Italian Fine Wine - Case of 6

Vintage: 2009

Dark garnet-red in colour, with a full bouquet of poached blackberries, blackcurrants and cherries subtle back-notes of spice, leather and wood smoke. The palate is full yet very elegant, with a soft, layered character balanced by a surprising freshness.

About this bottle: Wine pervades nearly all aspects of Tuscan culture. It’s part of the birthright of everyone born in this region, and none more so than the citizens of Montalcino, where the exceptional Brunello wines come from. Here, in the Tuscan hills, over 200 local winegrowers joined together to form the Cantine Leonardo da Vinci – a new wave growers' co-operative committed to producing authentic Tuscan wine. The grapes for this wine were sourced from around Montalcino where the combination of moderate climate, sheltering woodlands and cool breezes creates a haven for Sangiovese vines to thrive. Winemaker Ricardo Pucci, who is also president of the tasting committee for the Chianti, Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino DOC and DOCGs, aged the wine in to large oak barrels for two years.

Vintage: 2013

Golden-yellow with blissful aromas suggesting tropical fruits, blanched almonds and wild flower honey. The palate is dry and elegant, balancing dessert apple and poached apricot flavours with subtle vanilla and mineral notes over the long, clean finish.

About this bottle: Pieropan have 40 hectares of vineyards in the Soave Classico hills of Italy’s Veneto region. The family has been producing wines in Soave since the 1860s; indeed, back in the early 1930s they were the first producer to bottle a wine with the name Soave on the label. Nino Pieropan took over from his father in 1970 and was the first of the family to make a single-vineyard wine. Nino’s two sons, Andrea and Dario, now help run the estate alongside him. The grapes for this wine were grown in the ‘La Rocca’ vineyard, which takes its name from the adjacent medieval castle and fortress that dominates Soave town. The soil here is a unique limestone outcrop in a sea of basalt. Because of this, Pieropan feel they get sufficient ripeness in their Garganega grapes to make their Soave solely from this variety.