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Montalcino winery to visit

dperrigan

New Member
Hi All. We will be staying near Montepulciano in July (at Sant'Antonio, which is the best place ever). We have a good Vino Nobile winery lined up -- Boscarelli. Now we'd like to find a good Brunello winery to tour. We've been to both Ciacci Piccolomini and Pogio Antico so we're looking for a new recommendation. Thanks!
 
in April we visited Ciacci, Tenuta Fanti and Il Palazzone. Ciacci was nice and our friend Laura has since departed as the wine director at Palazzone. Tenuta Fanti was spectacular. Their Brunelli are great and the Vin Santo and olive oils they produce are second to none. That, along with the lunch they served (additional cost), made it the highlight of our tour in Montalcino. We had a nice selection of the wines we tasted shipped home. Enjoy your visit. Really can’t go wrong in Montalcino!!
 
Just a quick msg to say 'good choice' with Boscarelli. Whilst in Montepulciano itself, I'll also recommend Crociani, who have a drop in tasting room there.

Sorry I'm not any use on Montalcino - Brunello always seemed to miss the mark for me, with occasional exceptions. Checking back on TNs I made, there were 2 disappointing bottles from Lisini (who are reputed to be good), one ok bottle from Il Poggione, with the best of them rather unhelpful as it was a 1967 Camigliano Riserva! A few others drunk/tasted along the way, but seemingly a case of the style not matching my preferences.
 
I would ask Nico for suggestions. He could even help you make reservations. We will be returning to our beloved Sant'Antonio this May. Best place on Earth.
 
Most of my experiences are 6-10 years old and I know in some cases there have been some changes. I've also visited Ciacci Piccolomini and Pogio Antico. Ciacci Piccolomini several times as we also enjoy their cycling museum and are always checking to see if they have a new version of their cycling jerseys (we have 3 different variations from over the years).

Other visits we've really enjoyed (and we go mostly for the tour / wine tasting - less for any food with the tasting) below. I'd consider these all good for a tasting. You'll notice most are south of the city where we seem to prefer the wines.

Il Palazzone - This was when Laura was there as Bob Whelan mentioned. They were transitioning to organic at that point. Minimal wine making portion of the tour, more focused on tasting.
Gianni Brunelli - This was when Gianni Brunelli was still alive. Our timing was close to harvesting when it was all an hands on deck in the fields, including the office staff who helped out. The tour did not include the wine making, just a tasting.
Argiano - picturesque estate, nice tasting.
Poggio di Sotto - We visited when Piero Palmucci who started the winery was the owner. After a tour he personally did the tasting with is. Exceptional wines at the time.
Banfi - huge but an interesting tour to see the differences between smaller estates. They have nice restrooms in their tasting room which we've taken advantage of when in the area - even if you are not interested in a tasting/tour.
Collemattoni - very nice wines, smaller producer (and the tour was arranged like several of the other smaller producers here by the proprietor of where we frequently stay). We have 6 engraved glasses we purchased that are some of our favorites for Brunello.
We also visited Donnatella Cinelli Colombini where the winemaking is in Trequanda (Brunello grapes are grown in Montalcino as required). This was a very interesting visit and tasting.

If there's a particular wine you like, ask Nico if he can arrange a visit.
 
It has been a few years. we visited Il Pallazone with Laura, Casanovi di Neri winery with a great reputation for making a range of high-quality Brunello's. Banfi is an amazing property with over 2500 acres planted, hi tech winery, and Michelin starred restaurant (or was) go for lunch. NB we were comped lunch and tour being in the business and friend of a Mariani decendant who still works for Banfi.
 

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