grape
varieties for Amarone (oseleta may be promising). Even the ownership structure of the company has broken new ground: Rather than taking out a bank loan, he invites people who share
Masi's philosophy to invest-now hundreds of
small investors hold stakes amounting to 20 percent of the company. And, in 2009, he helped
found the Historic Families association, now
13 Amarone producers who, like Masi, adhere
to stricter standards than required by the consorzio. -s.J.

2016 Rosso di Montalcino ($168, 94 points) This
smells gorgeous, exuding scents of violets, rose petals and fresh cherries. Those cherry scents read in
the flavors as well, joined by notes of raspberry and
orange zest. Floral and delicate, yet intensely flavorful and fresh, this Rosso is on par with some of the
region's best Brunellos, making it worth the splurge.

FOUNDED:

1772

OWNER:

Sandro Boscaini
WINEMAKER/
VITICULTURIST:

Andrea Dalcina
ACRES OWNED: 741
CASES PRODUCED:

N/A
ESTATE GROWN:

100%
IMPORTERS:

Kobrand,
Purchase, NY

2011 Amarone della Valpolicella Mazzano Classico ($180, 94 points) Mazzano lies just a few hundred feet from Campolongo di Torbe, at a slightly
higher elevation. In 2011, it yielded a dense, savory
wine, with tightly coiled flavors of dried cherry, dark
chocolate, fennel and graphite. It feels lithe and exciting, with a dark minerality, needing years to unfurl.
2013 Amarone della Valpolicella Costasera Amarone Classico ($65, 93 points) This comes mainly
from west-facing slopes above Lake Garda, where the
moderate microclimate allowed the grapes to ripen
well, even in a cool year like 2013. Freshness propels
the crunchy red-fruit flavors, which pick up notes of
tobacco, soil and subtle spice in a long, lifted finish.
WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2020

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019