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Dark garnet colored wine with an orange rim showing development. On the nose, stewed fruit, tobacco, crushed violet, raisin, plum and earth aromas predominate. On the palate, it is a rich older wine that has some red and dark fruit flavors along with hints of vanilla, prunes, coffee, leather, tobacco and chocolate. Full-bodied, elegant and smooth with mellow, silky tannins and a medium to long finish. Drink now to 2009 with grilled meats, game, herb chicken, lamb, or pasta with meat sauce.
Game, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Pork, Grilled Red Meats, Italian Red Sauces, Lamb, Pasta, Roast Chicken
Borgo Pretale is a small producer of Chianti Classico in the heart of Tuscany, near Siena. When you arrive at the estate, you feel like you have traveled to an earlier era; time has not changed the cluster of stone farmhouses amidst the vineyards and olive groves for centuries. Most of the estate’s land is devoted to the production of olive oil and Chianti Classico. However, their best vineyards produce Borgato – their Super Tuscan.
Chianti is the most famous viticultural area of Tuscany. The rolling hills lie along the classical towns of Siena and Florence. Situated at the western foothills of the Appennines mountain range, the vineyards grow at a relatively high altitude. The altitude tempers the very warm and dry summers, extending the growing season and allowing the grapes to develop more character and finesse. Chianti is made from the Sangiovese grape and exhibits a medium bodied, fruity character with high acidity and tannins. Chiantis aged in oak are referred to as Riservas. Next door to Chianti, the region Brunello di Montalcino has made a name for itself, producing long-aged, complex and robust wines from the Brunello grape. Tuscany also produces the white wine Vernaccia di San Gimignano. The grapes grow to the west of Chianti and produce fresh, fruity and youthful wines.
Montalcino Montalcino is a picturesque hilltop town south of Siena in Tuscany. The warm days and clay stone soils produce powerful red wines from the Brunello grape, the local clone of Sangiovese. The area’s famously expensive Brunello di Montalcino wines are required to spend 2 years ageing in oak, but the Rosso di Montalcino wines only need to spend a year oak ageing and are substantially less expensive - representing good value.
Overview Greek settlers first planted vineyards in Italy sometime around 800BC. Since then, wine has been entrenched in the Italian culture, ‘as common as water on the dinner table’. Most of the topography in Italy, about four fifths, is perfect for growing grapes, because of the hilly and mountainous features. These features helped Italy produce 20% of the worlds wine in the nineties (580 million hectoliters).
Italy greatly varies in topography, climate and culture from North to South and the styles of wine reflect these differences:
In the North, the Appennines Mountains and the lakes of Como, Garda and Maggiore work together to moderate the cool winters and hot summers and prolong the grapes’ growing season.
The Northeast is best known for the Nebbiolo grape, considered to produce the finest of Italian wines. The concentration of fruit, high tannin and acidity combine to produce a long-ageing wine with incredible depth and character.
The cool Northwest is better known for its white wines. Pinot Grigio is by far the most famous white wine in Italy, known for its crisp acidity and subtle fruit character.
Central Italy is renowned area for Chianti, a medium bodied, fruity and acidic red wine from the Sangiovese grape. The Southern area is much hotter and Mediterranean in character. Here, the wines are less tannic and lighter bodied in style, to better accompany the lighter cuisines of the area.
Recently Italy has experienced a rebirth in quality wines. Years ago the wine flowed like water and was equally flimsy and thin, but that is no longer the case. Throughout the twenty regions of Italy, more and more quality whites and reds can be found from places like Piedmont, Tuscany and Friuli. The category given out prestigious of wines in Italy is known as the DOC and DOCG. DOC stands for denominazione di origine controllata and DOCG stands for denominazione di orginie controllata e grarantita. These are guarantees of authenticity and quality that can be found on the label of the highest quality Italian wines from selected vineyards or regions.
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