Exclusive: 2018 Campi Di Fonterenza, Rosso Di Montalcino

September 26, 2023

I love championing the underdog. The "little engine that could" is a story that resonates with me and I love promoting wines from estates who fly under the radar. The wineries that may deliver some of the greatest wines of their appellation, but are often overshadowed by more grandiose properties with greater means of self promotion.

I can't think of a winery that exemplifies this more than Fonterenza. The Sangiovese grown by these twin sisters in the heart of Montalcino are undoubtedly, some of the greatest expressions of Tuscan wine.

Today's Rosso di Montalcino exudes beauty and grace, an instantly drinkable Rosso with the depth and concentration of Brunello. Possessing both Pinot-like precision and Barolo-esque power, it's a wine that dares to ask a bold question: why make Brunello, when the Rosso is already so good? It's a true testament to the sisters' patience and dedication at every level, even on such a minute scale. They make very little wine, and they do so both carefully and beautifully.

Today, I'm proud to offer the only bottles of 2018 Fonterenza, Rosso di Montalacino in South Carolina!

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100% Sangiovese from three distinct parcels planted by the sisters between 1999 and 2005. The fruit is hand-harvested, de-stemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top vats. Each parcel is vinified separately and then blended together to age in massive, 35-hectoliter Slavonian oak botti for a minimum of 21 months before bottling.

Elegant and ethereal with perfumed aromas of strawberry, cherry, sandalwood, blonde tobacco and rosemary. The palate is woven with more red fruit, Ceylon cinnamon and truffle. Everything is framed by silky, refined tannins and classic Tuscan acidity. A stunning Rosso without peer.

Twin sisters Margherita and Francesca Padovani founded Fonterenza close to twenty-five years ago, working the farm that had been in their family since the early 1970s. The winery is compromised of a mere 4 hectares from which four wines are produced, though occasionally the sisters buy grapes from close friends to produce a white wine here and there. The vineyards are surrounded by bucolic Tuscan forest and olive groves, and the vines are farmed biodynamically.

In the cellar, everything is minimal intervention, with native yeasts and large, used oak Botti where the wines age as long as necessary.