Pure Sangiovese from the Montalcino estate Le Potazzine, matured twelve months in steel and never near a barrel. Wild herbs, strawberry and wet stone, with the tension of a young Brunello. Vinous awarded this vintage 92 points.
Bright ruby red. The nose opens wild and herbal: thyme and sage, then strawberry and redcurrant, and always that scent of wet stone that betrays the altitude of the vineyards. On the palate the wine is taut rather than broad — juicy red fruit, a saline minerality and a sparkling acidity that holds everything upright. The tannins are fine and already supple. The finish is crystal clear, tipping towards cranberry and blood orange. Young as it is, half an hour of air adds noticeable depth, and over the coming years the fruit will only grow rounder. Serve at cellar temperature, around 16 degrees, with tomato and basil pasta, grilled lamb cutlets or a young pecorino.
In Montalcino, grandparents call their granddaughters potazzine, after the small, brightly coloured birds of the Tuscan countryside. That is what their grandmother called Viola and Sofia, the daughters of owner Gigliola Giannetti — and the estate grew in step with them: Viola was born in 1993, the founding year, and when Sofia arrived in 1996 two more hectares took the total to five.
From its first harvest the estate has worked with wild yeasts alone. Not folklore but a risk: such a fermentation can stall before it has finished. Oenologist Roberta Tiberi keeps it on course — everything here is women's work — and those yeasts give the wines their extra dimension.
The Toscana Sangiovese is the younger sibling here: twelve months in stainless steel alone, then four months in bottle, and nothing else. No oak to dress anything up.
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