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| ~ Aging Cellars at Fattoria Viticcio ~ |
“The farmer ploughed the land, and the soil started beating with his heart”
The Viticcio Castle stands amidst a rustic estate, charmingly situated on the gentle and sunny ridge of a hillside, overlooking sloping vineyards above the picturesque, ancient town of Greve in Chianti. It lies midway between the cities of Florence and Siena, in the heart of the Chianti Classico region.
The estate churns out a vast array of wines; a fact that is all the more impressive when you consider the quality in the bottle. Founded in 1960 by Lucio Landini, the estate is now run by his son Alessandro who has raised the quality of the wines and the footprint of the estate as he’s acquired land in both Montalcino and Bolgheri. With the 2009 vintage, Landini hired reknowned winemaker Franco Bernabei (Fontodi, Felsina) to oversee production – a fact that can only raise the quality of the wines further.
Recently we tried Viticcio’s 2011 Bere a Tuscan blend from their Greve estate that is created to be an everyday rosso. Bere, which means “drink” in Italian, is a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet. The wine is fresh and vibrant and displays a pretty medium ruby color with violet reflections. On the nose, the wine is floral, with pure Sangiovese character coming through. There is plenty of nice berry character that is accented by darker underlying fruit aromas. In the mouth the wine is bright and focused. The solid core of red fruits are balanced nicely with proportional acids and tannins. This is crafted in stainless steel and retains a bright air about it. Refined in large barrels for 8 months prior to bottling, it picks up subtle notes of spice from the oak that have integrated nicely. This is very nice, and a great choice for a case buy. 87 points, about $13.
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| ~ Bere is 50% Sangiovese w/ 25% each of Cabernet and Merlot ~ |
The title of this article is “Eat & Drink” – so as TuscanVines is known for reviewing wine in the proper context, we cannot forget the food!
This wine was the perfect foil for the following meal – which will be the subject of another article in the near future. My inspiration here was to create a chicken dish that fell somewhere between cacciatore and puttanesca. It only took about 30 minutes to make, was rich in flavor and most importantly, devoured by the kids!
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| ~ Pollo Puttanesca – Recipe Coming Soon! ~ |
Buon fine settimana!
January 24, 2014
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