The first to fall by the wayside was that the grape was good basically for pleasant, but essentially easy-drinking, young wines, and it was soon accompanied by the theory that Sangiovese was extremely demanding in terms of where it could be planted, that it could only ripen in the warmest possible places.
True up to a point, but a serious and careful viticulture – coupled with the overall rise in temperatures which characterizes today’s climate – now allows the grape to achieve important results in what were once considered impossible sites. In particular, those at altitudes over 450 meters above sea level, once considered an impossible challenge, valid positions only in the hottest years and not always even then.
A theory regularly given the lie by the wines of Lorenzo Ciolfi, once the cellar master in an important Montalcino house but now operating on his own. His is not the beefiest style of Brunello, nor could it be, considering that his vineyards are among the highest in the appellation. But the sheer elegance, the fragrance, and the finesse are those of superior wines, and the consistent year to year quality shows no signs of wavering.
The wines of his San Lorenzo estate are by no means lacking in structure or substance, but they also show the elegance, the polish, and the finesse which only a long, slow ripening can give. High level expressions on the territory in every sense.
