La Torre Brunello is a traditionally styled Brunello made from 100% Sangiovese grapes from the hills around Montalcino, Tuscany. Ruby red with garnet hues and hints of woodland fruit, berries, tobacco and sandalwood on the nose. Robust structure, powerful and warmth with overtones of myrtle nut, plum, earth and tobacco. Long lasting aftertaste.
-
Brand: La Torre
-
Description: Dry Red
-
Vintages Available: 2018
-
Country, Region: Italy, Tuscany
-
Appellation: DOCG
-
Ratings: JS 90 (2014)
Grapes
100% Sangiovese Grosso (locally known as Brunello).
About the Producer
The La Torre winery was founded in 1976 by Giuseppe Ananìa, who purchased the La Torre estate from the Ciacci family of Montalcino.
Until a few years earlier, the estate had been worked as a farm by sharecroppers, with livestock, cherry trees, wheat and mixed olive trees and vines. While Giuseppe planted the first vineyard, two and a half hectares in area, in 1976, it was up to his son Luigi to expand it in 1999 by another three hectares. Now the vineyard totals about five and a half hectares and surrounds the house on the south and west.
When the Ananìa family moved to Montalcino, there was a popular legend concerning the name “la torre". It was said that beside the farmhouse there used to stand a tower belonging to the Sassetti family, who owned the hillside estate before the Ciacci family. According to the legend, one branch of the Sassetti family discovered gold in the foundations of the tower and decided to demolish the entire building to take the gold and flee to Florence.
The arrival of the Ananìa family in Montalcino coincided with the start of a major transformation process, which affected not only the conversion of wine from an agricultural product to a media phenomenon but also the adoption of new scientific techniques in wine-making, and the introduction of the first IT methods into wineries. Luigi Ananìa’s estate management policy was to combine the techniques he had learnt from his degree in agriculture from Florence University with the knowledge of a number of old farmers who cultivated their vines and made their wines with enthusiasm and meticulous care.
This decision was key to remaining in touch with the surrounding territory and producing wines of local character with a strong bond to the land where they originated during years of rapid transformation, when wineries were in danger of losing their traditional roots and focusing on the cellar rather than the vineyard, with the same techniques in use all over Italy.
However, Luigi Ananìa’s bond to the territory, or the terroir, as the French call it, remains flexible and dynamic and lends full consideration also to other native varieties still present and others forgotten over the years.
The latest wine created at “La Torre” is called AMPELIO and is perhaps the clearest explanation of Luigi Ananìa’s ideas on this, since it comes from a blend of three native grapes, Sangiovese, Ciliegiolo and Alicante, the first of which has been grown since Etruscan times, while the other two were brought later from other countries.
Today, the absolute honesty and seriousness of intent of the Ananìa family is fully represented in the quality and expression of wines which admirably and enticingly reflect their unique origin.
Vineyard
The terrain is harsh and stony and located on a hillside at 430 metres a.s.l. near Sant'Angelo in Colle. The south and west-facing vineyards are on Eocene terrain with a base of pietraserena, galestro and limestone. The vineyards have an extension of 5,6 hectares and are divided into four square areas, each harvested separately at the end of September. Vine density is 3,900 plants/ha. on spur cordon. The yield is approximately 6 tons/ha.
Vinification
After being harvested by hand, the grapes are taken to the cellar, where fermentation and maceration last for approximately 20 days.
Ageing
La Torre Brunello di Montalcino is aged for 42 months in 3,900 litres Slavonian oak casks; only a part, about 17%, spends a 12-month period in 250 litres French barriques. The wine is finally allowed to rest in the bottle before being released. During the first year the wine is racked three times, in December, March and September. In subsequent years it is racked once, in March.
Tasting Notes
The colour is ruby red with garnet hues. To the nose the wine displays delicate hints of woodland fruit and berries, tobacco and sandalwood. On the palate, La Torre Brunello is robustly structured with a classic personality that truly reflects the distinctive characteristics of the hills around Siena: it conveys an immediate impression of power and warmth with clear, intense overtones of myrtle nut, plum, earth and tobacco. The aftertaste is long lasting.
Analysis
14% alcohol vol.
Food Suggestions
Serve La Torre Brunello with roasted red meats, game, and ripe cheeses. Also a superb after-dinner “meditation wine”.
Serving temperature: 16°-17°C. A combination of elegance and power, it should be opened at least 2 hours in advance or, alternatively, delicately decanted.
Cellar
15-20 years in bottles stored horizontally in cool, dark conditions. La Torre Brunello has great ageing potential.
