Highlights: Poggio Lamentano Vino Rosso 2020 Italy

Website: https://www.vinolamentano.com/

This is a new wine from Bolgheri (Tuscany) and there’s a story behind it. Davy Zyw is the man behind it, and he has quite a pedigree in the wine trade (he studied at Plumptom College, was sommeleier at Le Gavroche, product development manager at Tesco, global buyer at Direct Wines and is now senior buyer at Berry Bros & Rudd). His grandparents moved to Tuscany in the 1960s, buying the Poggio Lamentano farm in Bolgheri on the coast. They have made a well known olive oil, but the estate also has a great potential for wine. ‘We have always known the potential we have for world class wine production,’ says Davy, ‘due to our location on one of the few hills of the region, and our proximity to many exceptional wine producers.’ And they have vines planted on the estate, some of them a long time ago. So Davy decided to team up with local winemakers Luca Marrone (of Podere Grattamacco) and Giorgio Meletti Cavallari, to make an ‘extra Tuscan’ wine. This is the debut vintage, 2020, and it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese, with no oak influence (in contrast to the ‘super Tuscans’ that are made in the same region and which have achieved fame). But here’s the crunch: in 2018 Davy was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2018, and the proceeds of this debut vintage will provide funds for more research into this incurable neurological condition.

Poggio Lamentano Vino Rosso 2020 Italy
14% alcohol. It’s an impressive debut: sleek and polished with lovely ripe blackberry and cherry fruit, showing good concentration and also some freshness. There are some mineral streaks as well as the sleek berry fruit, and enough structure to provide a foil to the fruit, without getting in the way, and there are some fine green herbal, sappy hints under the sweet fruit. Layered and textural, it’s a ripe wine with some solar influence, but the winemaking has managed this so well. There’s weight and gravity, but it’s drinking beautifully now. 94/100

Available for £30 a bottle from Valvona & Crolla here

Or £180 per case of 6 plus £15 delivery here