The New Sangiovese: Alta Toscana (Emiglia Romagna) - $70 Quality "Brunello" for Under $30

As Beautiful an Expression of Sangiovese as Brunello

Gabriele Succi
 - In the Vineyards So Much, It's Unclear if He Owns a House
 - A True Master Winemaker 
 - Blazing a Trail in Brunello's Northern Shadow

2013 Costa Archi Riserva
 - The Naked Soul of Sangiovese
 - Like Really, Really Well Made, Incredibly Balanced Brunello
 - Densely Packed Nose: Terrific Spice
 - Powerful, Dnse on the Palate: Chocolate, Dark Cherries
 - Amazing Freshness and Balance
 - Long, Spicy, Licorice Finish
 - Amazing Structure - Built to Last

Every new popular region at one point made blah mediocre wines.

And all of those regions had one trailblazer who figured out how to make great wines.

And in Emilia Romagna, that winemaker is Gabriele Succi.

His Story
His wines hit the list about a year ago and I've been getting incredible feedback from the list.  It's

almost impossible to get Brunello at this quality level for under $70.  There is a certain intelligence and focus that most of the great winemakers have. Gabriele has them both in spades. He studied crop sciences and took over the family winery in 1995. Gabriele knows every bunch on every vine in his vineyard ... and you can taste it.  If you follow his Facebook page, he has more pictures of his vines than most parents have of their children.  The grapes are all picked at perfect levels of ripeness. 

The wines are truly stunning.  Just textbook examples of incredible winemaking. Incredible balance with such precision and linearity. These are a bit more restrained than Brunello but they have such a vivd incredible expression of Sangiovese.  I was turned on to these by a sommelier in Bologna who has tried pretty much every wine in Emilia Romagna and thinks that these are by far the best.  He is not wrong. His wines are sold at two of the Michelin one star restaurants in Bologna as well as the sister restaurant of Osteria Francescana (of "Best Restaurant in the World" fame).

Alta Toscana
For those of you unfamiliar with Italian geography, Emilia Romagna is due north of Tuscany.  I'm coining the phrase, "Alta Toscana" to describe these wines.  I love our Brunello producers but with higher global temperatures, Brunello producers have to be very careful about overripeness. So I really wanted to get some Emilia Romagna Sangiovese because it is a little cooler. Alas, it was easier said than done. Most of the wine was either over oaked or underripe or in the worst cases, both!  But then the meeting with Gabriele came up and all was right with the world. 

And now for the main event. The 2013 Costa Archi Monte Brullo Riserva for $29.99 each (on a 4 pack). You know how when I introduced Martin Muellen, Paul Weltner, Ziereisen and Enderle and Moll, for example, I said that they were great winemakers but also that they had that extra special unique approach that almost made them artists?  That their wines were unlike anything else? Well, this wine is in that class. The 2013 GS, which we sold previously is now drinking like a stylistic cross between wonderful dusty old Bordeaux and crazy fresh Sangiovese.  The Riserva is more of a case study in Sangiovese's soul.  Think more Pommard to the GS' Volnay (although a Pommard with great freshness that can be drunk "young").

The nose is just so densely packed it's hard to even fathom.  Like someone took a ton of dark cherries and blackberries and stuck them in one of those machines that turns a car into a small block of steel. This needs an hour to unpack. But once it gets going the nose really takes you places. Travel with thee nose and you will be rewarded with Sangiovese Nirvana. Very deep nose. Attacks. Serious, serious dark Sangiovese spice on the nose.

The palate is just a freak show.  Serious power. and crazy density. Like what it must feel like to be punched by Mike Tyson in his prime if he had gloves made of steel. Those dark fruits but jammed with chocolate that is bound to the fruit almost at a molecular level.  But it's not just a bruiser.  Beautiful acid that keeps the wine fresh and livens up the other flavors.  The fruit and palate just penetrate and coat the palate so you almost struggle to contemplate them and then the spice aromatics blast the top of your palate. 

The finish is crazy long and lingering.  Massive spice and just beautiful juicy licorice.  Minute long and just phenomenal.


The Riserva has incredible strcuture. This is built for the long haul. You can drink it now and it's good on open but becomes much better as it opens.  This will improve for at least 6-10 years.  Likely many more.  Just an epic effort.  I'm not sure if Succi will spawn a new generations of winemakers in this region.  Or if he will just develop a cult following by himself.  I do know that these wines are insane and some of the craziest values that we sell because they are from an emerging region and a winemaker that spends 99.9% of his time in the field and .1% on marketing.  In either case, this is a must buy.

2013 Costa Archi Monte Brullo Riserva - $31.99 ($119.96 4-pack) (VERY LIMITED)