FICOMONTANINO ZACINTA REVI TOSCANA BIANCO IGT 2021

Named after one of the family’s beloved horses, the wine is mainly Sauvignon Blanc with some directly pressed Sangiovese (Sangiovese vinified as a white wine, in other words) and a touch of skin fermented Trebbiano, Grechetto added for complexity. Maria Sole allows the Sauvignon Blanc to macerate on its skins for three days: enough time to contribute a bit of colour and to enhance the wine’s textural persistence, but not enough to turn it into a full-bore skin-contact-style white. The results are delightful, with tangerine, anise, and musky flowers supported by firm minerality and tangy acidity. The fruit for “Zacinta Revi” comes from 20-year-old vines in the chalky clay soils of the Poggio alle Ficaie vineyard at 350 meters altitude, and Marie Sole aged it for six months on the fine lees in stainless steel after a natural fermentation without temperature regulation.

17.5/20 Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com, December 2022 (2021 Vintage)
"Chemical-free, biodynamic farming, following Fukuoka principles and lunar phases which was introduced by young, third-generation Maria Sole Giannelli. The strikingly unusual label on this bottle of a woman sitting reading with yellow broom flowers instead of a head (all her bottles have great labels) was, she tells me, designed by an illustrator from Milan called Anna Neudecker. The meaning is that wine is made by people – therefore the human figure on all the labels – but their heads represent the terroir (the broom flowers grow wild around the vineyards). Artisanal wine is is also knowledge, hence the book. This is a blend of Sauvignon blanc, Trebbiano, Grechetto, Sangiovese from two vineyards: Poggio alle Ficaie and Vigna Campaccio. 21-year-old vines on clay and chalk. The Sauvignon and Sangiovese are vinified as white wines, the Trebbiano and Grechetto are macerated for 20 days on skins. All spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel. Aged in cement vats for six months. Unfiltered and unfined. Total sulphites 33 mg/l. 5,200 bottles.

Golden colour and just a tiny bit less than star bright. Heady, intense aromas. Grilled oranges, lime flower, green-fig jam, lemon pickle. It seems to shine in the mouth – shine with flavour, shimmering texture, acidity glistening like masses of tiny wet diamonds through the fruit. Bone dry with fine bitter skeins of wild flowers through a mosaic of candied citrus peel, rock-salt crystals and bitter orange. Convincing depth and texture. An exciting, unusual wine, vibrating at the speed of light."