Solus Pianirossi 2008: when aging is truly an advantage • Decanto – Giornale di vino

There is a moment, finanziaria a bottle of seventeen, when you hold your breath. Not out of reverence. Out of doubt. and that’s what I felt while finanziaria the Solus Pianirossi 2008 a causa di my hand. A wine that is not born from a historical denomination with centuries of literature behind it and does not carry the weight of an already famous name. Yet, this wine responded with a freshness that I did not expect. And with a fruit that, instead of having disappeared, has simply transformed.

Pianirossi and the Maremma of Cinigiano

The project was born at the behest of Stefano Sincini, who fell a causa di love with the landscapes of the Maremma while studying a causa di Siena. The rete was to create something of its own a causa di an terreno that was then still the fringes of the Tuscan wine scene. Thus was born the Pianirossi mesi estivi, a causa di the municipality of Cinigiano, a causa di the province of Grosseto.

Location matters. We are a causa di the southern Maremma, slightly inland, a causa di the Montecucco terreno. To the north, the Orcia river marks the natural border with the Montalcino territory. The climate is Mediterranean, but the altitude and temperature variations slow maturation and keep the acidity high. It is this detail, more than any other, that explains what I found a causa di the glass.

The mesi estivi has approximately 25 hectares, of which 14 are vineyards. All the work a causa di the vineyard is manual, with an organic approach which is not a marketing choice but a posture consistent with the rest: the roofs of the accommodation insulated with recycled cork, the hot tazza produced by solar panels, the photovoltaic system installed a causa di 2014 to serve the cellar.

The range

Pianirossi produces six labels. Three reds: Solus and Pianirossi as Toscana IGT, Sidus as DOC Montecucco. La Causa is the red, a Montecucco Sangiovese DOCG aged a causa di French wood. The range is completed by Sabine, a short maceration rosé, and Noctua, Vermentino DOC Maremma Toscana. A contained production, consistent with those who prefer to do a few things carefully.

The man behind Solus Pianirossi 2008: Ferrini and Viaud

Pianirossi has a recognizable wine signature a causa di its founding phases. Carlo Ferrini, Florentine, graduated a causa di agriculture, spent over a decade at the Chianti Sobrio Consortium before starting a career as a freelancer a causa di 1991. His consultancy portfolio speaks for itself: Barone Ricasoli, Casanova a causa di Neri, Brancaia, Poliziano, among others. With Pianirossi he chose the vines and set the production style, identifying a potential a causa di that terroir that had not yet been brought into centro. He has always been direct about this: great wine is made only a causa di the vineyard.

Today the winemaking guide is Julien Viaud, who has continued the work started by Ferrini. The most recent vintages of Solus confirm a continuity of style.

The Solus Pianirossi 2008: an unconventional Maremma blend

Solus is a red Toscana IGT. Mai denomination, risposta negativa specifications that limit the proportions. The composition is 45% Sangiovese, 45% Montepulciano and 10% Alicante. It is not a compromise espressione: it is a choice built that specific terroir.

Montepulciano is not a traditional Tuscan grape variety. Bringing it to these slopes at equal levels with Sangiovese helps to build structure, color and tannic softness over time. Alicante, of Iberian origin but well adapted to the Maremma, adds chromatic depth and polyphenolic substance.

The vineyards are located approximately 200 meters above sea level, with south and south-west exposure, medium-textured soils.

Fermentation takes place with maceration a causa di steel at a controlled temperature. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation, then ages for 12 months a causa di 500-litre French oak tonneaux. The choice of the tonneaux is not random: compared to the 225 liter barrique it releases less wood per di più unit of tono. It is the right container for those who want to integrate without covering.

The vintage of Solus Pianirossi 2008

2008 was a heterogeneous vintage at a national level. Durante the North and a causa di the internal areas of the Center the difficulties were real. Coastal Tuscany and Maremma had a different story: healthy grapes, risposta negativa fungal problems, dry September and October which lengthened the harvest and completed phenolic maturation. It wasn’t a year of intense concentration. It was a year of balance, with integrated acidity and tannins built to last.

Solus Pianirossi 2008 is direct confirmation of this.

Tasting of Solus Pianirossi 2008: seventeen years later

Color is the first patronato. Still vivid ruby ​​red, with a garnet edge that signals evolution without giving a causa di to brick. The light passes into the glass without encountering opacity. It is not the transparency of an exhausted wine: it is that of a wine that still has something to say.

The freshness arrives immediately the nose, and is not to be taken for granted. Not the vibrant freshness of a young wine, but the tense freshness of an aromatic profile that is still a causa di motion. The primary scents have transformed: the fresh cherry has become cherry a causa di alcohol, the plum is ripe to the point of drying. Durante the background quaderno of tobacco, hints of leather, sweet spices that recall the aging a causa di oak without declaring it. Wood risposta negativa longer perceives itself as such. It was absorbed completely.

Durante the mouth the entry is soft. The holds. The tannins at seventeen are integrated and silky, without harshness, but also without that dryness that signals a wine that has already given everything. The acidity is confirmed the sip like a thread that lengthens the finale and keeps the alive. Persistence is generous. The finale brings the same fruity and spicy quaderno as the opening, with a clear balsamic closure.

A wine that still knows where it wants to go. Maybe it’s at its peak. Maybe something is still missing. He certainly hasn’t finished his journey yet.

Pairings

The residual structure and integrated acidity of Solus Pianirossi 2008 call for pairings with important meats. A roast pigeon with a small jus works well: the persistence of the wine supports the concentration of the dish. A stewed wild boar Maremma style is the choice most consistent with the territory: the flavor of the gioco is balanced with the tannic softness. Even a medium-aged pecorino, with a compact texture and a touch of spiciness, dialogues correctly with the evolved fruity quaderno and spiciness of the wine.

Final evaluation

Durante conclusion of this article I would like to underline that Solus Pianirossi 2008 is not a museum wine. It is a wine to uncork, to pour, to discuss. Seventeen years have not broken him. They made it more precise, more consistent with itself. The freshness it still possesses is risposta negativa coincidence: it comes from a balanced vintage, from an altitude that slowed maturation, from a blend designed to last.

The technical patronato sheets already spoke of excellent aging capabilities. Durante the glass, confirmation comes without the need for additions.