#helena poggio

[elmartillosinmetre]

"Estamos emocionados: veinte años es toda nuestra vida adulta"

[Cibrán Sierra, Aitor Hevia, Helena Poggio y Josep Puchades: el Cuarteto Quiroga / IGOR STUDIO]

En su vigésimo aniversario, el Cuarteto Quiroga explora en CD el perfil más concentrado de los clásicos

Cibrán Sierra se alza una vez más como portavoz del Cuarteto Quiroga, que está celebrando sus veinte años de existencia. "El primer año fue realmente de prueba, cada uno tenía su ocupación. El cuarteto empezó a a trabajar en serio cuando fuimos a la Escuela Reina Sofía con Rainer Schmidt del Cuarteto Hagen, y eso fue en el curso 2004-05. Ahí decidimos tirarnos a la piscina de verdad, sin saber si había agua".

–¿Este disco es entonces celebratorio?

–Queríamos que fuera un tanto especial. Siempre nos gusta hacer programas que sean algo más que una colección de obras interesantes. A estas alturas, lo que tiene sentido es que los conciertos y los discos ofrezcan la posibilidad de reflexionar acerca de las obras, poner a unas en contacto con otras, hacer un ejercicio de interpretación, de hermenéutica, arrojar luz sobre un objeto de una manera particular. Y queríamos buscar algo que sirviera como celebración de nuestros veinte años. Decidimos coger a los tres grandes compositores del género: el Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo, como digo a veces. Haydn, el Padre fundador, que canonizó el género; Bartók, el Hijo, que lo llevó al siglo XXI; y Beethoven, el Espíritu Santo, por aquello de que está presente en todos los compositores que quisieron escribir cuartetos después de él, porque llevó el género a su cumbre y está en todas partes.

–Tres grandes clásicos, pero con qué enfoque...

–Usamos una perspectiva que nos pareció interesante. Si estamos en un mundo en que se valora lo mastodóntico, lo grande, por qué no buscar lo contrario: frente a la expansión, la compresión musical. Y encontramos tres ejemplos muy fáciles para mostrarlo. Primero, el Op.42 de Haydn, el cuarteto más corto que escribió, que además fue un encargo que le llegó de España, lo que nos hacía ilusión; Haydn utiliza motivos muy cortos, pero consigue a pesar de la brevedad una narrativa llena de todo lo habitual en él, hasta en sus obras más grandiosas: el sentido del humor, la ironía, el arte de la retórica... Luego el Op.95 de Beethoven, el Serioso: después de haber escrito aquellos gigantescos Razumovsky, larguísimos, con una dificultad extrema, escribe un cuarteto brevísimo, pero de una intensidad incluso mayor que el resto de sus obras en el género. Todo va en él a una velocidad extraordinaria: en el tiempo que uno de los Razumovsky llega al segundo tema, el primer movimiento del Serioso ya ha acabado, y no ha sacrificado ninguno de los pasos retóricos necesarios para construir un discurso contrastante, impactante; lo tiene todo, pero de una manera comprimida. Mantener la complejidad en tan poco tiempo es un ejercicio admirable y Beethoven lo consigue aquí de manera increíble. Bartók hace lo mismo en el Cuarteto nº3, en el que comprime en quince minutos de vértigo un discurso musical complejísimo, construido como siempre en Bartók con una arquitectura impecable, que condensa todas las constantes de su lenguaje musical. Son como pequeños átomos, por eso usamos el nombre en el título: lo indivisible de la materia, lo que ya no se puede dividir. Y también porque desprenden una energía de alguna manera nuclear. De esos núcleos tan pequeños, a través de su compresión musical se liberan enormes dosis de energía.

–¿Y qué papel juega ahí Kurtág?

–Nos faltaba un compositor vivo, y qué compositor, en perspectiva, puede estar a la altura de estos tres gigantes. Yo no tengo dudas, si dentro de 200 años hay un compositor que estará a la altura de los grandes ese será Kurtág. Además al ser un poco autobiográfico el disco, Kurtág nos venía bien, porque es una persona a la que pudimos conocer, con quien trabajamos, una persona que nos emocionó muchísimo: creo que somos el único cuarteto que ha tocado en directo la integral de su obra, así que decidimos incluir esta pequeña obra que además no estaba grabada; el átomo se mezcla ya con la materia oscura, el sonar y no sonar, el ser y no ser, lleva la música al extremo, a la linde de la no existencia.

–Y en ese juego no se pudieron resistir y añadieron a Webern...

–Nos gusta poner siempre regalito de bonus track, y lo pusimos como un guiño a quien fue el maestro del aforismo musical, de la compresión máxima y absoluta del lenguaje, lo teníamos ya grabado de nuestro disco (R)evolutions.

–¿Cómo están viviendo el aniversario?

–Estamos muy emocionados. 20 años de cuarteto es mucho, es casi la mitad de nuestra vida biológica, y la totalidad de nuestra vida adulta, postacadémica. Cuando lo piensas te abruma, te alegra, te emociona, te anima a seguir trabajando, es un momento muy especial. Tenemos una residencia en el CNDM, y estamos haciendo encargos, estrenos. Hemos estrenado en España y en Suiza una obra de Jörg Widmann, con quien tenemos una estrecha relación. En el CNDM hacemos tres conciertos con tres colaboradores que han sido muy importantes en la historia del cuarteto: Jörg Widmann, Veronika Hagen, del Cuarteto Hagen, con quien grabamos nuestro anterior disco, y Javier Perianes, que es casi una quinta persona en el cuarteto, alguien muy cercano. En enero estrenamos en Ámsterdam música de Jonathan Dove, un compositor inglés muy diferente a Widmann, una obra muy interesante que se titula Togetherness, escrita durante la pandemia, en la que empezamos tocando desde diferentes puntos del escenario y nos vamos acercando hasta tocar juntos otra vez, parte de una aleatoriedad controlada y termina ya más ensamblada. Tenemos un estreno en colaboración con el Palau de la Música Catalana de Raquel García Tomás: su música nos interesa mucho, y como el Palau fue un punto importante para nosotros, porque allí ganamos nuestro primer concurso, teníamos que estar en este año, y por eso le encargamos esta obra a Raquel. Para Madrid encargamos otra obra a una compositora griega, que es profesora en Múnich y nos interesa mucho, Konstantia Gourzi. Hacemos también una obra de otra persona muy querida, José Luis Turina, Bach in excelsis, que escribió para nosotros, y es en mayo, en el último concierto de la residencia, que será en el Museo Reina Sofía. Estamos muy comprometidos con la creación actual, y así seguiremos. Parte del trabajo de un cuarteto de cuerda pasa por enriquecer el mapa de músicas.

–Cuando ustedes llegan, en España el Casals había abierto ya camino, pero antes el país era un páramo cuartetístico, ¿se sienten en cierta medida responsables de que eso haya empezado a cambiar y ya no sea así?

–Era una anomalía. En España hubo siempre grandes músicos, pero hasta que llegó el Casals el cuarteto de cuerda parecía que no se practicaba.

