In preparation of our trip to Italy with a stopover nearby Montalcino, I wanted to tell you all about a great brunello we tried last saturday night. It was at one of the best restaurants in DC, Citronelle by Michelle Richard. It was one of the few Italian selections that this outstanding French restaurant offers.


The wine is Val di Cava 1997 Brunello di Montalcino. It should cost around $80.00 a bottle and is actually, as much as any wine could be worth that much, worth it. It is huge in body and very lush, befitting a 1997. It has huge acidity and tannin levels but they are offset by the ripe fruit. In wine growing, as opposed to winemaking, there is a distinction between green or unripe tannins and ripe tannins. This wine has ripe tannins in abundance. This will allow it to age but you can still drink it now. We ahd it with dishes ranging from sauteed skate wine with capers (fish for the heart patient here) to braised veal cheeks and all loved it. If you have never had a great Brunello, or if you are not sure what great Brunello is, seek out a bottle. If you can buy 2 or 3 so you can drink one now and the next in 10 years. If you love big spic wines like Ridge zinfandels or cabernets, Mayacamas from California, Chateauneuf du Pape from France, try this wine.

Now for the kicker.... I have spotted it on various wine lists in Italy for about $40 a bottle. And I am going to have 2 full cases of styrofoam wine shippers with me.........

If you are not made of money, I still reccomend very highly the 1999 Rossi di Montalcino from Costanti and Argiano. The Argiano has the weight and heft of a true Brunello from many a vintage. It is selling around here for $23.99 a bottle and therefore is a super steal. The costanti is ahrder, more acidic and less friendly but still a hugely rich wine. Just open it and pour out a small glass about an hour before you want to drink it. I had to pay $29.99 and t goes for a little more now but given that a Costanti or Argiano Brunello are a $50.00 treat, these two wines are superb and superb values!

Successful people do what unsuccessful people won't! Like go to Italy!

Thanks yet again for the tip Dean; your the best

Dean, have just spent two there and the ValdiCava 97 is out of this world. Costs around 45 euro, check out Cafe Osticcia, run by Tullio and Francesca who will provide tastings of Brunello. Left Montalcino with four cases of assorted burnello and a depleted bank account.

Dan,
Athens, Georgia

We are lugging 3 cases. I was able to score 4 bottles of Val di Cava at €42.00 and 2 Ciacci Piccolomini 97 at €52. The latter was in Saturnia.

If life is an opera by Puccini... I want to be Calaf!

I enjoyed coffee with Dean and Kay yesterday morning at La Chiusa - a very nice couple.

I was lucky enough to have an invitation to Val di Cava this summer and barrel taste and compare so many of their wines before bottling. They are truly superb.

Bill & Patty Sutherland
Tuscan Women Cook
Montefollonico, Italy