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Col di Lamo, Rosso di Montalcino, 2022

This wine sells out so quickly in Italy that we have missed the last vintages, but this has been worth waiting for. 100% Sangiovese, organically farmed, aged in old vats. Soft ruby. Lovely ripe strawberry and cherry flavours, pure and intense; with a little peppery spice and proper tannic support. Definitive mini-Brunello – needs food, but it would drink well with any red meat – or mushroom-based dishes for that matter. Flowers excitingly; and finishes so well, all red fruit and nutmeg. Ready but will keep too. Now-2030

The Neri family vineyards lie at Torrenieri, just east of Montalcino. After the death of her father in 1991 the young Gianna Neri, a law graduate, chose to follow his lead in making wine. She split the vineyards with her brother, from 1997 she has also planted other smallparcels, and she first released her own bottles in 2003. This project has called for toughness and determination, completed in June 2016 with the proud opening of her new cellar beside the vines near her home. 2018 is the first vintage when her wines are certified as organic.

Torrenieri is relatively low in altitude, at 250-300 metres. Soils are sandstone and clay, with some of the alberese, the limestone-rich, schistous land which Sangiovese loves. All of Gianna's wines are very ripe, fleshy and well-textured. The Rosso is splendidly expressive and excellent to drink now, but the Brunello has the power and structure to demand ageing.