Col D'orcia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016 (750ml)

 

When the Cinzano family arrived in 1973, most of the wine bottled in Montalcino was Brunello.  A second denomination, “Vino Rosso dai Vigneti di Brunello,” was used locally to improve the image of the wine sold mostly in bulk formats.  Count Alberto Marone Cinzano decided that it was just the right wine for drinking every day.  He used to say: “it’s the young Sangiovese I drink at lunchtime.”  In 1976, three years later, Col d’Orcia already represented more than half the production of “Rosso” in Montalcino.  Thanks to Col d’Orcia’s efforts in 1983, Rosso di Montalcino became a D.O.C. wine by Decree of the Italian President of the Republic.

Rosso di Montalcino is now a classic wine, made with pure Sangiovese grapes, released one year after the harvest so as to retain all the freshness and fruitiness of a young wine and at the same time the intensity that only the Montalcino terroir is capable of delivering.

 

Col D'orcia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

 

Vendemmia 2016

 

Organic

 

Production Area:  Col d’Orcia own vineyard, located in Montalcino, on the hill overlooking the Orcia River, facing South.  Average height above sea level of 250 meters.

 

Weather Conditions:  Winter was rather dry with low temperatures in January and February. Spring rains, within the seasonal average, provided the water reserve necessary for the months of July and August.  September was temperate with good day/night temperature excursions allowing a perfect ripeness of the grapes.

 

Grapes:  Sangiovese, locally called “Brunello” (the same variety used in the production of Brunello di Montalcino.)

 

Vinification:  Fermentation on grape skins for about 10-12 days at controlled temperature below 28° C in shallow, wide steel tanks (150 hl) in order to preserve a fresh and long-living fruit.

 

Ageing:  12 months in Slavonian oak casks between 75 and 150 hl. Followed by refinement in bottle.

 

Tasting Notes

 

Colour:  Deep ruby red with violet hues

 

Bouquet:  Fruity and complex with red fruits aromas combined with a light spicy note.

 

Flavour:  Good structure, soft and pleasantly fresh tannins.  The aftertaste is long, persistent and fruity.

Alcohol: 14%

 

 

Col D’Orcia

 

Montalcino

 

Col d'Orcia wines are estate produced and bottled, with grapes grown mostly on the estate and partly in surrounding farms whose vineyards are supervised by Col d’Orcia during the whole productive cycle.  The high density of planting, the choice of the rootstock suitable for the characteristics of each piece of land, the use of highly selected clones and an overall attention to the characteristics of each single vineyard ensure a limited production per plant aimed at achieving high quality grapes, healthy, concentrated and rich in colour and tannins.  Farming techniques include grass mulching, cluster thinning at the “veraison” and perfect ripening of the grapes on the plant.

Attention to detail characterizes the wine making process at Col d'Orcia, the same given to every other step of the production cycle.  The harvest, carried out exclusively by hand, is regulated by precise analysis in order to ensure the optimal phenolic maturation of every bunch collected: a sorting table at the entrance of the cellar allows an even more detailed selection.

Fermentation is conducted in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks shaped so that the surface of contact between juice and skins ensures optimal delicate extraction of the high quality ingredients such as polyphenols and colouring matters.  Ageing in wood takes place in Slavonian and selected French oaks.  The size of the barrels and the time of ageing vary according to the characteristics of each batch.  For some wines ageing in wood can take as long as 4 years. 

 

Finally the bottles are kept for further ageing on the estate until their refinement is completed.  Therefore we can really state that each bottle of our wine is handcrafted.

 

Organic Certification

 

At Col d’Orcia, for many years now, we have always ascribed high value to the natural environment in which we operate.

 

For this reason in the year 2010 we took the decision of submitting to the organic farming certification process in order to become the largest organic wine producing farm in the whole of Tuscany.  Since August 27, 2010 the whole estate including vineyards, olive groves, other fields and even the gardens are farmed following exclusively organic agricultural practices.

 

We are very proud of this achievement and we can rightfully define Col d’Orcia as an organic island in Montalcino.

 

History

 

Col d’Orcia is one of the oldest established wineries of Montalcino and is very much part of the history of Brunello.  Among the most notable contributions of Col d’Orcia to the fame of Brunello ….. 

The following is an extract from the article by Antonio Galloni on the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento by Col d’Orcia:

 

“Col d’Orcia is one of Montalcino’s most historic wineries.  The estate’s modern-day lineage goes back to at least 1890, when records show the Franceschi family of Florence purchased the property, then known as Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle.  As early as 1933 Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle presented its Brunelli at the Wine Exhibition of Siena, one of the first trade shows in Italy, decades before Brunello would become a prized, world-class wine.

 

Brothers Leopoldo and Stefano Franceschi inherited the property and subsequently divided their holdings in 1958.  The terms of the separation prohibited the brothers from using the existing Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle name.  Stefano Franceschi named his farm Col d’Orcia (hill above Orcia) after the river that runs through the property.  Stefano Franceschi later married into the royal family of the future King of Spain Juan Carlos.  He and his wife had no children, and in 1973 Stefano Franceschi sold his property to the Cinzano family of Piedmont.  The Cinzano family was active in the spirits business, and used their extensive sales network to distribute the early vintages of Col d’Orcia. 

At the time of its purchase by the Cinzanos, Col d’Orcia was planted with a variety of crops, as was common, including wheat, tobacco, olives and grapes.  One of the main buildings is in fact the mill of the old Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle.  In 1973 there were just a few hectares dedicated to grapes, but planting expanded during this time under the leadership of Count Alberto Marone Cinzano and reached 70 hectares by the early 1980s.  In 1992 Marone Cinzano’s son Francesco took over and continued to increase plantings to the current level of 140 hectares, of which 108 are Brunello-designated vineyards, making Col d’Orcia the third largest owner of Brunello vineyards in Montalcino.”