Montalcino Report

Understanding Brunello terroir with Google Earth part II

Here is part II of the post of yesterday.

The image above is a detail from the appellation map in the post of yesterday.

The satellite photo above evidences Tenuta Il Poggione to the south of Sant'Angelo in Colle, which is situated at 400 meters above sea level. The Yellow Pin evidences where our "tenuta" is situated. As you can see in the image, our vineyards like at just below 400 meters above sea level and they benefit from south and southwest exposure. These two factors are very important for growing grapes for great Brunello like ours.

This is a three dimensional image viewing Sant'Angelo in Colle and Tenuta Il Poggione from the south. As is evidenced in the image, our "tenuta" and vineyards are located on the slope that descends from Sant'Angelo in Colle. 

In the next coming post, I will speak of the rapport between Mount Amiata to the south and the nearness to the Thyrrenian Sea. 

Understanding the terroir of Brunello using Google Earth

Now more than ever are people talking about terroir of wine. So with this post I wanted to explain the terroir of Montalcino and Sant'Angelo in Colle by using a wondrous tool called Google Earth (if you do not have Google Earth, please download it and search for Sant'Angelo in Colle and Montalcino and you will find all kind of interesting informations and photographs of our land). 

This is the first post in a series of posts that I will try to explain the terroir of Brunello di Montalcino using maps and images from Google Earth.

Here's a map of the Brunello di Montalcino appellation confines. Only Sangiovese Grosso grapes grown in this area can be used in the production of Brunello di Montalcino.

Here is the same map with the the area around Sant'Angelo in Colle evidenced.

The winery and estate where my father and I work, Il Poggione, is in the village of Sant'Angelo in Colle (the name of our village means Saint Angelus on Hill). Our vineyards are situated just to the south of the village. The fact that we are in the south of the appellation is important but I will speak about that in the next post.

Here is a Google Earth screenshot of the same evidenced area.

In the lower corner to the left you can see that Sant'Angelo is at 400 meter above sea level. The altitude of our vineyards is very important for having cool temperatures at night to allow the fruits of the vineyards to ripen slowly during warms days of summer months. Not all of the appellation is so high in altitude and not all the growing site can make such good fruit for superior Brunello. That is why our village is called Sant'Angelo IN COLLE because it is situated on a hill. This is very good for the vineyards.

Here is the link to Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/

I invite you to download Google Earth and look about Montalcino and Sant'Angelo in Colle and to see why it is such a special place to grow grapes for fine wine.

In the next post I will show more images and talk about Monte Amiata and why so important.

Michelangelo Buonarotti self-portrait in Siena Duomo

The land where we make wine is in the province of Siena. It takes about 40 minutes from my house in Sant'Angelo in Colle, depending on how fast you drive, to get to the historical centre of Siena.

Siena is one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Italy, including the Duomo Cathedral above, and it is also home to the Enoteca Nazionale, which is a wine store and education studio where you can learn about and taste wines from all the regions of Italy.

There are many amazing works of art and things to see in Siena and this summer there is something very special: the Duomo of Siena has recently unveiled four newly restored statues by Michelangelo Buonarotti, including his depiction of St. Paul which is considered the Renaissance master's earliest self-portrait.

This is just one of the many amazing things to visit this summer if you are coming to the Montalcino and Sant'Angelo in Colle wine country. 

Requiescat in pace: Baron Bettino Ricasoli

We were deeply saddened to hear of the loss of the Baron Bettino Ricasoli, who passed away over the weekend. Historically, his family has done so much for Italy, Tuscany, and Sangiovese. Our condolences go out to the Ricasoli family.

Requiescat in pace: Baron Bettino Ricasoli.

Organic Market today in Montalcino

If you happen to be in Montalcino today, please visit the "Organic Market" mercatino that highlights biologic and organic foods and products of the Val d'Orcia. The market is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today in the Piazza del Popolo in the centre of Montalcino. 

You can see a calendar for the itinerary for the "mercantini" here. Throughout the year, the markets are held in different villages.

The Organic Market features all kinds of the wonderful agriculture products of the Orcia river valley or the "Val d'Orcia". It is a great way to experience the foods of our lands and I highly recommend it.

Remember Abruzzo

Our friend Jeremy Parzen has sent us some photos of winemaking country in Abruzzo and asking us to post one to "remember Abruzzo". Abruzzo is a beautiful land where very fine wine is made. The photo above is by Alessio Occhiocupo and it is of the winemaking area of Chieti where they cultivate Bombino bianco (Trebbiano d'Abruzzo or Trebbiano bianco di Chieti). Please remember Abruzzo and the earthquake that has devastated the region in April and left so many people homeless. 

We can all help the winemakers and people of Abruzzo by drinking their wines and by visiting them when we take our enogastronomic vacations.

Please "remember Abruzzo". 

Images of Sant'Angelo in Colle and our Facebook

If you are on Facebook, please ask to be a member of the fans group for Sant'Angelo in Colle e Scalo. Just do a search for Sant'Angelo in Colle in the search window in the right hand top. And if you want to be friends with me, please send me a friends request. I am Alessandro Bindocci. Thank you Marina Binda for setting up the fans group for Sant'Angelo in Colle e Scalo!

The place where I live is Sant'Angelo in Colle,  a small village in the commune of Montalcino at 440 meters a.s.l.

The name "Saint Angel on the Hill" comes our village church, the church of Sant'Angelo and the fact that we are at the highest part of Montalcino "on the hill".

The earliest mentions of Sant'Angelo go back to the time of the Longobards and there already many mentions of the village in documents of the commune of Siena in the 1200s.

Sant'Angelo in Colle is one of the most beautiful hilltop villages in all of Tuscany and has remained unchanged since the Middle Ages when it was built in its current status.

That is Mount Amiata in the background. One of the reasons Montalcino has such a unique macroclimate is because of this mountain, which helps to protect it from bad weather.

You can see more photographs of Sant'Angelo by visiting Foto Toscana.

Requiescat in pace: Miha Gravner

My father Fabrizio Bindocci and I were very saddened to hear of the tragedy of Miha Gravner, son of Friulian winemaker Josko Gravner. He left our world on Saturday night after a road accident in Croatia. Requiescat in pace, Miha Gravner.

Here's a link to the notice in English and here in Italian.

Hoja santa and Il Poggione at the Four Seasons in Big Texas

Our friend Jeremy Parzen sent us this photo he took of Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino 2006 at Trio, the restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin Texas (where Jeremy now lives). That's the cheese plate that chef Todd Duplechan serves during happy hour at the bar at the Trio (that is a steakhouse, which is very popular in Texas where they eat a lot of steak like in Sant'Angelo in Colle except for Sant'Angelo in Colle which is a "frazione" of Montalcino is very small and Texas is very BIG!). Sommelier Mark Sayre, says Jeremy, is the "best sommelier in Austin" and he serves our wine at his restaurant.

The second cheese from the left is a goat cheese produced by Paula Lambert's the Mozzarella Company in Dallas in Texas. The cheese is wrapped in "hoja santa", "holy leaf" that is grown in the garden of another friend of Il Poggione, Alfonso Cevola who is the Italian Wine Director for Glazer's Distributor.

The world is such a big place and Sant'Angelo in Colle where we make our wines is so small but the internet makes the world feel smaller. We are happy that Jeremy is enjoying our wine. Thank you Mark, Todd, Alfonso, and Jeremy! We hope to see you soon in Sant'Angelo! :-)