RISING TO THE CHALLENGE

Brunello's best producers combated the hot, dry summer of 2017 with careful work in both vineyards and cellars

- BRUCE SANDERSON

Col d'Orcia, the Montalcino estate owned by Francesco Marone Cinzano, lies just across the bridge straddling the Ombrone River, at the southern border of the appellation, northeast of the village of Sant'Angelo Scalo. It's a large estate by Montalcino standards.

When I visited there in the spring of 2012, then-managing director Edoardo Virano, Cinzano and I tasted a number of samples from cask that were destined to be 2011 Brunellos di Montalcino. Ranging from elegant and charming to dense and tannic, these samples would allow the estate to create a final blend that represented the various elevations of its vineyard parcels.

This blending process was top of mind when reviewing the newly released 2017 vintage. Because of the heat and drought of the summer in 2017 one of the hottest and certainly driest growing seasons this century-production was only 30% compared with a normal yield, including no Rosso di Montalcino. Because of these conditions, Col d'Orcia decided to make a strict selection of its best fruit.

"Without beating around the bush, the climate in 2017 was extreme, and we're going to see more of it," explains Santiago Marone Cinzano, Francesco's son. "My father and I sat down and made the decision to prioritize quality."

In addition to the strict selection, the Col d'Orcia team was careful with extraction, reducing the maceration with the skins from 18 days to 10 to 12 days and performing shorter pumpovers and longer délestage, a process whereby the entire tank is drained then refilled, with the goal of avoiding excessive tannins. These efforts paid off with the elegant yet robust Brunello di Montalcino 2017 (93 points, $60), which is filled with cherry, strawberry, wild thyme and sage flavors.