If you travel to Montalcino from the north, which is what you would do if you were to approach it from Siena or Florence, you will pass several wineries as you get close to the village itself. One of these is Val di Suga (www.valdisuga.it/en), which with its long row of towering cypress trees seems to draw you in for a tasting. By coincidence, the night before we visited there we had had a bottle of one of their Brunellos with dinner, so we were very interested to learn more about them.
The Val di Suga winery. Photo courtesy of Bertani Domains.
You enter the property on a long driveway lined with the aforementioned cypresses. The winery building looks, well, Tuscan. It sits among broad, expansive vineyards some of which are theirs. The tasting room is modern, airy and offers a view across the Val di Suga’s vines, all bearing Sangiovese grapes. This vineyard, called Vigna del Lago (Vineyard of the Lake) is one of three owned by Val di Suga. The other two are Vigna Spuntali, south of Montalcino, and Poggio al Granchio (Crab Hill) high above the village, also to the south.
These three vineyards are important to the taster because Val di Suga makes single vineyard varietals from each one. They also make a blend of the three. If ever there was an opportunity to experience the relative influence of terroir versus the winemaker’s hand, this is it. You can taste the same grapes from the same region, no more than 15 kilometers apart, vinified in the same way by the same winemakers. Even though they are near one another, the three vineyards have different soils and microclimates so the comparison on your nose and in your mouth are distinctive. We preferred the blend, but that’s in keeping with our overall preference for blended wines. You go; you taste; you make up your own mind.
In our early days of wine drinking, Italian wine meant Chianti in straw-wrapped bottles. (The bottle itself is still attractive and brings back good memories.) It was inexpensive, acidic and of uneven quality, to be generous. We were left with a distaste for Sangiovese that lasted for quite a while. And then we discovered Brunello! This wine is 100% Sangiovese and is one of the great achievements of the winemakers’ skill. It is amazing what great soil, careful production and winemaking pride can do. And yes, we drink better Chiantis these days as well.
We found the service staff (actually just one young woman the day we were there) to be courteous, eager to show off the comparison of their wines and able to speak English quite well. You will find no shortage of wineries to visit in and around Montalcino and will be amazed at the variety these Tuscans can create from a single grape in a single locality. When you visit, we recommend that you include Val di Suga in your itinerary.