2022 Tenute Silvio Nardi Rosso di Montalcino

To understand the modern history of Montalcino, you have to look at Silvio Nardi. In 1950, long before Brunello became a global luxury icon, Nardi—a successful agricultural equipment manufacturer from Umbria—purchased the historic Casale del Bosco estate. He was an outsider with a bold vision, becoming one of the very first to bottle Brunello and a founding member of the local Consorzio. Today, his daughter Emilia leads the estate, pushing the boundaries of precision viticulture. While Brunello is built for decades in the cellar, the Rosso di Montalcino is designed to capture the immediate, vibrant energy of the Sangiovese Grosso grape. Sourced from the estate’s younger vines across different exposures in Montalcino, this wine benefits from the region's classic galestro (friable shale) and alberese (limestone) soils, which impart an unmistakable chalky tension. In the glass, it is a masterclass in Tuscan elegance. It trades the heavy, brooding tannins of Brunello for a bright, vertical energy. The nose offers a pure expression of sour cherry, violet, and a hint of dusty earth. It is lively, savory, and incredibly versatile—the perfect "baby Brunello" to pair with a springtime lamb ragù or a simple, rustic Margherita pizza.