Last summer, I had the pleasure of travelling to Italy, taking in Rome with the family, and then onto Tuscany and wine country. I had been given some tips on places to stay, and we headed to Montalcino and home of Sangiovese and Brunello. Basing ourselves in the picture-postcard town of Montalcino we visited a number of wineries, with our favourite be that of Il Palazzone, a small family managed estate, with three separate vineyards, and were hosted by the wonderful Laura Gray, who showed us around as they were bottling their 2015 Brunello, all hands to the deck.

Yesterday, we were reunited via Zoom, thanks to John Fodera and his exquisite Blog on Tuscany and their wines, Tuscan Vines. So, what better to be drinking during the Zoom Chat than a bottle of Laura’s Rosso del Palazonne Vino Rosso. Not their classic Brunello, it is a second wine, made from the same grapes, but not aged under the DOCg Regulations. Tasting it, it’s far from a second rate wine, fruity, enticing, and leaving you wanting more.

Laura supplied the details last summer of this non-vintage wine, and rather than duplicate, I just post their own descriptions, I can’t improve on perfection, these are the notes I made last summer, which hold good for today.

“Tasted this at the vineyard with Laura Gray who managed the Estate. As it’s a combination of vintages, it is classed as Non Vintage. This bottle is under Lotto 1/19 and here is the info from their web site re this release.

Lot 1/19

Taste: Typical Montalcino Sangiovese. Pleasantly silky tannins, juicy red-currant acidity. Fresh and balanced; supremely elegant rather than muscular.

Color: Bright garnet red or almandine

Nose: Earth rather than fruit, wet-stone minerality and a hint of licorice.

Grape varietal: 100% Sangiovese Grosso, known in Montalcino as Brunello

Composition A blend of two vintages; 90% five star 2016 and 10% fantastic 2017

Total production: 8.230 0,75 bottles and 62 Magnums

Bottled: 25.02.2019

Alcohol per volume % : 13%”

Looking forward to the 5 star Brunello from 2016 next year, and sounds like 2017 will be pretty fantastic too…..