Siro Pacenti
The estate is in fact made up of two separate estates - one to the north of Montalcino at Pelagrilli and planted by Giancarlo's grandfather in 1970 and the other an earlier 1960s planting in the south of Montalcino at Piancornello. Despite this relatively long history in the area (compared to many newcomers), it was not until Giancarlo arrived on the scene in the 1980s that the wines started to be made with a clear quality vision in mind. Almost immediately they attracted the attention of the world's wine press (something that has never waned) as well as that of savvy collectors.
The wines themselves fall into the modern Brunello camp in that they see elevage in small French oak exclusively - only a proportion is new. There are two bottlings: the Pelagrilli which comes off the northern estate where the cooler site and clay soils deliver wines of high fragrance and a delineated aromatic and flavour profile. Whereas the Vigna Vecchia is off the slightly older vines and warmer southerly site where rocky, poor soils deliver a wine that's always most powerful and dense by comparison to the Pelagrilli. Both are wonderful examples of the two specific terroirs and underline Giancarlo's ability (rare amongst his modernist peers) to portray transparency of variety and site within a modern winemaking envelope.
The wines themselves fall into the modern Brunello camp in that they see elevage in small French oak exclusively - only a proportion is new. There are two bottlings: the Pelagrilli which comes off the northern estate where the cooler site and clay soils deliver wines of high fragrance and a delineated aromatic and flavour profile. Whereas the Vigna Vecchia is off the slightly older vines and warmer southerly site where rocky, poor soils deliver a wine that's always most powerful and dense by comparison to the Pelagrilli. Both are wonderful examples of the two specific terroirs and underline Giancarlo's ability (rare amongst his modernist peers) to portray transparency of variety and site within a modern winemaking envelope.