–España era el país de las bandas y los instrumentos de viento…

–Así es. Existía una tradición muy importante, y esperemos que no se pierda, ahora que veo que en algunos pequeños pueblos algunas bandas empiezan a tener problemas, porque bandas y coros hay que defenderlos y cultivarlos, la cultura musical amateur es crucial, la sociedad civil y las instituciones deberían cuidarlos, son tesoros, el humus que genera público, gente sensible y profesionales futuros. Esta enorme tradición se tradujo en una mayor calidad de instrumentistas de viento. Otra posible causa de aquella anomalía yo creo que deriva de la manera en que se desarrolló la escritura musical en España, sobre todo en el florecimiento a finales del XIX, los grandes compositores de esa época no nos dejaron grandes cuartetos, aunque hay excepciones, como los de Conrado del Campo, proyecto de recuperación en el que participaremos. Nos interesa recuperar el patrimonio musical propio. En 1900 Mendelssohn era considerado un compositor relativamente menor, hoy nadie duda que es uno de los grandes… A lo mejor dentro de unos años está Conrado o está Brunetti. Hay mucho trabajo que hacer para rescatar muchas cosas que merecen ser rescatadas, primero por cartografiar el patrimonio, pero luego porque además te encuentras joyas estrictamente musicales. Es una gozada escucharlas y ponerlas en diálogo con lo conocido. Con el repertorio de piano salían pianistas enormes tocando Albéniz, Falla, Turina… Pero apenas había cuartetos. Sin embargo en el Madrid del XVIII había una gran actividad cuartetística, por qué… Porque estaban Boccherini, Brunetti, Canales, Almeida… Eso está cambiando. Nos enorgullece contribuir a que esa anomalía esté desapareciendo, España ya no esté yerma de cuartetos y cuartetos españoles estén presentes con normalidad en auditorios de toda Europa.

–¿Cuál será el siguiente disco del grupo?

–Estamos debatiéndonos entre dos o tres cosas. La idea será aportar algo o bien a través de compositores que no hemos grabado o con perspectiva diferente a lo que hemos hecho. Y estamos considerando varias opciones. Nuestro cuarteto cocina a fuego lento. Preferimos hacer las cosas más despacio y que cada producto esté bien pensado y elaborado.

–Siguen con Cobra...

–Sí. Estamos muy a gusto. Nos sentimos libres para plantear las cosas como queremos hacerlas. Volver a grabar los cuartetos de Beethoven, de Schubert o de Mozart porque sí, para nosotros no tiene gran interés. Queremos que los discos contribuyan a contar quiénes somos, la forma que tenemos de mirar al repertorio.

–¿Mantienen la residencia en el Museo Cerralbo?

–Sí, y encantados, porque que los museos no se limiten a custodiar un legado material, sino que lo actualicen y lo pongan en diálogo con la sociedad a través de recitales y actividades dinámicas me parece fundamental. Es un orgullo para nosotros. Nuestros puntos de base son el Museo Cerralbo, la actividad concertística y la pedagógica.

[Diario de Sevilla. 31-12-2023]

ATOMOS EN SPOTIFY

[arthistoryfeed]

Saint Helena (fresco), Pugliani, Domenico (d.1658) - Villa del Poggio Imperiale, Florence, #Italy.

[jackiedluke]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia)

[ Editor’s note: here’s one more from the vault of pieces sent to a magazine that didbn’t publish it or pay me; I’m running it here so that it’s not lost to posterity. Enjoy! ]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany

One of Tuscany’s most dynamic – and endangered – wine regions is hiding in plain sight

Donatella Cinelli Colombini could be your Italian grandmother. Affable, generous, and quick-witted, Colombini is the matriarch of Fattoria del Colle, her family estate in the almost unbelievably charming area of Tuscany’s Trequanda, replete with accommodations on an estate that dates back to the late 1500s, cooking classes, three pool, a spa, and an upscale-farmhouse restaurant. She also also oversees production of the Tuscan wine label that bears her name.

But Colombini has another job: in some ways, she’s trying to save the future of what the Consorzio del vino Orcia calls “the most beautiful wine in the world.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini

“The landscape here is a perfect harmony between history, man, and nature,” she remarks. “We have to preserve that. Every month, every wine producer here receives a call from a realtor asking them to sell.”

While you will almost certainly have heard of the winemaking gems of Montalcino and Montepulciano, you probably aren’t familiar with Orcia, the winemaking area that sits between them near Tuscany’s southern tip. The problem isn’t that Orcia’s twelve municipalities, formally recognized as a wine region in 2000, don’t make excellent wine; in many cases, Orcia’s reds rival those of its more famous neighbors, planted on vineyards that have been literally designed from the ground up for producing small quantities of high quality fine wine grapes, primarily Tuscany’s “native son” of Sangiovese. The problem is that Orcia is almost too amazing of a place in and of itself.

Thermal baths in Orcia

Orcia boats the kind of beauty that makes you think that you’ve stepped directly into a scene from Under the Tuscan Sun. Think sun-drenched hillsides lined with cypresses, dotted with tiny ancient towns like Pienza (housing a terracotta museum), terme thermal spas like those in S. Casciano dei Bagni and S. Quirico d’Orcia (yes, some of the spa treatments involve wine), and no shortage of gorgeous castle tower ruins along the routes between them all, replete with deep history and past political intrigue (the region once played host to the duke of Tuscany, who ordered the draining of the the valley in the 1700s to spur agricultural growth, but also used his time there to liase with his mistress). Orcia has seen travelers since the time of the Etruscans, and its castle and fortress ruins are a testament to the popularity of the routes within the area, where bandit attacks once were frequent. It has hosted religious pilgrims, popes, poets, archbishops, mercenaries, dukes, the Medici clan, and even Charlemagne. The landscape has remained relatively unchanged for the last four hundred years…

Vineyard views at Terre Senesi

Given its embarrassment of natural riches, it’s not surprising that Orcia now sees nearly one and half million tourists per year. Agritourism is big business in Orcia, where visitors can experience firsthand the direct connection to the land and the historical perspective of farmers who, as local winemaker Roberto Mascelloni puts it, “produced everything for themselves.” Most of the wine purveyors in Orcia also make boutique quantities of olive oil. You can find handmade pecorino cheese production (which dates back to prehistoric times in the area), such as that offered by the Podere Il Casale farm (yes, some of the cheeses involve wine grapes). Orcia boats a small but booming white truffle economy, which is the focus of lunch-and-tasting tours offered by winemakers and truffle hunters such as Loghis Farm’s Valentino Berni, who started farming truffles with his family’s pets when he was six (“I loved the relationship with the dogs” he notes, in a characteristically charming Tuscan way).

Truffles at Fattoria del Colle

Truffles are so important to the area that San Giovanni d’Asso has a small museum and an annual festival devoted entirely to the expensive subterranean mushroom. There are enough such quaint spots in Orcia to almost lose count of them all, and we haven’t even mentioned the stunning views available from the region’s various hillside medieval ruins, Orcia’s saffron production, its several art/culture festivals, or the area’s innumerable possibilities for biking and hiking tours.

Terme in Orcia

The main challenge facing the region’s wine producers is that, despite the high quality of their wines and their focus on organic, sustainable viticulture, Orcia’s status is the wine world hasn’t kept pace with its notability as a tourist destination. Orcia is dwarfed in this regard by Montalcino and Montepulciano, in terms of recognition and in availability; only about two hundred fifty thousand bottles of wine per year carry an Orcia designation on the label. Most of Orcia’s sixty wine producers are tiny in scope, and so are catering to tourism, local restaurants, and olive oil production to help them stay in financially in the black.

The irony is that Orcia’s success has garnered so much interest from businesses and the wealthy that one of its now key components – its excellent and diverse wine scene – is almost endangered. In many ways, Orcia’s wines are well deserving of the attention of any Italian wine lover; they offer authentic alternatives to the more ubiquitous (and too often industrialized) Chianti on one end, and to the pricey Montalcino on the other.

Ultimately, it’s the unique connection to Orcia’s land, foods, and people that can draw wine lovers in and, quite possibly, give you a new favorite go-to Tuscan sipper. “Each bottle,” notes Colombini, “gives you a story of this wonderful territory.” Here are a few of those stories.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini 2015 “Cenerentola” Rosso

The Cinderella of this wine’s name refers, in part, to the round-leafed grape Foglia Tonda, which makes up thirty-five percent of this blend (the rest being Sangiovese). For nearly a century, Foglia Tonda was all but abandoned in Tuscany, due its difficulty to ripen. Cinelli helped to lead a charge to bring the grape back, and there are now about twenty hectares of the grape planted. Cinelli describes this blend as “well-married,” and her take is spot-on. The Sangiovese brings delicate floral notes, tart dark cherry fruit flavors, and earthiness, while the Foglia Tonda adds unique brambly spice and black licorice tones.

