Time just flies and I never got around to publish this second article about Top Wineries at the Wine & Siena event that took place at the end of January. I apologize for that. However, here you get an overview of 4 other “new” wineries that I tasted in Siena. New in the sense that they were new tasting discoveries for me.

As you perhaps remember from my previous article, this event was held in different historical buildings in the center of Siena, including the headquarters of the bank Monte dei Paschi. Thus, you could really enjoy the historical heritage while sipping on great wines.

I hope you will enjoy this article, where the discourse continues from the first article about this event, namely 3 Top Wineries at Wine & Siena, Part 1 – Trentino Meets Tuscany.

Regarding the live videos below, some are in Italian and some are in English.

“Something New” – Making New Wine Friendships

Lombardy

We are starting out with a winery from the province of Brescia, i.e. Podere Selva Capuzza. I met the owner, Luca Formentini, thanks to Carlo Vischi at a dinner organized for the occasion at the B&B Borgo Grondaie on the outskirts of Siena.

Podere Selva Capuzza is situated in Desenzano del Garda, 4 km south of the Garda lake. They produce a wide range of wines from white wines, to rosé, sparkling, and red wines. Several of the white wines are produced within the Lugana DOC denomination.

The Formentini family has a long history as vine growers and wine makers in the area. Today, they believe in an ethic and more holistic approach to winemaking where they strive to respect the environment as far as possible.

A piece of #Lombardia in Tuscany at #winesiena2017 some weeks ago. Here are the wines from Podere Selva Capuzza @SelvaCapuzza located in Desenzano del Garda. This is the area of #Lugana DOC wines. 🍇🍇🔝🔝 ——————————- Here you see their white wines: Lugana San Vigilio, Lugana Selva, Lugana Riserva Menasasso, e San Martino della Battaglia Campo del Soglio. The first three are produced with #Turbiana grapes, which is #Trebbiano del Lugana. While Campo del Soglio is produced with #Tuchì, that is Tocai grapes. ——————————– Here I tasted Menasasso and Campo del Soglio at a dinner in Siena. They are both very interesting, Menasasso with notes of citrus fruits, a bit if herbs and minerality… Campo del Soglio has more floral and also herbal notes. … #grapevineadventures

Un post condiviso da GrapevineAdventuresWithKat (@thekatarinaandersson) in data: 1 Feb 2017 alle ore 06:47 PST

At the dinner, we tasted their San Martino della Battaglia DOC Campo del Soglio and Lugana Riserva DOC Menasasso, both 2013 I believe. Campo del Soglio is made with the native grape variety Tuchì, which in reality is the Tocai. It is an elegant wine with both floral and vegetal notes. On the palate, it has a light aftertaste of almonds.

Menosasso is produced with the native grape Turbiana which also goes under the name Trebbiano di Lugana. This is a wine where you feel the minerality as well as notes of citrus fruits and herbs, among other aromas. A smaller part of the juice is matured in barrique while the rest is matured in steel vats. This gives the wine an added complexity and structure.

Veneto

From Lombardy, we then head towards Veneto and Prosecco Territory, where Perlage Winery is producing sparkling wines since 1985. The Nardi brothers founded the winery and they focused already from the beginning on organic viticulture. Since then they have also moved forward to becoming biodynamic and a certified vegan wine producer. Sustainable viticulture is an important concept for Perlage Winery.

The winery takes their responsibility towards the environment, the local community, the personal relationships, the client, etc. very seriously and they are working towards being ethic and sustainable on all levels.

At dinner yesterday at @borgogrondaie we had the pleasure to taste Genesis #Prosecco Superiore DOCG Extra Brut and Canah #Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Brut wines from @perlage_winery at #winesiena2017. Perlage is an organic and also a certified vegan producer. … #grapevineadventures

Un post condiviso da GrapevineAdventuresWithKat (@thekatarinaandersson) in data: 22 Gen 2017 alle ore 07:22 PST

At the same dinner as mentioned above, we tasted their Genesis Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG Extra Brut and Canah Prosecco Superiore DOCG Brut. Genesis is a mineral sparkling wine with notes of fruit and a persistent perlage. Canah is a fresh and very smooth sparkling wine with notes of fruit that is perfect for aperitivo time.

Emilia-Romagna

When you think about Romagna, you probably first come to think of places like Rimini and Riccione, lazy days in the sun, and party time at night… However, Romagna is a very interesting area for wine production too. At Wine & Siena, I passed by the stand of Enio Ottaviani winery. The winery is located in San Clemente di Rimini, on the hills facing the sea.

They are mainly cultivating Sangiovese, but also other grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Pagadebit di Romagna (which is the same as Bombino Bianco), Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.

At Wine & Siena, I tasted their Caciara Romagna Sangiovese Superiore and Sole Rosso Romagna Sangiovese Superiore Riserva DOP .(I apologize that I do not remember the vintages.) Caciara is a wine with notes of fruit and it has smooth tannins and minerality due to the closeness to the sea. Sole Rosso is matured partly in cement and partly in barriques for around 15 months. It is a complex and structured wine with notes of fruit and spices. Here you also feel the influence of the oak.

Talking to @enioottaviani at #winesiena2017 about #Sangiovese from Romagna https://t.co/2AEJ9LtxiT

— Katarina Andersson (@ricasoli99) April 3, 2017

Tuscany

Of course, we could not forego a bit of Tuscany in this article. While walking by different stands and trying a lot of different wines during the second day of Wine & Siena, I happened by Carpineto winery. This is a well-known Tuscan winery with estates in the denominations of Maremma DOC, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Brunello di Montalcino.

Their Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2011 has indeed been selected among the top 100 wineries 2016 by Wine Spectator. So when I passed by their stand I thought it was time to taste their wines and ask their sales representative Leonardo Morelli if he wanted to do a live stream talking about their wines. He said yes, so below you can watch the video in Italian. (Sorry, that it is not in English.)

Con @CarpinetoWines a #winesiena2017 @elna75it https://t.co/iBlsHU7QJL

— Katarina Andersson (@ricasoli99) April 3, 2017

While he was talking I tasted the Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2011, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva DOCG 2011, and the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. Here I do not recall the year of the Brunello, but I believe it was 2011 or 2012. The Chianti Classico Riserva is a smooth and elegant wine with the classical notes of red fruit as well as vanilla and tobacco. The Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva is and elegant and, just as Wine Spectator writes, ‘powerful’ wine with notes of fruit, violet, leather, a balsamic touch, and much more. It is a complex and well-balanced wine. Last, but not least, I tasted their Brunello di Montalcino DOCG which is a refined, elegant wine with notes of cherry, raspberry, and vanilla to name just a few of the aromas. This is a well-structured wine with a long aftertaste.

A Recap of This Wine Tasting Journey 

With the two articles about my tasting tour at Wine & Siena in January this year, I hope that I have managed to make you curious about these wineries. It was a lot of fun to be able to taste such a variety of wines in Siena. In this article, I wanted to step a bit outside of Tuscany and shine the light on some other regions. With Podere Selva Capuzza, Perlage winery, and Enio Ottaviani winery you can read about different grape varieties and wine denominations that are indeed very interesting. Tuscany then rounds it up again with Carpineto winery which is on the top 100 list of Wine Spectator with their Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva.

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