This article opens with a delightful cover photo where, against the backdrop of the Carpineto Estate in the magical countryside of Montalcino, there are these two young and handsome instagrammers who, being deep in the wilderness while trying to photograph the landscape, I thought that with them as co-stars the photo would be even better! I wonder if the promoter of the "organic wine communication" will block me too after publishing it... 🤔 I'll tell you, that's a risk I'm willing to take! 😝 All joking aside, before we talk about this exquisite tasting of Brunello di MontalcinoToday I feel like removing a pebble that has been in my left shoe for too long. I find it absurd that the journalist competes with the blogger and the blogger competes with the instagrammer! First of all, it must be really short-sighted to start these 'porker wars', which really don't make sense! Journalists, bloggers and instagrammers are all key figures in the communication of a certain product and should cooperate and certainly not throw barrels of marc (read 💩) at each other! Obviously I'm talking about serious journalists, bloggers and instagrammers... wine-boobed angels of the day are not included in this reasoning (Don't worry, it's all envy because I wasn't born with big heads!)
Recently I heard one of my fellow bloggers accuse some instagrammers of unclear growth on Instagram... to then present himself with over 60,000 followers and photos with little more than 900/1000 interactions (which I do with only 17,000 souls following me)... and given that hashtags are also used by our dear Italian wine lover, the question is legitimate: is his content uninteresting in the eyes of his followers or are the followers not all that real? But then, seriously, does he really need to write 'real followers' in his bio? I'll let you in on a secret: when you're real, you don't need to reiterate it every three minutes and 30 words written. And so last Wednesday, sitting at the table at the restaurant 'the Cricket is good', between a perch and a whitefish, I discover that Simone Roveda (@winerylovers) e Stefano Quaglierini(@italian_wines) were also blocked by this person on Instagram and that his brilliant article on organic wine communication was also aimed at them. But fuck them, what did you write? He who does his own fu... er, his own grape seeds lives a hundred years? Then let's continue to make them all, for God's sake! Or it seems to me that some answers should come! Because we're all good at writing rubbish and playing the phenomena if we want to... but maybe 9 times out of 10 we simply overlook it so as not to make a fool of ourselves (like someone else)! He is right about one thing, though: there is a big cauldron even among the wine blogger and we all end up in it... and the idea that I am in the same tonneaux as such a person does not please me at all! And as for Chiara Ferragni, an example for me, she has every right to ask €30,000 and more for a post on Instagram. Advertising is paid for. A 15-second passage on TV during 'C'è posta per te' costs about €45,000, with people zapping or getting up to go to the bathroom during the commercial. A post by Ferragni remains, and if I called myself 'Gucci' and bet on an advertising form for my company I would have no doubts. Suffice it to say that, for example, in 2019 I have articles that I wrote in 2015 that are still read daily! The important thing is distinguishing between sponsored and non-sponsored content, or agreeing to sponsor only content that we would even talk about for free because of its goodness. For example, I do not accept money from wine cellars, but I do accept sponsors such as events, fairs, glasses, corks, objects for the mis en place and everything that revolves around the world of wine without being wine, or from food companies without being restaurants! In fact, if you fall into one of these categories and want to sponsor my blog or my best seller 'How to become a sommelier click HERE.
I too trust in natural selection, sooner or later. You can really see the difference, don't worry!
Instead, it is welcome if in the big 'barrel' of the wine communicators me to a Morris Lazzoni of Vino per Passione who may not do my numbers, but he is a sommelier who knows what he is talking about when he talks about wine, writes beautifully and I am not mortally bored reading him (unlike the fantapies that someone else spouts). I'd welcome it if they put me in the barrel with a Davide Bortone of Wines at the Supermarketa journalist who has a well-written, honest magazine that he does not only read. And I am happy even if they put me in a barrel with Simone Roveda, Stefano Quaglierini, Emanuele Trono and the guys from Cantina Social Adriano, Matteo and the other one I didn't meet whose name I can't remember.
Meanwhile, Simone is a computer engineer who first became a sommelier and now he has just given the third level of Wset and has two balls this big, and I wish I was half as good as him at telling wine in English. So much for going back to writing only in Italian, are you kidding me? Stefano is a smart, young winemaker, and certainly not the marketeer who has never been in a vineyard or a cellar as someone else claims. And I was more than happy to share these two wonderful days in Tuscany with them too!
Yesterday we said goodbye with a delicious dinner at the Restaurant "The Vignola Lodges"in the centre of Montepulciano... and it is precisely from here that I want to start again to tell you about the second day with Carpineto's Tuscan wines. If you remember yesterday I told you about a delicious chocolate sphere that melted thanks to absinthe combined with an equally amazing vin santo!