Truffle hunting at Loghi

Loghi 2013 “Cinabro” Rosso

The fanciful name is an homage to Loghi Farm’s vineyard soils, on which the grapes for this Sangiovese and Colorino blend are grown. While much about Loghi’s production and truffle farming harken back to rustic times, this is a more modern take on Tuscan red wines. It sports plummy, juicy cherry fruit flavors, and aromas of orange peel, vanilla, and dried herbs. It’s fresh, vibrant, and almost sinewy in its powerful mouthfeel.

Sasso di Sole’s Roberto Terzuoli

Sasso di Sole 2016 Rosso

Sasso di Sole is in an enviable spot, even by Tuscan standards; not only do they have breathtaking views of their UNESCO area hillside vineyards, but their organically-farmed property overlaps the northeastern edge of Montalcino. This gives them the luxury of being able to use either the Montalcino or Orcia designation on their labels. In contrast to most of Orcia’s other producers, Sasso di Sole use their youngest vines and shortest wood aging period for their Orcia label, resulting in a supple, vibrant, tangy, and fruity Sangiovese that’s ready to drink now. The hints of tobacco spice and rose petals are an added bonus.

Campotondo 2015 “Tavoleto”

This tiny outfit (producing only eight thousand bottles of wine per year) sits near an extinct volcano near the small hamlet of Campiglia d’Orcia. It’s helmed by Paolo Campotondo, who hand-tends Orcia’s only goblet-trained vineyards (a recommendation by the elderly locals, who recalled similar vine training systems used near mountains in France). The unique training helps to protect the vines, planted nearly five hundred meters above sea level, from the strong winds of the area, and helps to retain warmth from the soil and concentrate the grapes’ flavors. Paolo’s daughter Helena inspired his focus on organic farming principles: “my father says, ‘my daughter is the first consumer of my product, so I want it to be healthy!’” Uniquely, their Tavoleto is a white made entirely from Chardonnay, and it’s beguiling with flavor and aroma layers of peach, white flowers, tropical fruits, toast, wet stones, ripe yellow apples, and ginger spice.

Campotondo 2013 “Il Toco”

One of the specialties of Campotondo is a focus on Tuscany’s indigenous red grape Colorino, which makes up ten percent of this blend with Sangiovese. This is a full-on, Brunello-style red, with dense black cherry fruit flavors, intense aromas of dried herbs, orange peel, wood and cigar spices, balsamic, and dried rose petals. You’ll want a healthy portion of wild boar ragu pasta to go with this.

Racing horses at Poggio Grande

Poggio Grande 2015 Syrah

Luca Zamperini seems to have a permanent smile etched onto his face, and you might, too, if you lived his life. His Poggio Grande winery started as a hobby seventeen years ago, and now produces twenty-five thousand bottles of wine per year. It includes sweeping views of the area near Ripa d’Orcia, and is the home to horses that run in Sienna’s famed and ancient Paleo race. Zamperini has a love of French Rhone wines, and so auspiciously decided to try out Syrah, which has taken splendidly to the Orcia climate and shows off the region’s diversity. Like Poggio Grande’s horses, there’s a tamed wildness to this focused and delicious wine, which is mineral, savory, plummy, and juicy, with hints of wild herbs and even game meat.

 Enrico Paolucci artwork at Podere Albiano

Podere Albiano 2011 “Tribolo” Sangiovese

Alberto Turri and Anna Becheri moved from the banking and media worlds in Milan to a picturesque spot in the heart of Orcia’s terracotta country, producing wine, truffles, and twenty thousand bottles of wine per year (with whimsical labels designed by local artist Enrico Paolucci)as a labor of love. They make for an unassuming couple, who have very clear ideas of what they want from their wines, and the results are excellent. Their Tribolo Sangiovese is layered, supple, and sexy, but despite its modern appeal doesn’t lack for structure, vivacity, complexity, or precision.

 Capitoni amphorae

Capitoni 2016 “Troccolone” Sangiovese

From five hectares of hand-worked vines comes one of the most unique Sangiovese offerings that you’re likely to ever encounter. The Capitoni family ages this particular wine in the region’s famed terracotta amphorae, and using what they describe as “slow and low” fermentation (taking longer than normal, and at lower temperatures). The result is a rustic, intriguing take on the purity of Sangiovese, highlighting its bright, tart red-berry and cherry flavors, its vibrant texture, and its dark tobacco spice notes.

Roberto Mascelloni shows a Foglia Tonda leaf in his vineyards

Mascelloni Family Estate 2015 “01” Sangiovese

The amiable Roberto Mascelloni is a stickler for old-school farming, producing spicy and herbal olive oil and organically farmed wines on his family estate in Castiglione d’Orcia. A former archer in a regional festival, “01” marks the last year that he won the archery tournament (“and then I retired”). This wine sports an intensely purple color for Sangiovese, and it strikes a great balance between that grape’s herbal, spicy, and rustic side, and its elegant, lively, and supple side.

Terre Senesi’s Antonio Rovito

Val d’Orcia Terre Senesi 2010 “Ripario” Rosso

Valdorcia Terre Senesi winery’s Antonio Rovito and Gabriella Ginetti seems to always be laughing at something. You’d be pretty happy too, if your daily view included stunning views of the Orcia gorge, Ripa d’Orcia woodland wildlife sanctuary, and Mount Amiata. Terre Senesi began with olive oil production in 1998, and started producing wine in 2010. Their Ripario is a Sangiovese blended with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, and aged in new French oak barrels. While the result is on the woody side, the wine has enough complexity in it black licorice and black cherry fruit flavors, dried herb and balsamic notes, and palate freshness to age well (and pair well with a good steak off the grill).

Cheers!

Grab The 1WineDude.com Tasting Guide and start getting more out of every glass of wine today!

Shop Wine Products at Amazon.com

Copyright © 2016. Originally at Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia) from 1WineDude.com – for personal, non-commercial use only. Cheers! Source: http://www.1winedude.com/not-so-hidden-tuscany-spotlight-on-orcia/

source https://meself84.wordpress.com/2018/11/14/not-so-hidden-tuscany-spotlight-on-orcia/ from Sommelier Courses https://sommeliercourses.blogspot.com/2018/11/not-so-hidden-tuscany-spotlight-on-orcia.html

[cacophonyofolives]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia)

[ Editor’s note: here’s one more from the vault of pieces sent to a magazine that didbn’t publish it or pay me; I’m running it here so that it’s not lost to posterity. Enjoy! ]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany

One of Tuscany’s most dynamic – and endangered – wine regions is hiding in plain sight

Donatella Cinelli Colombini could be your Italian grandmother. Affable, generous, and quick-witted, Colombini is the matriarch of Fattoria del Colle, her family estate in the almost unbelievably charming area of Tuscany’s Trequanda, replete with accommodations on an estate that dates back to the late 1500s, cooking classes, three pool, a spa, and an upscale-farmhouse restaurant. She also also oversees production of the Tuscan wine label that bears her name.

But Colombini has another job: in some ways, she’s trying to save the future of what the Consorzio del vino Orcia calls “the most beautiful wine in the world.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini

“The landscape here is a perfect harmony between history, man, and nature,” she remarks. “We have to preserve that. Every month, every wine producer here receives a call from a realtor asking them to sell.”

