This Rosso, estate-grown in La Mannella vineyard’s rocky clay soils, is made only in years the fruit doesn’t make it into the winery’s Brunello. The grapes are hand-picked and fermented in stainless steel, and the wine aged 10 months in 30-hectoliter Slavonian oak casks. The robe is deep garnet with a clear orange rim. The wine is fragrant of cherries tinged with cedar and pipe tobacco, and the body carries shiny red currant fruit within a firm armature of woodsy tannins. It needs about an hour in a decanter to unwind; a few years of bottle age would also do it good. Serve it with rich foods: ragù, game or meat braises, especially in a tomato base, or hearty roasts.
2015 Cortonesi La Manella Rosso di Montalcino
14.5% abv | $30 (sample) Imported by Quintessential
