It`s been a while since we visited the dapper Marco Bacci or his estates in Castelnuovo Berardenga, Montalcino and the Maremma. In fact, it`s 9 years, which means two things. first, that Marco has an even more youthful look about him in our photo than he does in reality and second, that the wines have moved on considerably. Although we saw great promise back then, by 2006 Renieri had only been in Marco`s possession for 5 years, and so it was very much a work in progress. Today, what were then new plantings are reaching maturity. And tucked away in a secluded spot in the propitious southeast corner of the Montalcino zone, at an ideal altitude of 350-420m, those vines are capable of producing some of the very finest Brunello. In Marco`s hands, that is precisely what they are now doing, and so we are delighted to bring you an offer of his just released, highly acclaimed 2010 Brunello Riserva.

Although Renieri is still a relatively young project for Marco, Castello di Bossi certainly isn`t. It is an estate with a very long recorded history and is massive, though only a fifth of it is planted to vines. In the heart of Chianti, it makes a range of wines exploiting its classico terroir. By contrast, Terre di Talamo on the Maremma coast is a more recent and much smaller estate with just over half the land planted to vines and makes more modern, slightly more approachable wines at great value prices. (AR 28/10/15)