While you will almost certainly have heard of the winemaking gems of Montalcino and Montepulciano, you probably aren’t familiar with Orcia, the winemaking area that sits between them near Tuscany’s southern tip. The problem isn’t that Orcia’s twelve municipalities, formally recognized as a wine region in 2000, don’t make excellent wine; in many cases, Orcia’s reds rival those of its more famous neighbors, planted on vineyards that have been literally designed from the ground up for producing small quantities of high quality fine wine grapes, primarily Tuscany’s “native son” of Sangiovese. The problem is that Orcia is almost too amazing of a place in and of itself.

Thermal baths in Orcia

Orcia boats the kind of beauty that makes you think that you’ve stepped directly into a scene from Under the Tuscan Sun. Think sun-drenched hillsides lined with cypresses, dotted with tiny ancient towns like Pienza (housing a terracotta museum), terme thermal spas like those in S. Casciano dei Bagni and S. Quirico d’Orcia (yes, some of the spa treatments involve wine), and no shortage of gorgeous castle tower ruins along the routes between them all, replete with deep history and past political intrigue (the region once played host to the duke of Tuscany, who ordered the draining of the the valley in the 1700s to spur agricultural growth, but also used his time there to liase with his mistress). Orcia has seen travelers since the time of the Etruscans, and its castle and fortress ruins are a testament to the popularity of the routes within the area, where bandit attacks once were frequent. It has hosted religious pilgrims, popes, poets, archbishops, mercenaries, dukes, the Medici clan, and even Charlemagne. The landscape has remained relatively unchanged for the last four hundred years…

Vineyard views at Terre Senesi

Given its embarrassment of natural riches, it’s not surprising that Orcia now sees nearly one and half million tourists per year. Agritourism is big business in Orcia, where visitors can experience firsthand the direct connection to the land and the historical perspective of farmers who, as local winemaker Roberto Mascelloni puts it, “produced everything for themselves.” Most of the wine purveyors in Orcia also make boutique quantities of olive oil. You can find handmade pecorino cheese production (which dates back to prehistoric times in the area), such as that offered by the Podere Il Casale farm (yes, some of the cheeses involve wine grapes). Orcia boats a small but booming white truffle economy, which is the focus of lunch-and-tasting tours offered by winemakers and truffle hunters such as Loghis Farm’s Valentino Berni, who started farming truffles with his family’s pets when he was six (“I loved the relationship with the dogs” he notes, in a characteristically charming Tuscan way).

Truffles at Fattoria del Colle

Truffles are so important to the area that San Giovanni d’Asso has a small museum and an annual festival devoted entirely to the expensive subterranean mushroom. There are enough such quaint spots in Orcia to almost lose count of them all, and we haven’t even mentioned the stunning views available from the region’s various hillside medieval ruins, Orcia’s saffron production, its several art/culture festivals, or the area’s innumerable possibilities for biking and hiking tours.

Terme in Orcia

The main challenge facing the region’s wine producers is that, despite the high quality of their wines and their focus on organic, sustainable viticulture, Orcia’s status is the wine world hasn’t kept pace with its notability as a tourist destination. Orcia is dwarfed in this regard by Montalcino and Montepulciano, in terms of recognition and in availability; only about two hundred fifty thousand bottles of wine per year carry an Orcia designation on the label. Most of Orcia’s sixty wine producers are tiny in scope, and so are catering to tourism, local restaurants, and olive oil production to help them stay in financially in the black.

The irony is that Orcia’s success has garnered so much interest from businesses and the wealthy that one of its now key components – its excellent and diverse wine scene – is almost endangered. In many ways, Orcia’s wines are well deserving of the attention of any Italian wine lover; they offer authentic alternatives to the more ubiquitous (and too often industrialized) Chianti on one end, and to the pricey Montalcino on the other.

Ultimately, it’s the unique connection to Orcia’s land, foods, and people that can draw wine lovers in and, quite possibly, give you a new favorite go-to Tuscan sipper. “Each bottle,” notes Colombini, “gives you a story of this wonderful territory.” Here are a few of those stories.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini 2015 “Cenerentola” Rosso

The Cinderella of this wine’s name refers, in part, to the round-leafed grape Foglia Tonda, which makes up thirty-five percent of this blend (the rest being Sangiovese). For nearly a century, Foglia Tonda was all but abandoned in Tuscany, due its difficulty to ripen. Cinelli helped to lead a charge to bring the grape back, and there are now about twenty hectares of the grape planted. Cinelli describes this blend as “well-married,” and her take is spot-on. The Sangiovese brings delicate floral notes, tart dark cherry fruit flavors, and earthiness, while the Foglia Tonda adds unique brambly spice and black licorice tones.

Truffle hunting at Loghi

Loghi 2013 “Cinabro” Rosso

The fanciful name is an homage to Loghi Farm’s vineyard soils, on which the grapes for this Sangiovese and Colorino blend are grown. While much about Loghi’s production and truffle farming harken back to rustic times, this is a more modern take on Tuscan red wines. It sports plummy, juicy cherry fruit flavors, and aromas of orange peel, vanilla, and dried herbs. It’s fresh, vibrant, and almost sinewy in its powerful mouthfeel.

Sasso di Sole’s Roberto Terzuoli

Sasso di Sole 2016 Rosso

Sasso di Sole is in an enviable spot, even by Tuscan standards; not only do they have breathtaking views of their UNESCO area hillside vineyards, but their organically-farmed property overlaps the northeastern edge of Montalcino. This gives them the luxury of being able to use either the Montalcino or Orcia designation on their labels. In contrast to most of Orcia’s other producers, Sasso di Sole use their youngest vines and shortest wood aging period for their Orcia label, resulting in a supple, vibrant, tangy, and fruity Sangiovese that’s ready to drink now. The hints of tobacco spice and rose petals are an added bonus.

 Campotondo 2015 “Tavoleto”

This tiny outfit (producing only eight thousand bottles of wine per year) sits near an extinct volcano near the small hamlet of Campiglia d’Orcia. It’s helmed by Paolo Campotondo, who hand-tends Orcia’s only goblet-trained vineyards (a recommendation by the elderly locals, who recalled similar vine training systems used near mountains in France). The unique training helps to protect the vines, planted nearly five hundred meters above sea level, from the strong winds of the area, and helps to retain warmth from the soil and concentrate the grapes’ flavors. Paolo’s daughter Helena inspired his focus on organic farming principles: “my father says, ‘my daughter is the first consumer of my product, so I want it to be healthy!’” Uniquely, their Tavoleto is a white made entirely from Chardonnay, and it’s beguiling with flavor and aroma layers of peach, white flowers, tropical fruits, toast, wet stones, ripe yellow apples, and ginger spice.

 Campotondo 2013 “Il Toco”

One of the specialties of Campotondo is a focus on Tuscany’s indigenous red grape Colorino, which makes up ten percent of this blend with Sangiovese. This is a full-on, Brunello-style red, with dense black cherry fruit flavors, intense aromas of dried herbs, orange peel, wood and cigar spices, balsamic, and dried rose petals. You’ll want a healthy portion of wild boar ragu pasta to go with this.

Racing horses at Poggio Grande

Poggio Grande 2015 Syrah

Luca Zamperini seems to have a permanent smile etched onto his face, and you might, too, if you lived his life. His Poggio Grande winery started as a hobby seventeen years ago, and now produces twenty-five thousand bottles of wine per year. It includes sweeping views of the area near Ripa d’Orcia, and is the home to horses that run in Sienna’s famed and ancient Paleo race. Zamperini has a love of French Rhone wines, and so auspiciously decided to try out Syrah, which has taken splendidly to the Orcia climate and shows off the region’s diversity. Like Poggio Grande’s horses, there’s a tamed wildness to this focused and delicious wine, which is mineral, savory, plummy, and juicy, with hints of wild herbs and even game meat.

