Il Poggione: Tasting four decades of Brunello

Il Poggione’s Brunellos have proven to be elegant, accessible and excellent value. The estate was one of the first wineries to take Brunello di Montalcino wines to market, as early as the first decades of the 20th century, and it’s one of the founding members of the Brunello di Montalcino consortium.

Il Poggione is the third-largest Montalcino winery after Banfi and Castelgiocondo, with 143ha of vineyards – of which 63ha are dedicated to Brunello production. The vineyards lie around the winery in Sant’Angelo in Colle, on the southwest slopes of the appellation, where the Brunello di Montalcino produced here differs from that of the village itself.

Vineyard altitudes range between 150 and 450 metres, situated on alluvial soils over an upper-Cretaceous calcareous subsoil, which give a good balance to the vines in both dry and rainy vintages. Rainfall here is usually around 500mm, versus the 700mm that falls in the village.

‘We usually have 1g of acidity less than in the highest part of the appellation,’ says Bindocci, which creates a more approachable style of Brunello with ripe, often silky tannins, concentrated raspberry fruit and exciting depth and finesse without the austerity of the northern and higher part of the appellation.

I Paganelli

Il Poggione’s most prestigious and oldest vineyard is the idyllic alluvial plateau of I Paganelli. Planted in 1964, it retains its original vines to this day and provides clones for new vineyard plantings on the estate.

In the past it has also provided clones for some of Brunello’s most appreciated winegrowers, including Baricci, Pacenti and Zannoni, while vines have even been transplanted to Atlas Peak in Napa Valley. It was in this vineyard that the recently retired Piero Palmucci, the talented producer of Poggio di Sotto, took his first steps in the wine world.

The old vines here produce loose bunches of small, thick-skinned grapes, which are destined for the single-vineyard Vigna Paganelli Riserva in the best years.

The estate’s other vineyards have never been wholly replanted either, apart from Capannucce, which was replanted in 1976 due to insufficient drainage. Throughout the estate, 100 different clones of Sangiovese assure the complexity of Il Poggione’s Brunellos, while the use of vigorous rootstocks such as Kober 5BB ‘allow us to embroider the vineyards’, notes managing director Fabrizio Bindocci.

In the winery

While work in the vineyards remains quite traditional, the winery aims to maintain as much purity as possible in the fruit.

Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 25-28°C with a submerged cap. This technique, widely used for Nebbiolo and Sangiovese in order to preserve their delicate colour, is employed here without oak staves ‘to avoid any possible volatile acidity granted by the oak,’ according to Bindocci.

Malolactic fermentation takes place immediately afterwards, with 5% of press wines blended in and higher temperatures maintained in the tanks. Maturation takes place in big 33-52hl oak vessels of which, for this latest vintage, 18 out of 100 were new. The standard Brunello spends 36 months in oak, while the Riserva matures in wood for 48 months, then both are aged in bottle for an additional period of time before release.

Tasting four decades of Il Poggione Brunello:

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