The Brunello of the North - 2016 "Alta Toscana" from Costa Archi - Stunning, Classic Sangiovese - Competes with $60+ Brunello

 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
 - His Wines Are Sold at the sister restaurant of Osteria Francescana ("Best Restaurant in the World")
 - Does Almost No Marketing in a Less Well Known Region- These Wines Are Seriously, Seriously Underpriced

2016 Costa Archi Monte Brullo Riserva
 - The Naked Soul of Sangiovese
 - Like Really, Really Well Made, Incredibly Balanced Brunello
 - Densely Packed Nose: Terrific Spice, Dense Fruit
 - Serious, Serious Dark Sangiovese Spice
 - Powerful, Dense on the Palate
 - Chocolate, Dark Cherries
 - Amazing Freshness and Balance
 - Long, Spicy, Licorice Finish
 - Amazing Structure - Built to Last
 - Case Pricing Available ($25.99 12 Bottle Case) As I Think It Is An Extraordinary Sangiovese Value. Drinks like $60

2018 Costa Archi Assiolo
- The Delicious Baby Brother
- Crazy Well Made and a Real Outlier at This Price 
- Fresh Perfect Cherry Fruit
- Incredibly Gorgeous Cherry Flower Internal Aromatics

 - Case Pricing Available 

OK, first thing before you read this is I need you to forget about the price.  Today's wine is hugely underpriced for two reasons. 

 - First, Emilia Romagna is incredibly overshadowed by its Tuscan neighbor (it doesn't even have its own page in the World Atlas of Wine).  

 - Second, Gabriele spends almost all his time in the vineyards and doesn't market much.

So the wines are seriously underpriced. Perhaps more so than any wine in the portfolio.  I'd gladly pay $60+ for the 2016 Monte Brullo Riserva.

The 2016 Costa Archi Monte Brullo Riserva for $29.99 each  on a 4-pack. The 2016 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's 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 cherry and blackberry 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 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, saturating and lingering. Gorgeously refined tannins and really impressive purity here. Harkens back to pre global warming Sangiovese. Massive spice and just beautiful juicy licorice linger and wind down your palate. Minute long and just phenomenal.

The Riserva has incredible structure. 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.

The second wine is the 2018 Costa Archi Assiolo which can be had for $21.99 per bottle (on a 4 pack purchase). Fass Listers have been going bonkers over this wine.  The Assiolo is the younger brother of the GS but a fantastic wine in its own right.  It held its own against the best $30-$35 Rosso di Montalcinos at VinItaly, although the style is very different.  

The nose is classic Sangiovese, but on the elegant side. Lovely ripe first of season cherries on the nose.  

The palate is really super elegant.  Awesome, awesome, awesome delicious cherry fruit.  Lovely integrated acidity and a nice mineral spine.  The internal aromatics are masterful, especially for a wine at this price point.  Just the most gorgeous cherry flowers.  It's one of those wines that is just purely delicious joy but is so crazy well made that a wine geek will love it.  It's inexpensive enough.  The wine is 100% Sangiovese and is aged 12 months in twice- and three-times used tonneaux, then 5 more months in steel and then for 5 months in the bottle. 

If you like to drink red wine with food or have parties where you serve wine, this is definitely a candidate for a case purchase.

The Winemaker

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. 

But then the meeting with Gabriele came up and all was right with the world. I've written before that 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. You can really taste it in the wines. The grapes are all picked at perfect levels of ripeness. The wines are truly stunning. Just textbook examples of incredible winemaking. Incredible balance and a bit more restrained than Brunello but they have incredible expression of Sangiovese. I was turned on to these by a sommelier in Bolognawho has tried pretty much every wine in Emilia Romagna and thinks that these are by far the best. 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)

2016 Costa Archi Monte Brullo Riserva - $31.99 ($119.96 4-pack) 

2018 Costa Archi Assiolo - $23.99 ($87.96 4-pack)