  Enrico Paolucci artwork at Podere Albiano

Podere Albiano 2011 “Tribolo” Sangiovese

 Alberto Turri and Anna Becheri moved from the banking and media worlds in Milan to a picturesque spot in the heart of Orcia’s terracotta country, producing wine, truffles, and twenty thousand bottles of wine per year (with whimsical labels designed by local artist Enrico Paolucci)as a labor of love. They make for an unassuming couple, who have very clear ideas of what they want from their wines, and the results are excellent. Their Tribolo Sangiovese is layered, supple, and sexy, but despite its modern appeal doesn’t lack for structure, vivacity, complexity, or precision.

   Capitoni amphorae

Capitoni 2016 “Troccolone” Sangiovese

From five hectares of hand-worked vines comes one of the most unique Sangiovese offerings that you’re likely to ever encounter. The Capitoni family ages this particular wine in the region’s famed terracotta amphorae, and using what they describe as “slow and low” fermentation (taking longer than normal, and at lower temperatures). The result is a rustic, intriguing take on the purity of Sangiovese, highlighting its bright, tart red-berry and cherry flavors, its vibrant texture, and its dark tobacco spice notes.

 Roberto Mascelloni shows a Foglia Tonda leaf in his vineyards

Mascelloni Family Estate 2015 “01” Sangiovese

The amiable Roberto Mascelloni is a stickler for old-school farming, producing spicy and herbal olive oil and organically farmed wines on his family estate in Castiglione d’Orcia. A former archer in a regional festival, “01” marks the last year that he won the archery tournament (“and then I retired”). This wine sports an intensely purple color for Sangiovese, and it strikes a great balance between that grape’s herbal, spicy, and rustic side, and its elegant, lively, and supple side.

Terre Senesi’s Antonio Rovito

Val d’Orcia Terre Senesi 2010 “Ripario” Rosso

Valdorcia Terre Senesi winery’s Antonio Rovito and Gabriella Ginetti seems to always be laughing at something. You’d be pretty happy too, if your daily view included stunning views of the Orcia gorge, Ripa d’Orcia woodland wildlife sanctuary, and Mount Amiata. Terre Senesi began with olive oil production in 1998, and started producing wine in 2010. Their Ripario is a Sangiovese blended with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, and aged in new French oak barrels. While the result is on the woody side, the wine has enough complexity in it black licorice and black cherry fruit flavors, dried herb and balsamic notes, and palate freshness to age well (and pair well with a good steak off the grill).

 Cheers!

Grab The 1WineDude.com Tasting Guide and start getting more out of every glass of wine today!

Shop Wine Products at Amazon.com

Copyright © 2016. Originally at Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia) from 1WineDude.com - for personal, non-commercial use only. Cheers! source http://www.1winedude.com/not-so-hidden-tuscany-spotlight-on-orcia/

[sommeliercourses]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia)

[ Editor’s note: here’s one more from the vault of pieces sent to a magazine that didbn’t publish it or pay me; I’m running it here so that it’s not lost to posterity. Enjoy! ]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany

One of Tuscany’s most dynamic – and endangered – wine regions is hiding in plain sight

Donatella Cinelli Colombini could be your Italian grandmother. Affable, generous, and quick-witted, Colombini is the matriarch of Fattoria del Colle, her family estate in the almost unbelievably charming area of Tuscany’s Trequanda, replete with accommodations on an estate that dates back to the late 1500s, cooking classes, three pool, a spa, and an upscale-farmhouse restaurant. She also also oversees production of the Tuscan wine label that bears her name.

But Colombini has another job: in some ways, she’s trying to save the future of what the Consorzio del vino Orcia calls “the most beautiful wine in the world.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini

“The landscape here is a perfect harmony between history, man, and nature,” she remarks. “We have to preserve that. Every month, every wine producer here receives a call from a realtor asking them to sell.”

While you will almost certainly have heard of the winemaking gems of Montalcino and Montepulciano, you probably aren’t familiar with Orcia, the winemaking area that sits between them near Tuscany’s southern tip. The problem isn’t that Orcia’s twelve municipalities, formally recognized as a wine region in 2000, don’t make excellent wine; in many cases, Orcia’s reds rival those of its more famous neighbors, planted on vineyards that have been literally designed from the ground up for producing small quantities of high quality fine wine grapes, primarily Tuscany’s “native son” of Sangiovese. The problem is that Orcia is almost too amazing of a place in and of itself.

Thermal baths in Orcia

Orcia boats the kind of beauty that makes you think that you’ve stepped directly into a scene from Under the Tuscan Sun. Think sun-drenched hillsides lined with cypresses, dotted with tiny ancient towns like Pienza (housing a terracotta museum), terme thermal spas like those in S. Casciano dei Bagni and S. Quirico d’Orcia (yes, some of the spa treatments involve wine), and no shortage of gorgeous castle tower ruins along the routes between them all, replete with deep history and past political intrigue (the region once played host to the duke of Tuscany, who ordered the draining of the the valley in the 1700s to spur agricultural growth, but also used his time there to liase with his mistress). Orcia has seen travelers since the time of the Etruscans, and its castle and fortress ruins are a testament to the popularity of the routes within the area, where bandit attacks once were frequent. It has hosted religious pilgrims, popes, poets, archbishops, mercenaries, dukes, the Medici clan, and even Charlemagne. The landscape has remained relatively unchanged for the last four hundred years…

Vineyard views at Terre Senesi

Given its embarrassment of natural riches, it’s not surprising that Orcia now sees nearly one and half million tourists per year. Agritourism is big business in Orcia, where visitors can experience firsthand the direct connection to the land and the historical perspective of farmers who, as local winemaker Roberto Mascelloni puts it, “produced everything for themselves.” Most of the wine purveyors in Orcia also make boutique quantities of olive oil. You can find handmade pecorino cheese production (which dates back to prehistoric times in the area), such as that offered by the Podere Il Casale farm (yes, some of the cheeses involve wine grapes). Orcia boats a small but booming white truffle economy, which is the focus of lunch-and-tasting tours offered by winemakers and truffle hunters such as Loghis Farm’s Valentino Berni, who started farming truffles with his family’s pets when he was six (“I loved the relationship with the dogs” he notes, in a characteristically charming Tuscan way).

Truffles at Fattoria del Colle

Truffles are so important to the area that San Giovanni d’Asso has a small museum and an annual festival devoted entirely to the expensive subterranean mushroom. There are enough such quaint spots in Orcia to almost lose count of them all, and we haven’t even mentioned the stunning views available from the region’s various hillside medieval ruins, Orcia’s saffron production, its several art/culture festivals, or the area’s innumerable possibilities for biking and hiking tours.

Terme in Orcia

The main challenge facing the region’s wine producers is that, despite the high quality of their wines and their focus on organic, sustainable viticulture, Orcia’s status is the wine world hasn’t kept pace with its notability as a tourist destination. Orcia is dwarfed in this regard by Montalcino and Montepulciano, in terms of recognition and in availability; only about two hundred fifty thousand bottles of wine per year carry an Orcia designation on the label. Most of Orcia’s sixty wine producers are tiny in scope, and so are catering to tourism, local restaurants, and olive oil production to help them stay in financially in the black.

The irony is that Orcia’s success has garnered so much interest from businesses and the wealthy that one of its now key components – its excellent and diverse wine scene – is almost endangered. In many ways, Orcia’s wines are well deserving of the attention of any Italian wine lover; they offer authentic alternatives to the more ubiquitous (and too often industrialized) Chianti on one end, and to the pricey Montalcino on the other.

Ultimately, it’s the unique connection to Orcia’s land, foods, and people that can draw wine lovers in and, quite possibly, give you a new favorite go-to Tuscan sipper. “Each bottle,” notes Colombini, “gives you a story of this wonderful territory.” Here are a few of those stories.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini 2015 “Cenerentola” Rosso

The Cinderella of this wine’s name refers, in part, to the round-leafed grape Foglia Tonda, which makes up thirty-five percent of this blend (the rest being Sangiovese). For nearly a century, Foglia Tonda was all but abandoned in Tuscany, due its difficulty to ripen. Cinelli helped to lead a charge to bring the grape back, and there are now about twenty hectares of the grape planted. Cinelli describes this blend as “well-married,” and her take is spot-on. The Sangiovese brings delicate floral notes, tart dark cherry fruit flavors, and earthiness, while the Foglia Tonda adds unique brambly spice and black licorice tones.

