I KNOW....you must be thinking, gene is at it again with his Italian bias. Well, as Woody Allan would say, "yes" and "no". We actually were to have focused on an Amarone for August, in honor of Brad Pitt and Angela Jolie's new purchase of a villa in the Valpolacella (not really) but when it arrived the vintage was the WRONG vintage. Plan B..go south my son...to Tuscany and one of the premier producers of sangiovese based ones, Il Poggione. The Gold Level will receive the Brunello 2005 Riserva, while the Silver group will enjoy the regular but limited bottling of the the Brunello. And the Bronze collection will receive two "baby" brunellos, rosso di montelcino wines. In the coming months we will be focusing on the super premium California and Oregon releases, but don't be surprised if you find a "Super Aussie" Shiraz in your fall collection. As they guy on the tv intoned..."Stay thirsty my friends."

In 1890 the Franceschi family purchased the Il Poggione estate in Sant’ Angelo in Colle in the commune of Montalcino in the province of Siena. In this area a cool maritime breeze from the southwest insures excellent ventilation and cool evenings and nights. Here Sangiovese Grosso reaches its maximum ripeness giving fuller and richer wines than anywhere else in Tuscany. The Estate covers 3,460 acres, of which 92 acres are planted to Brunello. Quality control is optimal at Il Poggione. The first control is the careful grape selection in the vineyard, the second immediately after the wine is made and the third in the Spring after fermentation to decide which wine will become Brunello and which will be sold as Rosso di Montalcino. Both wines start out the same but the wine usually destined to be Brunello is produced from the older Sangiovese Grosso vines and is required to be aged a minimal 36 months in Slavonian oak casks and four months in bottle for a total of four years aging, additionally with five years of aging the wine may be labeled Riserva. The wines that will be sold as Rosso di Montalcino is mostly produced from the younger vines then aged for two years in Slavonian Oak casks and released for sale.