Corte Alla Flora Vino Nobile Tasting with Owner Massimo Cragnotti at WWWB

“Most bad," the host concluded. "If you ask me, something sinister lurks in men who avoid wine, games, the company of lovely women, and dinnertime conversation. Such people are either gravely ill or secretly detest everyone around them.”

― Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

I have always said I don't trust people that don't drink wine....

I have also always said that Vino Nobile de Montepulciano is the best value in Tuscany you get a similar quality wine to Brunello di Montalcino at close to 50% of the price.  Corte Alla Flora is one of the new rising stars of this region and tonight we have all the wineries current releases along with a unique wine from an indigenous grape varietal known as Pugnitella.  Italy has some of the most unique and interesting wines made from a wide array of different grape varietals made at a very high level of quality. 

Join us as we welcome the owner of this excellent winery to Wine Watch Wine Bar as Chef Toni Lampasone will be making a special meal to accompany the tasting wines, the fee for this tasting is $85 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Corte Alla Flora Vino Nobile Tasting with Owner Massimo Cragnotti at WWWB
Thursday, March 1st
7:30pm

2015 Corte alla Flora Rosso Di Montepulciano
Price: $15.75    Your Price: $13.86
Light red berry fruit and a bit rustic on the nose with hints of underbrush and herbs, simple and pleasant bouquet of aromas.  Light red berry fruit with a hint of balsamic to the wild strawberry fruit, classic Rosso very light and fresh.  Finish 35+    Very Good

2014 Corte Alla Flora Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
Price: $22.50    Your Price: $19.80
A blend of 80% Sangiovese (known as Prugnolo Gentile in Montepuciano), 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot.  This wine has a beautiful bouquet with notes of red and black licorice spice, red currant and dark plum fruit.  A big wine with lots of dark berry fruit, dark cherry, notes of graphite and black licorice spice and more through the long layered finish.  Finish 40+   Excellent

2012 Corte alla Flora Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano Riserva
Price: $36.00    Your Price: $31.68
A blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and this wine has a beautiful bouquet with notes of red licorice spice, black licorice spice, red currant and dark plum fruit.  A big wine with lots of dark berry fruit, dark cherry, notes of graphite and black licorice spice and more, long layered finish.  Finish 45+    Most Excellent

2013 Corte Alla Flora Pugnitello IGT Tuscany
Price: $39.00    Your Price: $34.32
This is one of the only producers in the world of this autochthonous varietal and they only make 12,000 bottles, this wine has a very unique bouquet of blackberry fruit, violet floral notes.  A very exotic wine that is unique and has a good amount of fruit, floral and exotic spice, black tar notes through the finish wonderful freshness and a long layered finish, a very unique varietal, fruit loop like notes on the finish.  Finish 45+    Most Excellent

Menu
Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie
Veal Osso Bucco with Vegetable Risotto and Sangiovese Natural Sauce

The fee for this tasting is $85 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com

Montepulciano is built along a narrow limestone ridge and, at 605 meters above sea level. The town is encircled by walls and fortifications designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder in 1511 for Cosimo I.  Inside the walls the streets are crammed with Renaissance-style palazzi and churches, but the town is chiefly known for its good local "Vino Nobile" wines.

According to a Renaissance legend, it was founded in 509 BC by Porsenna, the Etruscan Lucomone of Chiusi, following the expulsion of Tarquinius the Proud from Rome.  Though that cannot be proven, the Bishops of Siena and Arezzo did meet before the Steward of King Liutprando in about 700 AD, and argued bitterly for suzerainty of Montepulciano's Pievi.  The Bishop of Arezzo won, perhaps sowing the seeds for the long-standing antagonism between Siena and Montepulciano that helped make the town one of Florence's staunchest allies in her centuries of war with Siena. In any case, Florence took considerable interest in Montepulciano, especially after Angelo Ambrogini, better known as Il Poliziano, befriended Lorenzo il Magnifico and educated his sons, one of whom later became Pope Leo X. In 1494 the Sienese finally succeeded in forcing Montepulciano to bow to them, but in 1511 Florence got the town back and dispatched Antonio da Sangallo, one of the greatest architects of the period, to shore up the walls.San Biagio at Sunset While he was there he found time to work on several palaces, which are delightfully variable in style, and designed the Tempio di San Biagio, one of Tuscany's most harmonious and graceful churches. Nor was Antonio alone: Michelozzo, Simone Martini and Taddeo di Bartolo contributed their talents too, as did many others.

It is here in the splendid land of Tuscany, the land of the Etruscans, with their great tradition, the innate elegance, love of art and of pleasure that Corte Alla Flora is born.  And here is the “Pearl of the sixteenth century”, Montepulciano, with its courts, the aristocratic beauty of a remarkable piece of land, generous with those that love it, respect it, care for it like a treasure.

For more than ten years the Cragnotti family has been working patiently, selecting the best soils, choosing the vines and olives with love and caring for them with dedication, working with nature and following its slow rhythms.  The constancy of the Cragnotti family’s work has its roots in a profound respect for tradition.

The soils are clayey, calcareous, and give an extraordinary balance in the development of the tannins and perfumes.  In the Cervognano area – 35 hectares selected from 90 hectares of the property in the heart of the zone of the “Disciplinare”.  In Montepulciano they cultivate the traditional Prugnolo Gentile, along with other red grape varieties: Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon. They are also experimenting with an autochthonous variety: Pugnitello.

The vines grown “a cordone speronato” and pruned short, the fruit of modern techniques but also of traditional culture, give their best yield here.  Their idea of quality: 5,200 plants per hectare, thinning out and harvesting by hand, a maximum production of 60 quintals per hectare.  The great beauty of the area has prompted the Cragnotti’s to find new solutions that are not invasive of the land.

Vinification and maturing take place in underground premises of the latest design, where great respect both for the raw materials and for the land that bears them united.