2017 Le Ragnaie Brunello Passo del Lume Spento

High up in Montalcino is La Ragnaie, owned by winemaker Riccardo Campinoti and wife Jennifer. The name is derived from the Italian word for spider's web (Ragnatela), because the traditional bird-catching nets that can be seen on the labels of his wines are visually reminiscent of a spider's web and were stretched from this highest point for bird hunting.The success story of Le Ragnaie has also been shaped by the early conversion to organic viticulture and by the fact that Riccardo has consciously decided against a marmalade-laden and sometimes somewhat overloaded modern wine style. Instead, his long-lived red wines convince with a fruity-spicy bouquet and an unmistakable freshness, for which he even lets the Sangiovese grapes rest on the skins for up to 90 days to absorb the colour pigments, the tannins and the aromatic components of the grape variety.With the 2017 vintage, the third single-vineyard Brunello Le Ragnaies celebrates its debut. Only 3,000 bottles of this wine, which comes from Montalcino's highest vineyard, will be bottled. The choice of the vineyard, situated over 600 metres above sea level, is also due to climate change, where winemakers are increasingly looking for cooler sites for Sangiovese - and the result is again a Brunello of the absolute special class