From America to Tuscany’s Chianti makes sense. From Franciacorta to Sangiovese makes… maybe less sense?
Thus is the tale of Vecchie Terre di Montefili, a producer situated on the Monte Fili hill in Greve in Chianti, which is a spot that is actually as gorgeous as it sounds from the name. Montefili was founded by three Americans (Nicola Marzovilla, Frank Bynum, and Tom Peck Jr.), who brought on Franciacorta winemaker Serena Gusmeri (who led an online digital tasting of Montefili wines to which I was invited earlier this summer) in 2015.
Montefili is Sangio-focused (with a smattering of Cabernet Sauvignon plantings), and Gusmeri hadn’t previously worked with the variety. Based on our tasting, she was apparently a quick study when it came to shifting gears from premium, bottle-aged bubbly to premium, bottle-aged reds.
Montefili’s team began research in 2018 on their estate (which sits about 1500 feet a.s.l.), with their vineyards planted around the winery at the top of the hill. Three diff soil types emerged: galestro and clay, quartz, and limestone. Leaves and stems were sent for analysis to see what the vines were absorbing from those soils, and they began tweaking the farming and cellar approaches to suit.
Gusmeri likes the vine health in this way to “how we feel if we eat well,” versus how we feel if we’re regularly eating crappy foods; which, I have to admit, even after decades in the wine business I hadn’t really considered. It’s one of those things that, in retrospect, seems embarrassingly obvious.
Most of the wines see the same treatment now, with initial, spontaneous fermentation and malolactic fermentation taking place in steel tanks. The main difference, according to Gusmeri, is the barrel size used: she prefers medium to large (botti) barrels, and aging longer than many of their neighbors (“16-18 months minimum, and up to 28 months,” with a repose of up to a year in the bottle.
I loved these wines.
They are f*cking expensive. But it’s rare to encounter such an immediately obvious manifestation of careful, thoughtful approach to farming and cellaring in the bottle.
2020 Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico DOCG, Tuscany, $32
From their youngest vineyard, planted 24 years ago, with galestro and clay soils, this red is aged in big botti and aims for immediate enjoyment. The vintage is “quite rich and powerful” according to Gusmeri, but production was “tiny.” It’s darkly colored, concentrated, and spicy with licorice, dried herbs, grilled orange peel, and dark cherry. Juicy and lifted on the palate, robust (from the vintage), grippy, fruity, and fresh—it immediately had me thinking about grilling.
2019 Vecchie Terre di Montefili Gran Selezione, Chianti Classico DOCG, $100
I have often found this category of Chianti confusing, and Gusmeri wished me “Good luck” in explaining Gran Selezione to consumers, which I think I have not yet successfully been able to do because the category itself is… not that well considered. Anyway, it requires 30 months total aging minimum. Montefili decided to move to this category since they are all-estate with their fruit, and to help promote small production / single vineyard Sangio. Pulled from two different vineyards, on galestro and limestone soils, and blended just before bottling, this red is not quite as dark in color as their 2020 Classico, but is definitely earthier. Darker dried herbs, black licorice, sour black cherry fruit, dried roses, camphor, and graphite aromas combine with very, very fresh, with stewed red plums, cherries, and cedar flavors, all complimented with dusty tannins. Lots of elegant lift and red fruit action here.
2019 Vecchie Terre di Montefili ‘Vigna Vecchia’ Gran Selezione, Chianti Classico DOCG, $129
From a galestro and quartz vineyard planted in 1981 (the previous owner had used it to blend in their regular Chianti), this is their third vintage of this GS. As Gusmeri put, the decision to highlight came when “we recognized something very interesting” in this vineyard. Aged in barrels for about 28 months, production is very low. Bright on the nose, with red fruits like plums and cherries, red licorice, and fresh herbs, this is a floral and less earthy red than their other GS. Super-fresh in the mouth, and looong! The tannins and acidity are quite fine, and more like powder than grit. Lovely, lovely, lovely texture.
2019 Vecchie Terre di Montefili ‘Vigna nel Bosco’, Toscana, $150
Another single vineyard offering, that will become a GS release in the future, from vines planted almost 30 years ago. It is bordered by bushes (hence the name), which create a microclimate that supports 60+ different wildflowers inside the vineyard, planted 1000+ feet a.s.l. This is the first vintage release. Earth, leather, dried rose petals, dark and savory black cherry fruit, and dark minerality mark the entry. “My idea, it’s a very old style of Sangiovese, it’s not a big explosion; it’s really more earthy,” Gusmeri asserted. And it is VERY serious in the mouth, with tightly wrapped tannins and acidity, with linear red fruit expression that is deep, fresh, and structured. The finish is long, savory, multilayered and juicy. Not overtly bold, but big and powerful, austere, and for-sure age-worthy.
2019 Vecchie Terre di Montefili ‘Anfiteatro’, Toscana, $120
This vineyard, planted next to the winery in 1975, is named after its amphitheater shape. The soil was in a bit of disrepair when Gusmeri arrived in 2015, so she began fertilizing (with fava beans… Clariiiiiice…). Replanting was done with a masal-selection from the existing vines (“the idea was to preserve the DNA of the [existing] vineyards”). It was an involved process, but the patience paid off. Aged in 10hl and 500l barrels, this combines a great mix of the fingerprints of the other wines here: savory and earthy, juicy and fresh, stewed and fresher red and black fruits, floral and mineral. There is a fantastic balance of aromas in this powerful, more showy, red. It comes off as extremely fresh, pure, and juicy, with great texture and fine acidity. Love the rose petal and red cherry action, hints of dried orange peel. Complex and long, this is stellar stuff.
Cheers!