Col D’Orcia
Several years ago, my wife and I spent some time in Montalcino. We were traveling around Italy with some friends and they had asked if we could visit some wineries while we were in Tuscany. I contacted a friend of mine; she’s the export manager for Col d’Orcia Winery and had been inviting me to visit the winery for years. Paola arranged a tour and tasting at the winery, along with a luncheon at a local restaurant overlooking the vineyard for our group.
The day we arrived, the weather was a perfect fall day; the drive up to the vineyard featured the foliage changing colors with the bright sunshine cascading down on the gold, yellow and orange leaves of the vines. Both sides of the road we were traveling on had signs for Col d’Orcia marking their vineyards. I never realized how much land Col d’Orcia owned. Our arrival at the vineyard was right on time, we were escorted into a tasting room with a beautiful table with all the wines we were to taste lined up and ready for our tasting.
Paola was traveling at the time and was not able to taste us herself, she left us in the hands of her capable assistant, who was quite impressive in his knowledge of the winery, it’s history and it’s wines. Our tasting included a surprise visit by Count Francesco Cinzano, who spent some time with us discussing the traditions of Brunello, along with his property in Chile which is producing a world class cabernet called Erasmo. Our tasting started with some of the wineries simpler wines, which are produced for everyday consumption, and finished with their flagship, Poggio al Vento Riserva Brunello. Our tasting was superb, the wines were all showing wonderfully, Col d’Orcia was one of the only wineries to produce a 2002 Riserva Brunello, the vintage was an extremely difficult one for most producers, which resulted in them declassifying their wine and selling it as Rosso di Montalcino.
I’ve tried to model my Italian Restaurant after the wineries in Italy, it never ceases to amaze me at the attention the wineries give to their guests. They always make you feel so special, you feel as though there is nothing more important than your visit while you are there. The Count is a charming man with an infectious smile and he always is so welcoming when I visit their booth at Vin Italy. It was a special treat to see him in his element; his winery was as impeccable as I expected it to be. The grounds were beautiful, the gardens and attention to detail throughout the winery portrayed a passion and pride that Italians are famous for.
After many good-byes, we were off to lunch at a small restaurant overlooking their vineyards. We arrived and the staff was awaiting our arrival. To sum up our meal in a few sentences, the food was exceptional; the chestnut pasta left us speechless. The entrée of braised wild boar and roast potatoes paired perfectly with the Poggio al Vento Brunello. Our friends were literally in awe; they spent the next two days thanking me for taking them to Col d’Orcia. It was a little awkward, I explained to them that I only made a phone call and sent a couple of e-mails. We still reminisce over our meal, I’ve actually recreated the chestnut gnocchi at a dinner I put on one night at Varano’s, I have to say it came out as good as I remember my meal in Tuscany.
You don’t need to travel to Tuscany to experience a great bottle of Col d’Orcia; we carry several of their wines on our list at Varano’s and are trying to expand our choices. Not all of their wines are available in Maine, with a little luck, we’ll be able to procure a few more labels and offer a nice selection of Col d’Orcia wines.
Dick Varano
One Comment to “Col D’Orcia”
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Thanks for the great info dog I owe you bigtime.