Truffle hunting at Loghi

Loghi 2013 “Cinabro” Rosso

The fanciful name is an homage to Loghi Farm’s vineyard soils, on which the grapes for this Sangiovese and Colorino blend are grown. While much about Loghi’s production and truffle farming harken back to rustic times, this is a more modern take on Tuscan red wines. It sports plummy, juicy cherry fruit flavors, and aromas of orange peel, vanilla, and dried herbs. It’s fresh, vibrant, and almost sinewy in its powerful mouthfeel.

Sasso di Sole’s Roberto Terzuoli

Sasso di Sole 2016 Rosso

Sasso di Sole is in an enviable spot, even by Tuscan standards; not only do they have breathtaking views of their UNESCO area hillside vineyards, but their organically-farmed property overlaps the northeastern edge of Montalcino. This gives them the luxury of being able to use either the Montalcino or Orcia designation on their labels. In contrast to most of Orcia’s other producers, Sasso di Sole use their youngest vines and shortest wood aging period for their Orcia label, resulting in a supple, vibrant, tangy, and fruity Sangiovese that’s ready to drink now. The hints of tobacco spice and rose petals are an added bonus.

Campotondo 2015 “Tavoleto”

This tiny outfit (producing only eight thousand bottles of wine per year) sits near an extinct volcano near the small hamlet of Campiglia d’Orcia. It’s helmed by Paolo Campotondo, who hand-tends Orcia’s only goblet-trained vineyards (a recommendation by the elderly locals, who recalled similar vine training systems used near mountains in France). The unique training helps to protect the vines, planted nearly five hundred meters above sea level, from the strong winds of the area, and helps to retain warmth from the soil and concentrate the grapes’ flavors. Paolo’s daughter Helena inspired his focus on organic farming principles: “my father says, ‘my daughter is the first consumer of my product, so I want it to be healthy!’” Uniquely, their Tavoleto is a white made entirely from Chardonnay, and it’s beguiling with flavor and aroma layers of peach, white flowers, tropical fruits, toast, wet stones, ripe yellow apples, and ginger spice.

Campotondo 2013 “Il Toco”

One of the specialties of Campotondo is a focus on Tuscany’s indigenous red grape Colorino, which makes up ten percent of this blend with Sangiovese. This is a full-on, Brunello-style red, with dense black cherry fruit flavors, intense aromas of dried herbs, orange peel, wood and cigar spices, balsamic, and dried rose petals. You’ll want a healthy portion of wild boar ragu pasta to go with this.

Racing horses at Poggio Grande

Poggio Grande 2015 Syrah

Luca Zamperini seems to have a permanent smile etched onto his face, and you might, too, if you lived his life. His Poggio Grande winery started as a hobby seventeen years ago, and now produces twenty-five thousand bottles of wine per year. It includes sweeping views of the area near Ripa d’Orcia, and is the home to horses that run in Sienna’s famed and ancient Paleo race. Zamperini has a love of French Rhone wines, and so auspiciously decided to try out Syrah, which has taken splendidly to the Orcia climate and shows off the region’s diversity. Like Poggio Grande’s horses, there’s a tamed wildness to this focused and delicious wine, which is mineral, savory, plummy, and juicy, with hints of wild herbs and even game meat.

  Enrico Paolucci artwork at Podere Albiano

Podere Albiano 2011 “Tribolo” Sangiovese

Alberto Turri and Anna Becheri moved from the banking and media worlds in Milan to a picturesque spot in the heart of Orcia’s terracotta country, producing wine, truffles, and twenty thousand bottles of wine per year (with whimsical labels designed by local artist Enrico Paolucci)as a labor of love. They make for an unassuming couple, who have very clear ideas of what they want from their wines, and the results are excellent. Their Tribolo Sangiovese is layered, supple, and sexy, but despite its modern appeal doesn’t lack for structure, vivacity, complexity, or precision.

  Capitoni amphorae

Capitoni 2016 “Troccolone” Sangiovese

From five hectares of hand-worked vines comes one of the most unique Sangiovese offerings that you’re likely to ever encounter. The Capitoni family ages this particular wine in the region’s famed terracotta amphorae, and using what they describe as “slow and low” fermentation (taking longer than normal, and at lower temperatures). The result is a rustic, intriguing take on the purity of Sangiovese, highlighting its bright, tart red-berry and cherry flavors, its vibrant texture, and its dark tobacco spice notes.

Roberto Mascelloni shows a Foglia Tonda leaf in his vineyards

Mascelloni Family Estate 2015 “01” Sangiovese

The amiable Roberto Mascelloni is a stickler for old-school farming, producing spicy and herbal olive oil and organically farmed wines on his family estate in Castiglione d’Orcia. A former archer in a regional festival, “01” marks the last year that he won the archery tournament (“and then I retired”). This wine sports an intensely purple color for Sangiovese, and it strikes a great balance between that grape’s herbal, spicy, and rustic side, and its elegant, lively, and supple side.

Terre Senesi’s Antonio Rovito

Val d’Orcia Terre Senesi 2010 “Ripario” Rosso

Valdorcia Terre Senesi winery’s Antonio Rovito and Gabriella Ginetti seems to always be laughing at something. You’d be pretty happy too, if your daily view included stunning views of the Orcia gorge, Ripa d’Orcia woodland wildlife sanctuary, and Mount Amiata. Terre Senesi began with olive oil production in 1998, and started producing wine in 2010. Their Ripario is a Sangiovese blended with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, and aged in new French oak barrels. While the result is on the woody side, the wine has enough complexity in it black licorice and black cherry fruit flavors, dried herb and balsamic notes, and palate freshness to age well (and pair well with a good steak off the grill).

Cheers!

Grab The 1WineDude.com Tasting Guide and start getting more out of every glass of wine today!

Shop Wine Products at Amazon.com

Copyright © 2016. Originally at Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia) from 1WineDude.com – for personal, non-commercial use only. Cheers! Source: http://www.1winedude.com/not-so-hidden-tuscany-spotlight-on-orcia/

from Linda Johnson https://meself84.wordpress.com/2018/11/14/not-so-hidden-tuscany-spotlight-on-orcia/

[static-pouring]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia)

[ Editor’s note: here’s one more from the vault of pieces sent to a magazine that didbn’t publish it or pay me; I’m running it here so that it’s not lost to posterity. Enjoy! ]

Not-So-Hidden Tuscany

One of Tuscany’s most dynamic – and endangered – wine regions is hiding in plain sight

Donatella Cinelli Colombini could be your Italian grandmother. Affable, generous, and quick-witted, Colombini is the matriarch of Fattoria del Colle, her family estate in the almost unbelievably charming area of Tuscany’s Trequanda, replete with accommodations on an estate that dates back to the late 1500s, cooking classes, three pool, a spa, and an upscale-farmhouse restaurant. She also also oversees production of the Tuscan wine label that bears her name.

But Colombini has another job: in some ways, she’s trying to save the future of what the Consorzio del vino Orcia calls “the most beautiful wine in the world.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini

“The landscape here is a perfect harmony between history, man, and nature,” she remarks. “We have to preserve that. Every month, every wine producer here receives a call from a realtor asking them to sell.”

