A Boot-full of Wine – Tasting notes from Italy

Il Palazzone

A Scotswoman in Montalcino!

30th December 2009

What is a Scotswoman doing in Montalcino, and one that has been there for 15 years at that? Well may you ask. Laura Gray, however, is no ordinary Scot. With both her parents having hailed from the world of academia, she had spent time growing up in places as antipodean as Australia, and Italy was a common destination for the family. Indeed by the time she was in her later school years, summer visits to Camigliano were the norm.

Laura confessed that she always knew she would return to Montalcino to live – or at least that was her dream. She is living the reality!

Our meeting occurred under amazing circumstances – I am living in Tuscany and had a couple of my articles accepted for publication by Snooth. She read one of these and invited me to Il Palazzone (and helped arrange a meeting with Andrea Cortonesi at Uccelliera – the subject of a subsequent article) and so I gladly took up the invitation with a friend from my tasting group.

Il Palazzone is a small winery in the heart of Montalcino, that produces the highest quality Brunello, in the traditional style. Total annual production is between 8000 and 12000 bottles. Brunello is the only DOCG wine they produce – there is no Rosso di Montalcino. The vineyards are over 500m above sea level, with a smaller holding at a lower altitude, and responsible viticulture is their catch cry. No chemical pesticides are used, and hand pruning is employed as the norm.

Laura is married to Marco Sassetti,
 and they have two young children, and live on the property. Marco hails from S.Angelo in Colle, just around the corner from Montalcino. He is the general manager of the property and is responsible for the vineyard and olive grove management, the cellar construction and the logistics of the property. Marco is a down to earth and salt of the earth sort of guy, with a passion for all things natural. He and Laura created and ran a cult restaurant, La Fortezza del Brunello (6 tables and 600 wines….) but gave up their restaurant business to work for Il Palazzone, in 2003.

Laura herself is a trained sommelier and has a degree in English Literature from the University of Oxford. She is the estate manager, responsible for sales, marketing, finances and administration. We had the opportunity to walk around the vineyard and sample the Brunellos. The vineyards just a short walk away from the heart of the town. Large Slavonian oak barrels are used (as was the tradition in Montalcino) and the winemaker is none other than Paolo Vagaggini. The results are stunning.

It is clear that Laura, her husband and all at Il Palazzone behave as though they are curators of a valuable asset. They have just made their second production of IGP Toscano oil (9 kg of yield per 100 kg of olives this year!) They are in their second year of the Club 100 tree sponsorship project. The future plans include honey, fig and chestnut use and preserves from the fruit trees from the property, keen to put all resources to their maximum use…

But now on to the wines: As a teaser, we tried their Vino di Tavola – a non-vintage or rather multi vintage that Il Palazzone release in lieu of a DOCG Rosso. To call this a quaffer would be to do it an injustice. A Brunello in everything other than name, this is probably the best value for money red I have tasted in my eight months in Italy.

We then sampled the 1995 Brunello – it should be noted that this wine was made before the current owner acquired the property. One can understand the attraction, and why Il Palazzone was later purchased. This was a wine singing in its older age. It displayed a lovely balance of savoury and fruit characters, with the added complexity afforded by aged characters in the wine. There remained an austerity to the wine, stamping its integrity as a top notch Brunello.

The current release was the 2004 – and we tried this next. Though difficult to compare to the older wine, there was great linearity to this wine – with clear evidence of quality fruit and expert winemaking. Cherry, berry and plums danced with ripe, silky and refined tannins. Acidity was high, but in perfect balance with other elements, finishing with impressive persistence.

Over lunch, our hosts opened the 1998 Riserva. Wow! Cherry and spice, with fruit, acid and tannins in harmonious evolution, and perfectly matched with the delicious rustic fare so simply yet expertly prepared by our hosts. All in all, a fantastic day, and an impressive array of wines.

I am looking forward to keeping in touch with Laura, and visiting Il Palazzone again.

Until next time, ciao!

Brendan Jansen