Owner: In June 2007 Marilisa Allegrini, family owner of the Allegrini estate in Veneto, and Leonardo Lo Cascio, head of Allegrini’s U.S. wine importer and distributor Winebow (contact details below), jointly purchased and amalgamated two Montalcino estates called San Polo and Montluc from the Fertonani family, renaming the whole Poggio San Polo whilst labelling the wines as ‘San Polo’. The purchase price was estimated at up to $13.5 million. This was the second joint investment by Allegrini and Lo Cascio in Tuscany. In 2001, they acquired Poggio al Tesoro in the coastal area of Bolgheri.

The Fertonari era: The Fertonani family had bought Poggio San Polo in 1998. They began to restructure both vineyards and winery. The estate was managed by Mauro Fertonani and Luca D’Attoma, assisted by Carlo Ferrini. They oversee some 4.6 hectares (12 acres) with a total production of 5,800 cases, of which 2,500 are Brunello, and the rest divided between Rosso di Montalcino and two super Tuscans, Mezzopane (a blend of Merlot and Sangiovese) and Rubio (100 percent Sangiovese).

Terroir: Good terroir at the eastern limit of Montalcino on a hill overlooking the valley that leads to Castelnuovo dell’Abate; so due south facing.

Viticulture: I was told that Luca D’Attoma (see Duemani) was doing some biodynamics here but so far no Biodynamic preparations 500-508 had been used (Anteprima 2016). Cover crops Broad beans (favino), cock’s head (sulla or sainfoin), rape and mustard (senape) are sown with a machine they hire (Anteprima 2016).

Organic certification: 2014 Went organic. | 2017 First vintage with full organic certification.

Winery: Underground winery built by the Fertonani family. Finished in time for the 2006 vintage. It features a natural ventilation system and cement fermenting vats. All wines ferment in (red-coloured) concrete vats.

Wine production: About 5,800 cases of red wine, of which 2,500 are Brunello and the rest divided between Rosso di Montalcino and two super Tuscan called Mezzopane and Rubio.

Red wines

Toscana Rosso, Mezzane: Merlot and Sangiovese.

Toscana Rosso, Rubio: Sangiovese-based.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC, San Polo: 2008 13,000 bottles. First wine of the day, perhaps a bit green (Anteprima 2011). | 2012 22,000 bottles. Sweet plump black fruit all in the middle, claret-like black international black fruit flavours but not over the top if not really typical (Anteprima 2014). | 2012 No added sulfites trial. Berries are chilled after harvest to avoid problems with no added sulfites. Smooth tannins, sticky red fruit, reduced end (Anteprima 2014). | 2013 20,000 bottles. 12 months in tonneau. Sweet and mid-weight, polished and textured, well made (Anteprima 2015). | 2014 Fluid, a bit light (Anteprima 2016). | 2017 30,000 bottles.

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, San Polo: 2000 Sweet ripe style with some CS and dry at finish (Anteprima 2005). | 2008 Ripe, rich black fruit, foursquare, herbaceous finish, opens and softens but still dominated by blackcurrants. £30-59.99. Silver at DWWA 2nd May 2013. | 2009 50,000 bottles. Bit roasted, jammy-sweet and light, international but not too OTT (Anteprima 2014) . | 2010 38,400 bottles. 24 months in tonneau, 12 months in cement. Very lush fruit and savoury oak at end, polished (Anteprima 2015). | 2011 Rich nose, very nice red frui t and cedar, modernist and warming, well done, warm end, needs a bit more acid (Anteprima 2016). | 2012 Quite a sticky-jammy savoury wine (Anteprima 2017). | 2014 Spicey dark fruit, reasonable depth, fluid, tannins seem already to be settling, fairly approachable (Anteprima 2019). | 2015 40,000 bottles. | 2017 30,000 bottles.

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Podernovi: 2015 9,000 bottles.

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, San Polo: 2010 Amarone-esque (Anteprima 2016).

Contact

Poggio San Polo

Loc. Podere San Polo di Podernovi, 161

53024 Montalcino (SI), Italy

Tel+39 0577.835522 or 835101 | Website: www.poggiosanpolo.com