Fattoria Le Pupille Poggio Valente 2020

Lots of rose petals on the nose, together with orange peel and cherries. Medium-bodied with very long and bright fruit character. Goes on for minutes, with so much energy and brightness. Drink or hold.

Following a challenging harvest for Sangiovese, the Fattoria le Pupille 2020 Poggio Valente generates aromas of wild cherry, pressed violet, balsam herb and grilled rosemary. There is a lot of good freshness (this was the difficulty of the vintage), and the wine has good tannic support for a rich core of fruit. Poggio Valente is not dominated by oak, and that is also what sets it apart.

The Poggio Valente vineyard, at 280 metres above sea level in Pereta, faces the Saffredi vineyard in the heart of Morellino di Scansano. It was acquired in 1996 and provides the fruit for its namesake wine, a 100% single-vineyard Sangiovese (originally incorporating some Merlot until 2012). Aromatic and intense, its ripe red and black cherry scents are balanced by earthy savouriness, with balsamic freshness, plenty of salinity and fine, grippy tannins allied to flavours of ripe cherry and wild strawberry. It finishes long and balsamic with some oak spice, showing a sense of elegance from the estate's highest vineyard despite this wine's 15% of alcohol. 40,000 bottles produced.