(English) Wines of the Week: Il Poggione & Domaine Huet

(English) 2008 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino                                           94
2019 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec                                        95
by Ian D’Agata

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2008 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino                                           94

One of the four original Brunello producers bottling wine back in the 1930s, the estate then known as Franceschi was split up later in two: from this split were born Il Poggione and Col d’Orcia, two of Montalcino’s most famous modern-day estates. Il Poggione is situated close by the village of Sant’Angelo in Colle, in the southwestern subzone of the Brunello di Montalcino production area with vineyards located as high up as 400+ meters above sea level. Long hang times are essential to ensure that Sangiovese ripens properly, and Brunello insiders know that Sant’Angelo in Colle is one of the best townships in which to make Brunello wines. The wines are certainly richer than those made on the northern side of the Montalcino hill, but are more refined and less fleshy than those made at Sant’Angelo Scalo or in Castelnuovo dell’Abate. Most importantly, Il Poggione owns some of the odlest vines in allm of Montalcino, and certainly their I Paganelli vineyard from which the Brunello Riserva wine is made is most likely Montalcino’s oldest single expanse of Sangiovese vines. The 2008 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino  is a beautiful wine and speaks highly of the quality of the 2008 Brunello vintage, that I have always championed and found to be grossly underrated already when tasting the wine at release. The wine si bright and dark red in colour. Aroams typical of Sangiovese with alittle age on it soar from the glass: red cherry, red currant, earth, tobacco and woodsy underbrush are lifted by notes of violet and flint. In the mouth the wine is creamy and ample, and is very typical of Sant’Angelo, with flavours similar to the aromas. It is smoothly textured and long, with a lovely seamless, refined quality. An excellent Brunello that is drinking well now but that will hold another fifteen years easily. Congratulations to Fabrizo Bindocci, who has been managing the estate sicne forever, whose two children are now following capably in his footsteps. Drinking window: now-2035,

2019 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec                                        95

Huet is the single biggest name in Vouvray and without doubt one of the world’s most famous white wine producers. Founded roughly eighty years ago by Paris bistro owner Victor Huet, whose failing health prompted to relocate in the bucolic countryside of the Loire river valley, the domaine was essentially born in 1928, when the first vineyard (Le Haut Lieu) was bought. In 1937, Victor’s son Gaston took over (who had actually been involved in the domaine right from the start) and it is thanks to him that the estate became the powerhouse and quality leader that is admired today the world over (the estate is owned by Anthony Hwang and his children today) 2019 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec. The 2019 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec is a thing of (potential) beauty. Pale straw-yellow in colour. Initially closed and quite reduced at first, the wine opens beautifully with aeration (I suggest decanting roughly an hour and a half ahead, then enjoy how it continues to develop after that), the nose offers precise, very pure aromas of anise, coriander, orange peel, yellow peach, green apple, chamomile, dried flowers and a characteristic basalt note that is recognizable almost immediately. Then surprisingly full-bodied and certainly riper than Huet’s Le Haut Lieu bottling, it exhibits a touch of wax and lanolin to its ripe yellow fruit flavours, nicely framed by strong but balanced acidity and an almost tannic undertone to the big rich mouthfeel. This south-facing nine-hectare vineyard is characterized by silex (flinty gravel) and green clay soils (less clay than the Le Haut Lieu, for example) that give a wine that is at once mineral and very ripe but in this vintage the power, as well as the potential, are truly noticeable, not to mention noteworthy.  Drinking window: 2028-2040.

 

Ian D'Agata

赏源葡萄酒评论 Terroir Sense Wine Review主编
赏源风土研究院Terroir Sense Academy院长
国际风土协会副主席
知味 TasteSpirit 首席科学家

伊安·达加塔在葡萄酒领域耕耘超过30年,在葡萄酒品评、葡萄酒科研写作和葡萄酒教育等方面,都取得了杰出的成果,在葡萄酒行业和葡萄酒爱好者中,享有世界性声望。作为享誉国际的葡萄酒作家,他最近的两本著作《意大利原生葡萄品种》《意大利原生葡萄品种风土》被公认为意大利葡萄酒领域的权威著作;前者荣获2015年Louis Roederer国际葡萄酒作家大奖赛“年度最佳书籍奖”,他是唯一获此殊荣的意大利葡萄酒作家,并入选《洛杉矶时报》、《金融时报》、《纽约时报》评选的“年度葡萄酒书籍”榜单;后者被《纽约时报》和美国的Food & Wine杂志提名为年度最佳葡萄酒书籍。

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Ian D'Agata