While you will almost certainly have heard of the winemaking gems of Montalcino and Montepulciano, you probably aren’t familiar with Orcia, the winemaking area that sits between them near Tuscany’s southern tip. The problem isn’t that Orcia’s twelve municipalities, formally recognized as a wine region in 2000, don’t make excellent wine; in many cases, Orcia’s reds rival those of its more famous neighbors, planted on vineyards that have been literally designed from the ground up for producing small quantities of high quality fine wine grapes, primarily Tuscany’s “native son” of Sangiovese. The problem is that Orcia is almost too amazing of a place in and of itself.

Thermal baths in Orcia

Orcia boats the kind of beauty that makes you think that you’ve stepped directly into a scene from Under the Tuscan Sun. Think sun-drenched hillsides lined with cypresses, dotted with tiny ancient towns like Pienza (housing a terracotta museum), terme thermal spas like those in S. Casciano dei Bagni and S. Quirico d’Orcia (yes, some of the spa treatments involve wine), and no shortage of gorgeous castle tower ruins along the routes between them all, replete with deep history and past political intrigue (the region once played host to the duke of Tuscany, who ordered the draining of the the valley in the 1700s to spur agricultural growth, but also used his time there to liase with his mistress). Orcia has seen travelers since the time of the Etruscans, and its castle and fortress ruins are a testament to the popularity of the routes within the area, where bandit attacks once were frequent. It has hosted religious pilgrims, popes, poets, archbishops, mercenaries, dukes, the Medici clan, and even Charlemagne. The landscape has remained relatively unchanged for the last four hundred years…

Vineyard views at Terre Senesi

Given its embarrassment of natural riches, it’s not surprising that Orcia now sees nearly one and half million tourists per year. Agritourism is big business in Orcia, where visitors can experience firsthand the direct connection to the land and the historical perspective of farmers who, as local winemaker Roberto Mascelloni puts it, “produced everything for themselves.” Most of the wine purveyors in Orcia also make boutique quantities of olive oil. You can find handmade pecorino cheese production (which dates back to prehistoric times in the area), such as that offered by the Podere Il Casale farm (yes, some of the cheeses involve wine grapes). Orcia boats a small but booming white truffle economy, which is the focus of lunch-and-tasting tours offered by winemakers and truffle hunters such as Loghis Farm’s Valentino Berni, who started farming truffles with his family’s pets when he was six (“I loved the relationship with the dogs” he notes, in a characteristically charming Tuscan way).

Truffles at Fattoria del Colle

Truffles are so important to the area that San Giovanni d’Asso has a small museum and an annual festival devoted entirely to the expensive subterranean mushroom. There are enough such quaint spots in Orcia to almost lose count of them all, and we haven’t even mentioned the stunning views available from the region’s various hillside medieval ruins, Orcia’s saffron production, its several art/culture festivals, or the area’s innumerable possibilities for biking and hiking tours.

Terme in Orcia

The main challenge facing the region’s wine producers is that, despite the high quality of their wines and their focus on organic, sustainable viticulture, Orcia’s status is the wine world hasn’t kept pace with its notability as a tourist destination. Orcia is dwarfed in this regard by Montalcino and Montepulciano, in terms of recognition and in availability; only about two hundred fifty thousand bottles of wine per year carry an Orcia designation on the label. Most of Orcia’s sixty wine producers are tiny in scope, and so are catering to tourism, local restaurants, and olive oil production to help them stay in financially in the black.

The irony is that Orcia’s success has garnered so much interest from businesses and the wealthy that one of its now key components – its excellent and diverse wine scene – is almost endangered. In many ways, Orcia’s wines are well deserving of the attention of any Italian wine lover; they offer authentic alternatives to the more ubiquitous (and too often industrialized) Chianti on one end, and to the pricey Montalcino on the other.

Ultimately, it’s the unique connection to Orcia’s land, foods, and people that can draw wine lovers in and, quite possibly, give you a new favorite go-to Tuscan sipper. “Each bottle,” notes Colombini, “gives you a story of this wonderful territory.” Here are a few of those stories.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini 2015 “Cenerentola” Rosso

The Cinderella of this wine’s name refers, in part, to the round-leafed grape Foglia Tonda, which makes up thirty-five percent of this blend (the rest being Sangiovese). For nearly a century, Foglia Tonda was all but abandoned in Tuscany, due its difficulty to ripen. Cinelli helped to lead a charge to bring the grape back, and there are now about twenty hectares of the grape planted. Cinelli describes this blend as “well-married,” and her take is spot-on. The Sangiovese brings delicate floral notes, tart dark cherry fruit flavors, and earthiness, while the Foglia Tonda adds unique brambly spice and black licorice tones.

Truffle hunting at Loghi

Loghi 2013 “Cinabro” Rosso

The fanciful name is an homage to Loghi Farm’s vineyard soils, on which the grapes for this Sangiovese and Colorino blend are grown. While much about Loghi’s production and truffle farming harken back to rustic times, this is a more modern take on Tuscan red wines. It sports plummy, juicy cherry fruit flavors, and aromas of orange peel, vanilla, and dried herbs. It’s fresh, vibrant, and almost sinewy in its powerful mouthfeel.

Sasso di Sole’s Roberto Terzuoli

Sasso di Sole 2016 Rosso

Sasso di Sole is in an enviable spot, even by Tuscan standards; not only do they have breathtaking views of their UNESCO area hillside vineyards, but their organically-farmed property overlaps the northeastern edge of Montalcino. This gives them the luxury of being able to use either the Montalcino or Orcia designation on their labels. In contrast to most of Orcia’s other producers, Sasso di Sole use their youngest vines and shortest wood aging period for their Orcia label, resulting in a supple, vibrant, tangy, and fruity Sangiovese that’s ready to drink now. The hints of tobacco spice and rose petals are an added bonus.

Campotondo 2015 “Tavoleto”

This tiny outfit (producing only eight thousand bottles of wine per year) sits near an extinct volcano near the small hamlet of Campiglia d’Orcia. It’s helmed by Paolo Campotondo, who hand-tends Orcia’s only goblet-trained vineyards (a recommendation by the elderly locals, who recalled similar vine training systems used near mountains in France). The unique training helps to protect the vines, planted nearly five hundred meters above sea level, from the strong winds of the area, and helps to retain warmth from the soil and concentrate the grapes’ flavors. Paolo’s daughter Helena inspired his focus on organic farming principles: “my father says, ‘my daughter is the first consumer of my product, so I want it to be healthy!’” Uniquely, their Tavoleto is a white made entirely from Chardonnay, and it’s beguiling with flavor and aroma layers of peach, white flowers, tropical fruits, toast, wet stones, ripe yellow apples, and ginger spice.

Campotondo 2013 “Il Toco”

One of the specialties of Campotondo is a focus on Tuscany’s indigenous red grape Colorino, which makes up ten percent of this blend with Sangiovese. This is a full-on, Brunello-style red, with dense black cherry fruit flavors, intense aromas of dried herbs, orange peel, wood and cigar spices, balsamic, and dried rose petals. You’ll want a healthy portion of wild boar ragu pasta to go with this.

Racing horses at Poggio Grande

Poggio Grande 2015 Syrah

Luca Zamperini seems to have a permanent smile etched onto his face, and you might, too, if you lived his life. His Poggio Grande winery started as a hobby seventeen years ago, and now produces twenty-five thousand bottles of wine per year. It includes sweeping views of the area near Ripa d’Orcia, and is the home to horses that run in Sienna’s famed and ancient Paleo race. Zamperini has a love of French Rhone wines, and so auspiciously decided to try out Syrah, which has taken splendidly to the Orcia climate and shows off the region’s diversity. Like Poggio Grande’s horses, there’s a tamed wildness to this focused and delicious wine, which is mineral, savory, plummy, and juicy, with hints of wild herbs and even game meat.

