La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino Tasting with owner Natalie Oliveros

Wednesday, February 6, 2019 - 07:30 PM

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Wine, like food, is so emotional. If you think about it, so much of the courting ritual is surrounded by wine and food. There’s a built-in romance to wine.

Padma Lakshmi

 

The wine with top billing in Tuscany is for the last half of century is Brunello Di Montalcino, a DOCG from a fortress town south of Siena with reds of legendary power and longevity that have commanded lofty prices.  The wines of this world-renowned region of Tuscany were conceived by the Biondi Santi family a century ago, today Brunello di Montalcino is produced under scores of labels, representing small farms, established estates and even international corporations.  Brunello production averages less than 2 million bottles (166 thousand cases), but producers also make the DOC, of Rosso di Montalcino (usually the grapes produced from the younger vines and the fruit that is not of high enough quality to go into the Brunello) and many make a sweet wine called Vin Santo. 

Brunello is Montalcino is one of the hottest topics in the world of Italian wine today. 

The paradox here is that these wines are years away from showing their grandeur, when a customer wants a recommendation for a wine to take home tonight and drink, young Brunello is rarely come to mind.  However, if you would like a taste of the wines of this elite red wine producing region, Brunello’s baby brother Rossi Di Montalcino has been one of the hottest wines in its price category in the store this year.  In 1984 the Junior DOC of Rosso Di Montalcino was established.  This younger brother of Brunello was brought about because in lower than average quality years they could bottle the wine with less time in oak therefore allowing the wine to have a more international style and more mass appeal, while still maintaining its distinctive Brunello character.  Young and fresh, this wine unlike its older sibling in that it is ready to drink upon release. 

 

Join us as we welcome the owner of La Fiorita Natalie Oliveros to South Florida for a tasting of her current releases along with a few older vintage wines from one of the top up and coming producers from Montalcino.  Chef Toni will be making a special meal to accompany the tasting wines and the fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $125 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463n or e-mail andy@winewatch.com

 

For those of you that can’t make it to the tasting we have included all the Brunello di Montalcino in the store on this offering,

 

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La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino Tasting with owner Natalie Oliveros
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
7:30 PM

 

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2016 La Fiorita Rosso di Montalcino
Price: $32.50       Sale $28.60

GRAPES Sangiovese PRODUCTION AREA Montalcino - Loc. Castelnuovo dell’Abate VINEYARD NAME Poggio al Sole; Pian Bossolino SURFACE IN HA 7 EXPOSURE South; South-East Bottles Produced: 2,000

Image result for 2008 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino

2008 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino
Price: $67.50       Sale $59.40

Fresh red berry fruit strawberry and cranberry fruit tart cherry with notes of porcini and fine herbs with tar notes.  A big and chewy wine with lots of everything this wine still has good fruit with a long finish, tannins smoothing out the finish.  finish 45+             Excellent

2011 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino
Price: $67.50       Sale $59.40

( 91 Points) La Fiorita has crafted an elegant and feminine wine this vintage. The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino opens to delicate tones of wild berry, wet earth and dried rose petal. It delivers these aromas with a soft touch and lasting intensity. These ethereal aromas glide by the senses with smooth transitions. The wine leaves an equally graceful impression in the mouth. This Brunello definitely benefits from a few hours of air before serving, but it can also be served in the near or medium term.  Wine Advocate Drink Date 2017

2012 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino
Price: $67.50       Sale $59.40

(90 Points) I am impressed by the La Fiorita 2012 Brunello di Montalcino, although my impression is that this wine will be best enjoyed within the next five to ten years when the primary fruit is still intact. I say that because the primary fruit is indeed impressive with luscious, dark and succulent characteristics. This Brunello opens to a very dark color and rich concentration. The aromas burst from the glass with happy intensity. The mouthfeel is layered and rich in a similar manner. The wine surrenders easily to those who want to enjoy it immediately.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2013 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino
Price: $67.50       Sale $59.40

Light red berry fruit with pretty floral notes and some fine herbs very light bouquet after opening , red licorice spice.  A bright and refreshing style with wild strawberry and tart cherry fruit with some dry tannins on the finish, this wine has everything in proportion and a firm hand of acidity through the finish.  Finish 45+              Excellent +
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2012 La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
Price: $97.50       Sale $85.80

Roberto Cipresso is the founder with 2 partners founded in 1992 now owned by Natalie Oliveros and made by Naurizio Castelli.  They have four vineyard sites and this is a blend of two of the four vineyards La Fiorita, Pottio al Sole, Pian Bossolino and Giardinello Vineyard.  They are building and new winery at the La Fiorita site to make the wines even better.  This 2012 is classic brunello with wild strawberry fruit, pretty floral and earthy notes to the bouquet.  A full-bodied wine on the palate with nice structure, an array of exotic spices, notes of dried meats and herbs linger in the finish.  Finish 45+                Excellent +

Menu
Selection of Charcuterie and Cheese
Tuna Carpaccio with sautéed wild mushrooms and fine herbs and Ciacci Piccolomini Extra Virgin Olive Oil
BBQ Wild Boar with creamy polenta and crispy Pancetta
Strawberry Biscotti with Berta Grappa Whipped Cream

 

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $125 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservation if you don’t dig on Boar and chef Toni will be glad to accommodate you.

 

A bit about La Fiorita:
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From its foundation in the early nineties to today, the La Fiorita estate has always sought to perfect the taste, longevity and aromatic complexity of its Brunello offerings, which emanate from the magical union of the Sangiovese grape with the unique terroires that surround Montalcino.

This permanent search for excellence drives every choice and action taken to assure the most optimal viticultural and vinification processes. Traditional and modern techniques combine to enhance quality from soil to bottle without compromise or shortcuts with virtually all interventions done by hand.

Since 2011, with the acquisition of the estate by Natalie Oliveros, La Fiorita has embarked on numerous projects of long term importance. Three are of particular note. The first was the 2014 planting of the third Brunello certified, fully organic, vineyard to the south-west area of Montalcino.

The second are the steps taken to date to secure organic certification for the other two vineyards and the third is the design and layout of a state-of-the-art winemaking and cellaring facility Construction commenced in early 2018 at the birthplace of the La Fiorita estate and is planned to be ready to host the 2019 harvest thus cementing La Fiorita's exciting future for decades to come.

These and other exciting projects will undoubtedly bring La Fiorita to a level of excellence first envisaged by its founders, and now pursued with resolute determination, focus and passion by its proprietor, Natalie Oliveros, for the enjoyment of its growing and loyal consumers worldwide.

La Fiorita was established in 1992 starting from a project that Roberto Cipresso, winemaker on the rising at the time, shared with two homeland friends; the first vineyard had an extension of half hectare and the annual production was of just 1.000 bottles of Brunello; the first vintage was the 1993 and it was entirely purchased en-primeur by Enoteca Pinchiorri of Firenze. The cellar was in the basement of an old building of the 18th century in the heart of the medieval town of Castelnuovo Abate.

The first vineyard was followed by the implantation of the Poggio al Sole vineyard and then of the Pian Bossolino vineyard, that increased the annual production to 25.000 bottles, divided by Normal Brunello and Riserva.

The initial cellar, of great charm and appeal, was an important part of the first phase of the winery; though it could not be the final achievement due to its limited size and its difficult positioning.

The entrance of Natalie Oliveros in the ownership beside Roberto Cipresso made new chapters being wrote in the life of La Fiorita; the immediate one is about the new position of the cellar in a new building with state of the art tools and equipment for the selection of the grapes and for the vinification and ageing processes. Moreover there will be a project for the new vineyard of Podere Giardinello, that will have a lot of influence on the future productions.