How does a bottle of wine made from vines of only four years old taste twelve years on? It's a geeky sort of question to ask and one which only real wine nuts would be (or should be) remotely interested in examining but, last night, having sold a couple of cases recently, I decided to try Monte Rosola's 2004 Crescendo , a pure Sangiovese wine made at a tiny estate between Volterra and San Gimignano. This is an estate that owes its existence to Gottfried Schmitt, a retired executive who wanted a place in the sun and he chose a truly idyllic spot in the Tuscan hills just outside Volterra, eventually persuading Alberto Antonini , the renowned oenologist, to work with him. However, I'm getting ahead of things: that wasn't until 2008. In 2004, the vines had been planted only four years, an age when vines are deemed capable of producing wine but quality is rarely a word that would come into the same sentence. However, there were only two hectares planted in total at that ...
Musings on wine and occasional other subjects from The Big Red Wine Company's James Bercovici