Wine Spectator ended 2007 with a headline screaming 'Wine Auction EXPLOSION', a look into the

rapidly rising prices of great vintage wines at auction. In just three years, Bordeaux prices are up 63%,
Burgundy 49%, Rhone 80%, and California, a stunning 85%. Missing from the marquee were Italian
wines, up a modest 33%. Not too shabby, but eye-catching if you are looking for values among the
premium wines of the world. While many collectors seek out 'cult' wines like the Sassicaia 1985
(which averages almost $2000 a bottle, and got a big push from, where else, the movie 'Sideways'), or
hip, younger wines like the 2001 Super Tuscan Masseto (released at $250, already fetching almost
$800 a bottle), the solid Brunello di Montalcinos, from Tuscany's ever-underrated Sangiovese grape,
maintain a quality and consistency that augurs not just great investment opportunities, but great tasting
wines. While Chianti has been using the Sangiovese grape for centuries, some might even say abusing
it in the not-too-distant past, Brunello masters in Montalcino have begun a quiet revolution, resulting in
some of the most earthy and even bitter-sweet-tasting exponents of the sometimes violet-scented wine.
Many are not familiar with the fruit and herb notes of this wine, because its best examples, such as the
classic 1997 vintage, are not even ready to be drunk for ten years, and are at their best after fifteen or
twenty.

But today's winemakers in the beautiful hills in and around the medieval village of Montalcino, want
wine drinkers to become more familiar with their offerings right now. To that end, Count Francesco
Marone Cinzano, owner of the highly-respected Col d'Orcia estate, and the new president of the
Consorzio Vino del Brunello di Montalcino, has taken on the task of promoting the wines he loves to
the grape-guzzlers of the USA, particularly, Miami. Count Cinzano, a real Count, whose family has
been in the wine business for 400 years, pronounces Miami, “Cosmopolitan. Very American, and very
Caribbean as well.”

First, he explains, Brunello is simply “what we call the Sangiovese grape in Montalcino, which is a tiny
village in the hills of Tuscany. Only the slopes of this proud, medieval village, which was an
independent republic 700 years ago, can take these small, dark, berries, and produce this unique wine.”
It's true that the Sangiovese grape has not necessarily traveled well, and even the Count's own holdings
in Chile are planted with more mainstream grapes. This is part of the magic and myth of the Brunello.
But like everything Italian, it always seems to circle back to food. The real heroes of Italian wines, and
their most recent resurgence and respect in the US, according to Count Cinzano, are the Italian chefs.
“Whenever I speak about our wines, my first words are 'thank you to the Italian chefs'. Without their
help and introduction of Italian wines, we would not be here today. The affinity between Italians and
Americans starts with cooks in the US.”

So I ask him what dishes he would pair a Brunello with, expecting the standard answer of, say, T-Bone
Steak. “I always recommend traditional Mediterranean ingredients, such as rosemary, sage, bay leaf,
juniper.” This makes sense as the Brunello's smokiness goes well with these herbs. But since it is also
a wine with a “high-level of natural acidity, spicy dishes also work as well. Mexican food.” That makes
perfect sense to me, as the smoky moles and other rich spicy sauces of Mexican haute cuisine cry out
for a complex wine with a little bite, which is what the high-acidity gives it. While it is also true that
wine-drinkers today have returned to wines which are “expressions of their production area, which can
not be mistaken, like the Cape of South Africa, or the West Coast of the US,” says Count Cinzano, “the
food they eat with those wines can come from anywhere: South America, Asia, even Italy,” he laughs.

International wine writer Hugh Johnson downplayed the 2003 harvest in Tuscany, but the Count and
his Brunello Boys (and Girls), take up the challenge. “We are among the few producers who have
reacted to climate changes, by reducing maximum yields when necessary,” he says, which basically
means fewer grapes, but more intense flavor from them. This vintage is not “powerful, but it is elegant
and lean (not unlike the Count himself), and maybe, best of all, ready to be drunk right now.” He
seems to enjoy stirring the pot of controversy. He is bringing his Col d'Orcia Brunello Riserva from
2002, a vintage noted for its “dilution and widespread rot”, again according to Johnson. “There have
been some very poor reviews in the US press, so I've decided to go against the tide and bring that
vintage to Miami and let the people there decide for themselves.” I ask him how does he feel about
such a risky gambit? “Confident. Very Confident.

Below is a sampling of the restaurants and retail stores where Brunello di Montalcino wines, including
Col d'Orcia, are available. Please call first for availability.

RESTAURANTS
Sardinia 3/531-2228 1801 Purdy Ave., Miami sardinia-ristorante.com
La Cofradia 3/914-1300 160 Andalusia Ave., Coral Gables lacofradia.com
Azul in The Mandarin Oriental Hotel 3/913-8358 500 Brickell Key Drive, Miami
mandarinoriental.com/miami
Brosia 3/573-1400 163 NE 39th St, Miami brosiamiami.com
Emeril's Miami Beach 3/695-4550 1601 Collins Ave, Miami Beach emerils.com
RETAIL
Top Hat Wine and Spirits 3/662-9898 5749 SW 40th St, Miami tophatwines.com
Checkers Wine and Spirits 3/253-5395 18419 S. Dixie Hwy, Miami
Alton Road Liquors 3/531-5551 1681 Alton Rd., Miami Beach
Casa Toscana Fine Foods and Wine 3/757-4454 9840 NE 2nd Ave, Miami Shores
casatoscanamiami.com