DEAR READER,
Sometimes you all make me so proud with your questions. Yes! —even I, the one and only Sommelier Ferdinand, can learn from you keyboard clackers. Here is such a question I received over the last week:
Dear Sommelier Ferdinand,
I live in Los Angeles, and once a year me and my parents take a flight to the Napa wineries. Tradition is comforting, but I’m looking to explore wines of a new terroir. I’ve talked my stiff old parents into flying to Europe next year, maybe Italy—but they don’t want to go to some “tourist trap”. Where can I find some fine wine over in Italy, sommelier?
-Gertrude
Good afternoon, Gertrude! It’s wonderful to have globally minded readers among my mailing list. Truly, questions like yours—and unlike the one from last week—are why I love doing this. Adventure in your heart + wine in your esophagus = a lifetime of joy.
So, you’ve seen the sights of Napa, ah? You think you’re ready to cross the pond, drink out of the little boot on the Mediterranean? Fine Italian wine isn’t the same as Napa; you and your kin are in for quite the treat! Might I recommend a mighty Italian red for you?
AltiWineExchange just added the IOsono Donatella Brunello di Montalcino 2013, and it is an elegant bottle for sure. With few produced, this red is fresh, complex, and very rare. The IOsono Donatella Brunello di Montalcino 2013 is a testament to the gorgeous vineyards of Montalcino. Tuscany might be the more well-known Italian city—but Montalcino has luscious, aristocratic wines for anyone interested.
In my years, I’ve come to appreciate the close eye and tremendous dedication of winery owners, and I’ve been particularly impressed by the story behind the IOsono Donatella Brunello. This may surprise any non-Italian speakers (certainly you Americans), but IOsono Donatella is headed by a wine producer named Donatella, at her estate, Donatella Cinelli Colombini. This sommelier appreciates meaningful namesakes, and I just admire Donatella’s role as a leading woman-in-wine. Surely there will be a wine estate, let alone dozens of tender red wines, named after Ferdinand one day, yes?
The answer is ‘yes’, we both know—but if you’re looking for fine Italian wines, the IOsono Donatella Brunello di Montalcino is the finest out there. I bring up this bottle because you don’t necessarily have to travel for it. You can have a bottle sent to you and experience the Mediterranean climate from a glass bottle.
-Sommelier Ferdinand. 27.10.21
Check out the IOsono Donatella Brunello di Montalcino 2013