Italy: Tuscany, including Montalcino
2016 Gold: 6 Silver: 8 Bronze: 4 Commended: 8
2015 Gold: 3 Silver: 10 Bronze: 5 Commended: 7
Tuscan winemakers, it’s safe to say, are not averse to a bit of showing off: gleaming oak, manicured fruit and blingy price tags pretty much come with the territory. It screams wealth, ego and ambition – and being such a well-adjusted modest bunch, such things make our tasters somewhat uneasy.
Six places on the Gold List was Tuscany’s best haul in the Sommelier Wine Awards since 2013, but while there was often real appreciation for the better wines, there were plenty of caveats, too. Price is the most obvious one. A good number of sommeliers made the point that these kind of wines’ sweet spot is around the ‘£50-£60 on a list’ level (ie £12-£15 ex-VAT), but there was no shortage of preening starlets aiming far higher than that.
The other issue would be drinkability. A lot of otherwise very good wines were simply not ready to drink yet – even with several years of time in bottle, making them impractical for restaurant lists.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘Most of the interest was in the middle ground. The very serious wines were often too tight, concentrated, over-oaked and alcoholic. Some had a beautiful austerity, but not for drinking now.’ Matthew Cocks, WineEd
‘Our customers look for names when it comes to Tuscany. If a name is good, they’re happy to pay for that consistency.’ Enikő Heidenwolf, 67 Pall Mall
‘With their hard tannins, these kind of wines are hard to suggest to a customer. They tend to prefer something softer and more rounded; something more charming.’ Giacomo Dragoni, Galvin La Chapelle
‘This is a style that sells well for us. They are very food friendly, from the savoury ones to the more structured, fruit-driven wines, there was a nice variety, and they all had a place. Tuscany is a region that people are familiar with.’ Mya Brown, The Ledbury
‘A lot of the ones that came in here we wouldn’t be able to sell in a restaurant yet, though the ones that got medals do have an approachability now, with smoother tannins.’ Jonathan Kleeman, Social Eating House
‘A lot of them were over-priced by £10-£15 a bottle. I was expecting more excitement. Over-extraction was a problem. They were trying to do too much.’ Maurizio Palomba, Sushi Samba
‘There’s good value here. A few were slightly reductive, but not to a fault – a little can be beneficial with Sangiovese.’ Andrés Ituarte, Avenue Restaurant
‘If you want a good Montalcino, the price starts in the high teens, it is not a cheap place.’ Charles Pashby-Taylor, Dabbous