Cupano

Andrea Cupano credits the success of their 2001 to the natural selection that took place in the vineyards as a result of the spring frost, followed by the balanced growing season of warm days and cool nights that followed. This incredibly pretty wine was fermented with indigenous yeasts and without any temperature control, then matured completely in 100% new 228-liter French oak. After tasting the 2001 Brunello di Montalcino you would be hard-pressed to fault the Cupano winery for their international style. Today, instead, Cupano has reduced the use of new barrels to around 25% and has changed the work in the vineyards to help alleviate the effects of global warming. This is the second vintage, with 900 bottles produced.

Cupano, who is proudly part of the younger generation that has taken hold in Montalcino, spoke about how saddening it has been to lose such prominent figures as Gianfranco Soldera, Piero Palmucci, Diego Molinari, Franco Biondi Santi and Giulio Gambelli. He also left me with this insightful quote when asked about how Montalcino has changed in the last twenty years, “The wines are technically better than they were before but a lot of them have renounced their ambition on the altar of the ratings.” Cupano is a winery that has had the courage to continue to be different.