Buying an Old Vineyard
It was Franco, Podere Leccio’s cellar hand, who eventually gave voice to his and Sig. Bernardi’s opinion of the Fiorentino, when I pointed out, a few days into October, that the Fiorentino still had not harvested. “He picked the white grapes,” Franco said. “The red ones he sells to someone else. Last year, whoever it …
The Fiorentino
I first heard the Fiorentino mentioned by Sig. Bernardi, the foreman at Podere Leccio, where, in the fall of 2019, I was borrowing some space to make my wine–not in Olmo’s wine cellar but in its former stalls, a long room with a stone floor, double-chestnut doors at the entrance and a half-moon-shaped window at …
How to Choose Wine Like A Pro
Wine is enigmatic: the translucent bottle glints appealingly to the eye, while its smooth, hard glass caches the perfumes and tastes within. Even music seems more concrete: you can write it down and reproduce it, whereas each bottle has a life of its own and provides a truly unique drinking experience. Despite 20 years of …
Doing Less to Make Better Wines
In the days since releasing the first vintage of the Fanciulle wines, friends and customers have asked me what the wines are like, what inspired me to make them, what makes them different from other Tuscan or Italian wines. The truth is, almost everything about the wines and how they’re made is pretty unusual, and, …
Wine Prices: More Value Buying Direct
In the wake of worldwide lockdowns, wine e-commerce sites have seen enormous growth in sales, which is good news for consumers in some respects. These sites have gotten better, too, at providing information and purchasing support; plus, they have broad selections and they save you the trouble of lugging wine home. But, many smaller, overseas …
After the Harvest
After the harvest, when the grapes have been picked, brought into the cellar and fermented, and the wines have been racked off the skins and moved into barrels, the weather stops mattering, the cellar work ebbs to a day or so per week and a sense of plenty and of ease sets in. I no …
The Last Bottle
Last night, for one of the first times since the beginning of the pandemic, we had a friend over for dinner, and lingered, talking after the meal. Dessert was homemade cantucci–the dry, Sienese almond cookies that practically beg for a glass of sweet wine. I had found a forgotten bottle of vin santo among the …