Tasting the full range of Podere Le Ripi wines including a vertical of Lupe e Sirene Brunello Reservas, and the top Bonsai wine that Francesco Illy claims comes from the world\u2019s smallest vines.<\/em><\/p>\n\n Montalcino is one of those places where, I\u2019ll just come out with it, they don\u2019t really take kindly to outsiders. His critics have suggested he was driven by vanity and deep pockets. He says he was encouraged by a love of the Sangiovese grape and of Brunello di Montalcino in particular, and, it must be said, a desire to make his mark in a field in which he freely admits he had no knowledge.<\/p>\n\n \u201cAlthough I had been looking for ten years before I found the Podere Le Ripi | Winery in Montalcino<\/a> site in 1997 (he planted the vines three years later) I was pretty ignorant. Although I loved wine, my background, of course, is coffee. I must be honest: I\u2019ve had a lot of luck,\u201d he says, sitting in front of range of his wines including a vertical of his Brunellos from 2009-2012.<\/p>\n\n The first and most important piece of luck was finding such a wonderful site \u2013 no easy thing in Montalcino where virtually every square metre of land with wine-growing potential has long been snapped up by local producers.<\/p>\n\n Podere Le Ripi is a sloping 55 hectare site formerly owned by a shepherd, of which just 12.5% has since been converted to vines, the rest is forest and olive trees, but with wonderful clay and sandstone soil that is perfect for wine-making.<\/p>\n\n Production increased steadily from 2000 bottles in 2003, the first vintage of Lupi e Sirene, to around 30,000 today, with yields just 50% of the permitted maximum for the Rosso and Brunello wines. The winery converted to fully bio-dynamic methods in 2010.<\/p>\n\n Three or four wines are produced most years: an IGT Syrah (\u00a322), an IGT Rosso (\u00a322) a Rosso di Montalcino (\u00a330) a Brunello (usually made as a Riserva which requires six months in bottle six years after harvest, priced at \u00a372 a bottle) and a very expensive oddity, what is almost certainly the DOCG\u2019s most expensive Rosso di Montalcino (retailing for \u00a3140), Bonsai.<\/p>\n\n Production increased steadily from 2000 bottles in 2003, the first vintage of Lupi e Sirene, to around 30,000 today, with yields just 50% of the permitted maximum for the Rosso and Brunello wines. The winery converted to fully bio-dynamic methods in 2010.<\/p>\n\n Three or four wines are produced most years: an IGT Syrah (\u00a322), an IGT Rosso (\u00a322) a Rosso di Montalcino (\u00a330) a Brunello (usually made as a Riserva which requires six months in bottle six years after harvest, priced at \u00a372 a bottle) and a very expensive oddity, what is almost certainly the DOCG\u2019s most expensive Rosso di Montalcino (retailing for \u00a3140), Bonsai. Determined to get the most out of his site and his vines, he opted for vine density in the hope that the vines would take deep root.<\/p>\n\n Initially he planted 11,000 vines per hectare, more than double the 5000 usually considered optimal by winemakers, and in the experimental vineyard where Bonsai is made, he planted 62,500 vines per hectare, which means this wine is made \u201cfrom the smallest vines in the world,\u201d just 40 cms apart.<\/p>\n\n Little wonder that in a typical vintage (the 2010 is currently on release) just 600 bottles of this remarkable and highly concentrated wine gets made.<\/p>\n\n So how were the wines? Tasting a vertical from 2009 to 2012, the 2010 (a great year for Brunello) was perhaps the winner for sheer balance but also power, although the 2011 is more fruit forward, giving up front satisfaction already: these are clearly all young wines with a long, evolutionary life ahead of them. All have remarkable concentration. The just-released Lupe e Sirene Brunello 2012 wasn\u2019t made into a Riserva because the vintage wasn\u2019t deemed good enough but it seems that might have been a mistake. This wine is tasting remarkably well already, with lots of layered complexity that had me returning to it on more than one occasion. They may be relative newcomers in one of Italy\u2019s most conservative and protected wine regions, but Francesco and Podere le Ripi clearly have a great future ahead of them, with their Brunellos but also \u2013 and especially so \u2013 with their IGT wines. All the wines are available from Jeroboams<\/a>.<\/strong>![\"Francesco](\"https:\/\/www.podereleripi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/francesco-illy.jpg\")
![\"Podere](\"https:\/\/www.podereleripi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/podere-le-ripi-photo-aerea-700x467.jpg\")
![\"Francesco](\"https:\/\/www.podereleripi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/francesco-illy-with-justin-keay.jpg\")
![\"Bonsai\"](\"https:\/\/www.podereleripi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/bonsai-wine-bottle-700x1245.jpg\")
![\"Amore](\"https:\/\/www.podereleripi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/amore-e-magia-wine-bottle.jpg\")
![\"Podere](\"https:\/\/www.podereleripi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/justin-keay-the-buyer-photo-700x1036.jpg\")
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