Podere Salicutti
Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione
Podere Salicutti was founded by Francesco Leanza, and then transitioned with the utmost care to Felix and Sabine Eichbauer who carry on the tradition of winemaking with humility, maturity, and conviction. As the first organically certified estate in Montalcino with vines dating back to 1994, Salicutti prides itself on wines that showcase the uninhibited brilliance of its terroir.
In the Tuscany region of Italy, the 11-hectare property includes 4.5 hectares of vines sitting at 420-500 meters in elevation with Sangiovese that grow on three adjoining plots — Teatro, Sorgente, and Piaggione. With manual tending of the vines and calcareous soil during the spring months followed by a meticulous harvest, each cluster is hand-picked at its ideal ripeness. A focus on fostering typicity and the fullest expression of Podere Salicutti’s strengths results in uniquely beautiful and complex wines that never fail to delight.
Tasting Notes
Iron fist in the velvet glove… packed with complexity, cherry, tobacco, roses, and mineral, yet smooth tannins undermine the ageworthy potential of this Brunello. A rising star in the region.
Cultivation
Manual harvest from east-by-southeast facing slopes with fossil-rich limestone soils located between 420 to 450 meters in elevation.
Vinification
Spontaneous fermentation with autochthonous yeast and in stainless steel vats, automatic temperature control system via water circulation. 12-21 days maceration. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation.
Aging
Aged 33 months in the wooden barrel. Young wine is aged in 130 gallons tonneaux barrels, then progressively transferred to barrels of 260, 520, 780 and finally 1,040 gallons. Before going on sale, it ages another 15 months in the bottle. The tonneaux and small barrels are made of French oak, the 1,040 gallons barrels of Slavonian oak.
Press
2018:
95 points - Wine Spectator
2017:
93 points - Wine Enthusiast
92 points - Antonio Galloni
2016:
95 points - Robert Parker
94 points - Wine Spectator
94 points - Wine Enthusiast
93 points - Antonio Galloni
2015:
97 points - Antonio Galloni
97 points - James Suckling
96 points - Decanter
96 points - Wine Spectator
94 points - Robert Parker
2013:
96 points - Wine Enthusiast
2012:
95 points - Antonio Galloni
APPELLATION
DOCG Brunello di Montalcino
VARIETAL
Sangiovese
ABV
15%
ALTITUDE
420-450 meters
SOIL
Fossil-rich limestone
PHILOSOPHY
Biodynamic
ANNUAL PRODUCTION
6,500-8,000 btls