There’s no better wine than the wine you’re having at the domain. Besides the emotion of the place and the amazing views that ravish you, there’s the technical detail: the storage, which in a winery is perfect: the right temperature, the right angle, all in all…perfect conditions.

We had to visit La Gerla Winery after that impressive glass of Brunello di Montalcino La Gerla  2011 we had for lunch in Boccon Divino restaurant. A new and great wine from a small winery, which in just a few years has become a great cru of the Tuscan territory surrounded by the Orcia and Ombrone Valleys.

We climbed the hill for few minutes by car, with greater and greater views of the valley and of the property itself. What shall I say? Breathtaking..

At the arrival Sonia was welcoming us and together with Marisa the “undisputed cellar woman” showed us around the cellar and helped us taste few wines.

Brunello wine is not not only about the Sangiovese grapes, it is about the “terroir” that give character, complexity and roughness to the wines. Brunello is a wine made in the vineyards not in the cellar hence the Slavonian barrels with no oak for storage.

We tasted:

Brunello di Montalcino La Gerla 2011, opulent, extremely aromatic, with pleasant aromas of spice, red cherry, tobacco, mint, leather, sage and licorice. Beautifully balanced and harmonious from start to finish. It needs to be decanted for at least 2 hours before drinking for a better experience but this is the case for most recent vintages of Brunello.

And a wonderful surprise… The 2015 Rosso, straight from the tank , 3 weeks before being bottled for the first time. Connaisseurs in Montalcino say that 2015 has high chance to be the best vintage in the last 100 years and if so, we had a first sip of it. Great, indeed.

A Rosso is obtained from declassified Brunello, which nonetheless follows the strict production regulations, shows characteristics of freshness and typical aromas of quality young wines, fruity and notes of autumn leaves and violet. The ageing is 1 year, 8 months of which are in wood. The wine should stay in bottle for at least 2 months before release on the market.

Unfortunately we could not taste Poggio gli Angeli and hope to do it soon.

In their wine list there are also:

Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva Degli Angeli D.O.C.G. A great wine produced for exceptional vintages and destined for long ageing. It is obtained from the vinification of the best grapes coming from Vigna gli Angeli vineyard.

Birba Toscana Rosso IGT, a great value for money wine, very charming and pleasant with the roughness of the place, in the same time. It was first produced in 1988 from an experiment by Mr. “Birba” Sergio Rossi who decided to try and age Brunello in partly new French Allier-Vosge oak medium-toasted barriques.

Poggio Degli Angeli- 100% Sangiovese grapes, same vinification as Brunello, the difference consists in the ageing that is just 4 months in big barrel.

La Gerla has 2 cellars: the old one that exists under a fourteenth century tower, which, apart from its charm, provides ideal temperature and humidity. It is here where the most prized bottles of La Gerla are stored starting from the first vintage produced in 1976 in addition to the big Slavonian oak barrels. In the new cellar, there are big Slavonian oak barrels (50 and 100hl) where Brunello and Rosso age as well as the French oak barriques (Vosge and Allier) where the Birba wine ages.

A LITTLE HISTORY

“La Gerla was born from the passion of its founder, Sergio Rossi, a successful businessman in advertising and director of three top European branches of a renowned agency, who falls in love with this both bitter and sweet territory and becomes almost a true local loving his vineyards as if they were his children.

This man, with his mischievous and lively grin, knew how to create a little cru here in Montalcino where the most advanced technology unites with the knowledge of farmers and enologists to produce excellent products that come from the Tuscan land and become extraordinary thanks to the handiwork of man which plays a leading role at La Gerla.

The estate, which had the typical local name of Colombaio, belonged to the Biondi Santi family which achieved one of the best Brunellos of the area from there at the time. Sergio Rossi bought the land in 1976 and completely restructured it respecting its original environment. Shortly afterwards in 1978, he created and marketed the La Gerla brand. “from La Gerla website

They have 2 cellars: the old one that exists under a fourteenth century tower, which, apart from its charm, provides ideal temperature and humidity. It is here where the most prized bottles of La Gerla are stored starting from the first vintage produced in 1976 in addition to the big Slavonian oak barrels. In the new cellar, there are big Slavonian oak barrels (50 and 100hl) where Brunello and Rosso age as well as the French oak barriques (Vosge and Allier) where the Birba wine ages.

After the tasting, at our departure from these amazing landscapes of the vineyards and property, I find myself capturing the views like photographs in my mind.. it’s a place where you feel the symbiosis of grape, soil, climate, vineyard placement, and the human touch, all rolled into the name “La Gerla”. Radu went straight to the only distributor he knew of this wine and took all the 2010 vintages left ( very few unfortunately) and some of the 2011 vintage which was also impressive.

Waiting for friends at dinner.. 🙂

photo credit: La Gerla website

photo credit: La Gerla website

photo credit: La Gerla website

photo credit: La Gerla website

photo credit: La Gerla website