Fork and Gobble It: Tuscan Honeymoon - Montalcino

It is the Monday of a full week in Tuscany. We are in the third full day of our honeymoon getaway. This is the first day we have any commitments and the first is an appointment to tour the Montalcino Estate of La Rasina. It is a small property driven by the energy of one man, Marco Mantengoli. He is the third generation of his family running this small estate, which now produces high quality Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino, and an IGT Tuscan Rosso (a proprietary blended red wine). We set off mid morning on Monday and arrived at the vineyard at about 11:30am. Marco met us outside the winery. Broken english and twisted Italian mingled to help us communicate. We toured vineyards. We stuck our heads in giant fermentation tanks, and we talked wine. It was my second time visiting his property, but the first time my wife Stacey had even been this close up inside a working winery. She absorbed it all like a sponge. Marco talked about his seasonal struggles against weather, Mother Nature, and the wine journalists, dispelling the idea of the glamorous life of a winemaker.

We sat in his tasting room, a small area set up next to the business office of the estate, and tasted a flight of his current vintage.

La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino 2006
Color: Deep ruby in color and bright and clean to the rim of the glass.
Nose: Aromas of dark berries and black plums, spice and oak.
Palate: Black plums, black berries, baking spices, pepper, medium acidity, fine grained assertive tannins, and a 30 second finish.

A warm farewell and directions to our luncheon destination from Marco, and we were on the road again to cover the short distance to the actual center of the village of Montalcino. We would take lunch at Enoteca Osticcio, a well known wine bar and shop in the village. Again we couldn't help notice the fortifications of the hilltop town that indicated the real age of the place.

We entered the enoteca, took our seats at our table and ordered a glass of rosato (rose wine) to go with the primi or appetizer course. Three people sat at the table next to us. An obviously American couple was speaking to an Italian gentleman. I excused myself from the table and while I was away the Italian gentleman inquired from my wife which rosato we had ordered. My wife shrugged her shoulders and said simply "You'll have to ask my husband." As I returned to the table he asked again of me this time which rosato we were drinking. I told him it was from a Montalcino producer San Filippo. He politely told us he was Roberto Gianelli the proprietor of San Filippo. This quickly turned into wine business banter in which I told Roberto that we sell his Brunello and the Brunello Le Lecere, a single vineyard Brunello that received 96 points from Wine Spectator for the 2004 vintage. As we talked and ate, Roberto acknowledged Joe Canal's support of his product by sending us two glasses of a Rosso di Montalcino that he had ordered for their table. It was a 2009 Rosso from his neighbor Siro Pacenti. The young intense wine went very well with our lunch of pasta and cured pork belly. We talked on about wine, the wine trade, and life in Tuscany.

After lunch we thanked Roberto and his guests and made our way back to our villa for a simple pasta dish which I prepared. It had been another really great day of discovery and somehow all our cares and concerns had been replaced by a true sense of relaxation and contentment.