2017 Brunello di Montalcino

This is not the Argiano of yesteryear. Bernardino Sani and his team at Argiano have an open-minded approach and are totally rethinking what makes the southern terroir around Sant'Angelo in Colle different from the rest of Montalcino. They are revamping the cellars, mixing tradition with modern-day standards of cleanliness and purity. Clonal selection, replanting and soil studies, bringing in geologist Pedro Parra to understand how to make the best use of their vineyards. It’s hard to recognize today's wines from what this winery was producing twenty years ago, which was re-emphasized through a tasting at the winery this past July of 2021. We went through the fully traditional wines of the seventies, then jumped to the “dark days'' of the nineties, took a quick pit stop at 2008, and then went on to explore the steady evolution that has taken place here in the more recent vintages, ending with the 2017. Bernardino Sani explained that, a decade ago, they would have suffered severely through such a warm and dry year. The difference today is in the organic practices, biodiversity amongst the vineyards, limited leaf-thinning (which is becoming much more common in Montalcino these days), and the use of a natural white clay called “caolino” (which is sprayed on the vines to protect them from the sun). Even still, the vintage resulted in a significant loss of 35%, as well as the decision to use the fruit from Vigna del Suolo to bolster the Brunello. What’s more, selected yeast needed to be used to control fermentation and prevent alcohol levels from rising too high, as well as a gentler approach to oak aging. Limiting the amount of oak is a common trend you’ll find with many of the more successful wines from Montalcino in 2017, as the wood tannins combined with the tannins and concentration of the fruit can result in a cloying and painful expression. In the end, the 2017 may not be a classic Argiano Brunello, but it sure is a pleasure to taste. Also of note is the 2016 Riserva, which I was very happy to see back to form after the odd performance I found from the 2015 last year. The Riserva here is a vineyard selection of fruit that refines for two years in 1,500-liter Garbellotto casks, and then further ages in bottle until release, which really allows you to experience the quality of fruit (not wood) that this estate can offer. While I’m not quite ready to say that Argiano is the most improved estate in Montalcino over the last ten years, they are certainly in the running for that title.