Voliero 2015 Brunello di Montalcino, Italy

The wine opens with aromas of red plums and cherries leading to a mouthful of silky fruit and mineral-driven earth notes before finishing with a leather pouch essence.

Originally intended exclusively for use in his restaurant "il Casato" in nearby Siena, owner / winemaker Andrea Cortonesi poured this wine for a famous wine critic whose high praise created so much demand for it on this side of the pond that Andrea acquiesed. I am fortunate to have been granted a small allocation of several cases.

The grapes come from two high elevation vineyards, so the wine expresses more elegance, brightness and finesse than would a wine from a warmer vineyard at lower elevation. Natural fermentation and maceration occurs in stainless steel vats over a slow process lasting 20 days before going into Slovenian oak casks for 30 months. By decree, Brunello can only be released after a minimum of five years, and they thrive for 20+ years in bottle. Which is why it's so popular with collectors!

650 cases produced. Enjoy through 2030.

In addition to owning the aforementioned restaurant, Andrea is the much-acclaimed winemaker at Uccelliera. This project came about when a grower offered his grapes to Andrea, but because Uccelliera is a single-vineyard wine, he decided to keep the purity of that project separate from this one, which blends grapes from two different vineyards, both at higher altitudes (by decree of the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG regulations, the maximum altitude for a vineyard is just under 2,000 feet.