Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino DOCG

Il Poggione has belonged to the Franceschi family since 1890, when Florentine landowner Lavinio Franceschi bought land near Sant'Angelo in Colle after hearing a shepherd describe its beauty. The estate was among the original handful of producers to bottle Brunello di Montalcino commercially, and Leopoldo Franceschi helped found the Brunello producers' consortium itself. More than a century on, the estate is still family-run, with winemaking guided by the father-and-son team of Fabrizio and Alessandro Bindocci, who have kept Il Poggione firmly on the traditionalist side of Montalcino — long macerations, extended aging in large, neutral oak casks, and a deliberate reluctance to let wood ever get ahead of the fruit.

The fruit comes from the estate's own Sangiovese vineyards on Montalcino's warmer southern slopes, where sea breezes off the Mediterranean and wide swings between day and night temperatures keep the grapes fresh through a long ripening season. Made from 100% Sangiovese and aged for years between large cask and bottle before release, this is classic, old-school Brunello: red berry and wild strawberry, baking spice, leather and dried herbs on the nose, with a full, deep, multilayered palate carried by polished tannins and a bright acid spine through a long finish. Give it air — a decant does this wine real favors — and pour it with a prime cut of beef, a rich meat ragu, or a plate of firm aged cheese.