  Enrico Paolucci artwork at Podere Albiano

Podere Albiano 2011 “Tribolo” Sangiovese

Alberto Turri and Anna Becheri moved from the banking and media worlds in Milan to a picturesque spot in the heart of Orcia’s terracotta country, producing wine, truffles, and twenty thousand bottles of wine per year (with whimsical labels designed by local artist Enrico Paolucci)as a labor of love. They make for an unassuming couple, who have very clear ideas of what they want from their wines, and the results are excellent. Their Tribolo Sangiovese is layered, supple, and sexy, but despite its modern appeal doesn’t lack for structure, vivacity, complexity, or precision.

  Capitoni amphorae

Capitoni 2016 “Troccolone” Sangiovese

From five hectares of hand-worked vines comes one of the most unique Sangiovese offerings that you’re likely to ever encounter. The Capitoni family ages this particular wine in the region’s famed terracotta amphorae, and using what they describe as “slow and low” fermentation (taking longer than normal, and at lower temperatures). The result is a rustic, intriguing take on the purity of Sangiovese, highlighting its bright, tart red-berry and cherry flavors, its vibrant texture, and its dark tobacco spice notes.

Roberto Mascelloni shows a Foglia Tonda leaf in his vineyards

Mascelloni Family Estate 2015 “01” Sangiovese

The amiable Roberto Mascelloni is a stickler for old-school farming, producing spicy and herbal olive oil and organically farmed wines on his family estate in Castiglione d’Orcia. A former archer in a regional festival, “01” marks the last year that he won the archery tournament (“and then I retired”). This wine sports an intensely purple color for Sangiovese, and it strikes a great balance between that grape’s herbal, spicy, and rustic side, and its elegant, lively, and supple side.

Terre Senesi’s Antonio Rovito

Val d’Orcia Terre Senesi 2010 “Ripario” Rosso

Valdorcia Terre Senesi winery’s Antonio Rovito and Gabriella Ginetti seems to always be laughing at something. You’d be pretty happy too, if your daily view included stunning views of the Orcia gorge, Ripa d’Orcia woodland wildlife sanctuary, and Mount Amiata. Terre Senesi began with olive oil production in 1998, and started producing wine in 2010. Their Ripario is a Sangiovese blended with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, and aged in new French oak barrels. While the result is on the woody side, the wine has enough complexity in it black licorice and black cherry fruit flavors, dried herb and balsamic notes, and palate freshness to age well (and pair well with a good steak off the grill).

Cheers!

Grab The 1WineDude.com Tasting Guide and start getting more out of every glass of wine today!

Shop Wine Products at Amazon.com

Copyright © 2016. Originally at Not-So-Hidden Tuscany (Spotlight On Orcia) from 1WineDude.com - for personal, non-commercial use only. Cheers! Source: http://www.1winedude.com/not-so-hidden-tuscany-spotlight-on-orcia/

[elmartillosinmetre]

Mi crítica del concierto del Cuarteto Quiroga y Javier Perianes anoche en el Patio de los Mármoles del Hospital Real de Granada.

[elmartillosinmetre]

Retratos de la vida de palacio

[El Cuarteto Quiroga homenajea con su último disco a Goya y el Museo del Prado]

El Cuarteto Quiroga homenajea al Museo del Prado sumergiéndose de lleno en el mundo de las versiones historicistas con una grabación que se acerca al Madrid de finales del siglo XVIII

Entre las actividades que el Museo del Prado viene ofreciendo con motivo del bicentenario de su inauguración, figura la música, por más que la institución parezca esconderla, pues los conciertos celebrados en sus salas (y los por celebrar) son difíciles de encontrar en su web.

El aclamado Cuarteto Quiroga estuvo en el Prado, y su última grabación para el sello Cobra se planteó como parte de esas celebraciones. El conjunto se fue unos años atrás, al encuentro del pintor posiblemente mejor representado en la pinacoteca, Francisco de Goya. Y por eso tocó en la sala en la que se exhibe La familia de Carlos IV e imaginó el universo sonoro de los palacios que el artista aragonés frecuentó, e incluso los contactos que tuvo con los grandes compositores que pasaron por el Madrid de finales del siglo XVIII.

Lo dice bien Miguel Ángel Marín en sus notas al CD: “El retrato era a la pintura lo que el cuarteto a la música, géneros gestados en la intimidad que dotaban de una posición exclusiva a quien los encargaba”. Músicas domésticas, íntimas, cortesanas, que en las grandes capitales europeas que a finales del XVIII disponían de ciclos de conciertos públicos de abono (especialmente, París y Londres) empezaron a salir de los palacios de la realeza y de la aristocracia. Eso no ocurrió aún en Madrid, pese a lo cual, el relato sobre el peso que la música de cámara tuvo en la capital española está siendo seriamente revisado al alza por la moderna musicología. No menos de 200 cuartetos de cuerda fueron escritos en el entorno madrileño en el período clásico, y algunos son auténticas obras maestras.

El Quiroga escogió cuatro de cuatro compositores diferentes y montó cuerdas de tripa en sus instrumentos, a la manera de los músicos historicistas, para esta grabación realizada en Bélgica en diciembre pasado. La mitad de estas cuatro obras no se habían grabado nunca con anterioridad, a pesar de pertenecer a los dos compositores más conocidos: se trata del Cuarteto en mi bemol mayor Op.24 nº3 de Luigi Boccherini y del Cuarteto en si bemol mayor L.185 de Gaetano Brunetti.

La obra de Boccherini está datada en 1776 en el tiempo en que el compositor estuvo al servicio del infante don Luis, para quien también trabajó Goya. De hecho la portada del disco recoge un retrato de Goya de la familia del infante realizado en 1783 o 1784 que se encuentra hoy en la colección de la Fundación Magnani-Rocca, cerca de Parma, y en el que posiblemente esté representado el propio Boccherini (se ha identificado como el personaje de la casaca roja).

[La familia del infante don Luis por Goya. Boccherini es posiblemente el personaje de la casaca roja]

La obra de Brunetti se ha datado en torno a 1785, cuando el músico era compositor de cámara del príncipe de Asturias, el futuro Carlos IV, gran melómano y violinista al parecer muy notable. Es casi seguro que Goya se cruzó en la corte con Brunetti, como haría con otro músico de origen portugués que trabajó también para la corte, Joao Pedro de Almeida Mota, maestro de música en el Real Colegio de Cantores desde 1793 y cuyo Cuarteto Op.6 nº2 es la obra más tardía de las que se incluyen en este CD, pues se piensa compuesta en torno a 1808.

Fuera de la corte, pero muy cercano también al mundo goyesco, se movió el compositor toledano Manuel Canales, protegido de Fernando de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, XII Duque de Alba y destinatario de las dos series de seis cuartetos que Canales produjo en los años 70, habitualmente consideradas las primeras muestras del género escritas por un músico nacido en España, y de las que forma parte el Op.3 nº5 que se incluye en este CD.

Formalmente las obras del disco responden a dos modelos: las de Boccherini y Brunetti son piezas en tres tiempos que siguen las maneras italianas, mientras que los otros dos cuartetos tienen los cuatro movimientos habituales de los cuartetos vieneses, establecidos en buena medida gracias a la obra de Haydn y cuya tradición acabó triunfando a través de Mozart y, sobre todo, Beethoven, a lo largo de todo el siglo XIX, tanto en la obra de los compositores románticos como en la apreciación de la musicología centroeuropea, responsable en buena medida de la creación del canon clásico que hoy sigue dominando el mundo de programadores y aficionados.

Por suerte, este repertorio ya no es infrecuente en festivales, salas y grabaciones. Ahora el registro del Quiroga, cuarteto de fama internacional, Premio Nacional de Música 2018, lo hará aún más accesible a todo el mundo.

[Diario de Sevilla. 1-07-2019]

EL CD EN SPOTIFY

[elmartillosinmetre]

El cuerpo de doctrina que mejor interioricé en BUP fue el de Catalina, la profesora de filosofía.