Two wines, poles apart in style and yet share a common factor: Greatness!

Very rarely have I tasted a wine and felt rooted to the spot and filled with excitement.

I recall the first time I tasted this wine, I was with my good friend Marco Molesini, we were guests of the Consorzio at Benvenuto Brunello in Montalcino where the 2006 vintage was released.

It was the third wine I tasted that morning. The following day I ordered 12 bottles: not an easy wine to purchase, but I was relentless in my quest!

The bottle you see in the photo was my last of those twelve. And it still was as fresh and appealing as it had been over the past years.The purity of flavours was compelling.

My tasting notes for this monumental wine are below.

Salvioni Brunello di Montalcino 2006

Intense ruby red in colour. Super expressive bouquet of red rose, dark fruits, liquorice, leather and balsam notes. Has aged with grace, now fully integrated, glimpses of youthful energy now more restrained. The balance that I recall from our first encounter was still holding. The mid palate opened introducing spice nuances and a puff of smoke, here the wine gathered itself for its final swan song; showing a body sculpted by the school of Michelangelo, exudes charm and poise and imparts the knowledge that something quite extraordinary has occurred to your palate. The finish displays emotion and tenderness of dear old friends parting for the very last time.

Points 99/100 TW

Introduction to the other "Wine of Greatness":

Tenuta di Trinoro IGT Toscana Rosso 2017

This is an extraordinary wine for the "wine student," showing

the genius of Andrea Franchetti, tragically taken from us in December 2021, aged 72 years.

The wine is not near the phenomenal wines of extraordinary beauty created by Andrea, but it shows in crystal clear clarity the problems beset the winemaker in 2017 and how he overcame a truly difficult vintage to produce a wine of honesty and great integrity.

The 2017 weather report:

Winter hardly saw any precipitation, almost bereft of rain. Spring: early frosts at bud break.

Summer, temperatures exceeding all normal averages, constantly finishing above 40C, with little or no rain in soaring temperatures month after month. At harvest the berries were small, thick skinned and contained hardly any juice.

The wines were inky black in colour, dense, dark and inward looking. The tannins had an unusual green note, probably due to drought stress. This shows itself in the wine as a counter point to the ripeness of the fruit, although amazingly creates a substructure that involves the further creation of balance. This is where a great winemaker will go to the vineyards and select from known vines the best berries at the optimum time. Looking for plots that have, in the past, given deep and full bodied wines, with silky tannins, good concentration and compact texture.

The chosen berries were vinified separately for alcohol fermentation for 13 days in stainless steel tanks. Refined in new French barriques for 8 months, then 11 months in cement vats.

Vintage facts:

Vines age 25 years. Density 10,000 plants per hectare. Altitude 450/600 Mt asl. Production 7,000 bottles.

Tenuta di Trinoro IGT Toscana Rosso 2017

Cabernet Franc 69% Merlot 23% Cabernet Sauvignon 8%

A shade below inky black in colour.The aromatics show a concentration of black dried fruits, balsam, dry leather and dried Mediterranean herbs. On entry, faint warm notes of alcohol, tight, powerful, close knit tannins, potent dense texture. Terrific persistence. The mid palate shows a solid rich core of dark fruits vying with solid tannins and crunchy acidity for overall control: the fruit will eventually win this tussle and the wine will be the better for it. Linear long finish.

Points 95 TW

© Tony Wood Italian Wine 2022