Carpineto, Vin Santo del Chianti DOC 1999
It has a wonderful intense and brilliant amber colour. By swirling the glass it forms close, regular arches. The nose is interwoven with delicious notes of dried fruit, walnut, hazelnut, cocoa and mountain pine. In the mouth it is ample, with apricot notes. In spite of its age, it is very fresh and has a long evolutionary potential... it is no coincidence that this is the vintage that has just been released. Intense, with a long, harmonious finish.
And now back to talking about Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino...
Order & Cleanliness
The winery is a beautiful, tidy and clean little jewel, the common thread running through all the Carpineto estates. If the vineyards are managed with full respect for the weather and nature, the spaces are a reflection of their philosophy.
I for one think that to produce a good wine, one must have a suitable environment. A suitable environment is not necessarily the wonderful pharaonic cellar, but first of all a clean and tidy space. For me it is impossible to be productive in disorder and dirt. For me, it is inconsistent to aspire to produce elegant wines in a chaotic and clean environment, and let's not hide behind the excuse of 'we are working'. We work well in cleanliness. And I firmly believe that a wine that is born in cleanliness is healthier, as well as better.
Architecture & Landscape
Carpineto's Appodiato di Montalcino is one of the highest estates in the area: the vineyards are in fact 500 metres above sea level. The splendid old stone farmhouse dating from the end of the 19th century is surrounded by about 10 hectares of vineyards planted with Sangiovese grosso, a historic olive grove and a dense wood of Mediterranean scrub.
The planting layout is 2.20 x 0.90 metres in unilateral cordon; these are high-density vineyards with over 5,000 vines per hectare.
The soil is sedimentary, with a very old stratification reaching 15 million years ago. A marl skeleton is found underneath clay formations from the Pliocene epoch.
A dream cellar...
Carpineto is certainly a great reality: over 3 million bottles are signed by this company every year. It is certainly easy to misunderstand if one has never had the opportunity to visit it. Yet one only has to see this delightful little estate to realise that it is true that Carpineto is a big brand, but it is a big brand founded by more or less big or more or less small souls, like the Appodiato di Montalcino. In the farmhouse there is a marvellous stone wine cellar with splendid wooden barrels of various sizes and makes that it is impossible not to fall in love with! Nothing is left to chance, everything is taken care of in every detail. It is impossible to think that in such a perfect cellar, wines are not born that are equal to the space where they are made.
...a dream cellar/2
I did not have the privilege of meeting one of the founding members, Giovanni Carlo Sacchetwho recently passed away from a fulminating illness. However, I can understand his daughter, who is the same age as me and who is experiencing what I am experiencing. Our fathers are our most beautiful legacy. Today Sara Sacchet is in charge of the oenological management of an important company. Her father's partner, Antonio Mario ZaccheoShe is a very humble person with great character who has been able to create an extraordinary reality like Carpineto from nothing. I for one want to wish Sara serenity one day. They promised me that one day it will hurt less. I hope for her too. As far as oenological success is concerned, you only have to hear about the wines she signs and the awards she wins to understand that she will have a lot of it.
The delightful tasting room...
and the first tasting: Rosso di Montalcino!
Rosso di Montalcino 2016 - 14% vol
It is a beautiful ruby red with garnet highlights at the edges. On swirling the glass, it forms fairly regular close bows. The nose is interwoven with notes of black pepper, leather, rosemary, mentholated, rhubarb and orange peel. In the mouth it is very elegant and fresh, rightly tannic, soft and long on the finish.
The 70% matures in large barrels while the 30% matures in second and third passage barriques.
And finally, tasting/2: Brunello di Montalcino!
Brunello di Montalcino 2013 - 14.5% vol
It is a particularly concentrated but transparent ruby red. On the nose there is a lot of leather, undergrowth, vanilla, nutmeg, black pepper and blackberry jam. In the mouth it is very fresh, with tannin in progress. Not very soft, but being an 'infanticide' it is more than normal. Very long on the finish. Its great acidity hints at a very long ageing potential.
And do you love Tuscan wines? What about Brunello di Montalcino? Have you been to Benvenuto Brunello this year? Do you know the Brunello di Montalcino of the Carpineto winery? Write it to me in a comment!
Cheers🍷🍷
Chiara
P.S. As always, I thank Sony Italy e UniversoFoto.com for the supply of my beloved Sony RX 100 Mark 4 which allows me to take amazing photos of cellar interiors even in low light conditions and without additional lighting! A real gem that you can compare on Amazon at half price by clicking HERE.
P.P.S. A hug to all my fellow wine bloggers, instagrammers and journalists who work in the wine world every day with great passion and who know the value of themselves and the goodness of their work. Whatever level you are at, I am certain that if you focus on tending your own garden instead of discrediting your neighbour's, you will achieve extraordinary results. And I am also sure that if we love each other and help each other, we will achieve them together. After all, as Bovio said, wine unites men, it is only water that divides them. 😍
EN 
IT