Castiglion del Bosco

Hello all, I am pleased to report that my hotel in Venice has free WiFi internet in the main lobby lounge, and so I am able for the next few days to be more regular in my daily routine of emails, facebook, and blogging.  As I said Italy has been great, Rome, Florence, and now Venice.  I reccommend taking a map and just getting lost; this is the best way to see a city I have discovered.  Today I certainly did just this trying to locate the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, which was great.  Picasso is one of my favorites and she had some pieces I had never seen before, including a couple of smaller pieces which were pencil drawings in the form of cartoon strips, just wonderful.

Wine wise I wanted to talk about an estate in Tuscany that I had the pleasure of discovering because I have an awesome mother.  On the last day we were in Florence she had found a wine shop that was hosting a wine tasting that night, and so we attended.  4 wines for 5 Euros, and they were not concerned about the level of the pour let me tell you.  The estate is owned by the Ferragamo family and the wines are really well put together.  The line up consisted of 2 whites, both chardonnay, and 2 reds- a Brunello and a Super Tuscan blend.  Wines were poured from 2 labels, the del Bosco label and the Il Borro label.

1. Lamelle Il Borro Chardonnay: Light and crisp, very refreshing.  Short term aged in both steel tank and barrel, and wonderful way to start the tasting
2.Castiglion del Bosco Bianco:  A chardonnay that translates well to the California palate, fuller and richer with more influence of the barrel and ripe fruit characteristics. 
3. Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino:  The kind!  Good stuff indeed, well rounded and prefectly balanced.  A wonderful representation of the the fantastic 2004 vintage Montalcino experienced.
4. Il Borro Toscana:  A true Super Tuscan, Merlot, Cab, Syrah, and Petite Verdot.  Dark and well scented.  It was too full bodied for my mother, but she doesnt really like heavy reds with new oak influence.  I however do and found this to be quite enjoyable.

I will NOT pick a favorite here because I enjoyed and respected the quality of all 4 wines.  Each unique, blending new and old world traditions and styles this was a showing of the movement in quality that can be found in many of the upper echeleon wineries in Tuscany.  Go out and drink some Italian wines already, the reading is over.  Salute!

http://www.castigliondelbosco.com/

http://www.ilborro.com/eng/