Montalcino

Yesterday was fun. We headed over to Montalcino, another gorgeous medieval hilltop town. Tuscany has too many of these! We lunched fabulously well at Trattoria Il Lecce in the center of a small village outside Montalcino, Sant' Angelo in Colle. Lunch was accompanied by a lovely Rosso di Montalcino 2003 from Carpazo.

Then there was a 3 pm appointment at a small Brunello producer called Il Paradiso di Manfredi. Despite the language barrier this was a great visit, and the wines were stunningly pure, with great complexity and presence. There are just two hectares under vine here, nestled in a spectacular location on the slopes leading up to Montalcino. It really is an idyllic setting. The wines are made as naturally as possible, aged in slavonian oak botte, with just a small (legally required by the DOCG) sulfur addition at bottling. As we left we were given a large punnet of cherries from a tree on the estate.