This all-Sangiovese wine is celebrating its 25th anniversary. I am told it's made with a Burgundian model in mind. The Fattoria le Pupille 2021 Poggio Valente offers good fruit concentration, freshness and an open-knit personality. The wine completed 20 days of fermentation with light work on the cap in terms of punch-downs and pump-overs in stainless steel. It then ages in tonneaux with only 20% new oak. There is plenty of red fruit character along with iris, blue flower and earth, and the tannins are present, albeit powdery. Elisabetta Geppetti says the challenge of making Sangiovese in this warm part of Tuscany is establishing a "point of light" in the wine.

By Monica Larner March 2024