A few nights before we began a trip to Tuscany, we opened a bottle of Italian wine that we had bought from a favorite wine web site. At that point all we knew was that it was a Brunello, had a beautiful label and that it was called Terralsole (“Land toward the Sun”). Tasting it, we were very impressed and were glad we had more in the cellar.
Montalcino, in Tuscany, is famed for the wine first made in the castelli around the town: Brunello, made from 100% Sangiovese grapes. The road system is radial around Montalcino; whichever direction you go you will find vineyards and wineries. However, each direction also brings you to different terroirs, so the wines from each exhibit distinct characteristics and personalities. As we drove down a road to the southeast of the city, we saw a sign that told us we had just passed the entrance to Terralsole. One U-turn and five minutes later, we pulled up to the winery. And no one was there. Maybe, we thought, we were at the wrong building. There was a nice looking structure at the top of a small hill, maybe that was it.
Terralsole vineyard and winery. Photo courtesy of Terralsole.
So Steve was delegated to climb up and see if anyone was at home, while Lucie stayed with the car. After he shouted a few “Hello’s”, a young girl about six years old came out to see who was there. Steve asked, “Is your mommy or daddy at home”, speaking slowly in hopes that she had a little English. She shouted back into the house, “Mommy, there’s somebody here about some wine”. Steve told her that she spoke perfect English and she replied, as only a six-year old can, “And I speak perfect Italian, too.” Such was our introduction to the Bollag family, proprietors and winemakers of Terralsole (www.terralsole.com/).
Mom turned out to be Athena Tergis Bollag, a violinist, who had an appointment and was anxious to get away. But graciously she told us that a) tastings were by appointment only b) there was no one able to serve us and c) maybe her husband, Mario, would accommodate us. We were led back down the hill and met Mario Bollag, who proceeded to lead us on a tour of the property and the winery.
Mario then led us up to his office-atelier above the winery floor. There he showed us sculptures and paintings, including the original used for the label of the wine we had drunk in New York. It seems that Mario was also an artist and had in his earlier life been to Haiti, where he fell in love with the arts community there. So he would sketch what he wanted for a label, send it to one of his Haitian friends who made a painting of it, which was then used for wine bottles. Everyone benefited.
A Terralsole label.
We learned that Terralsole comes from vineyards in two sectors of the Brunello region, which gives Terralsole’s Brunellos the taste we had liked so much. Mario opened something unusual, a Syrah that we tasted together. It’s marketed as a Super Tuscan, but really has more of a French character. We never did taste a Brunello there, although we bought some to take home with us.