Once upon a time…That’s how all stories about castles should begin. In this case, though, it’s about a winery castle – Castello Monsanto. So instead of “once upon a time†it’s “one day recently†I was invited to lunch with Laura Bianchi, one of the members of the family that bought the 18th century Castello Monsanto about 50 years ago. She was in the US to show her wines, which range in price from $14.99 to $52.99. After tasting, I found I liked them all.
In any lineup, it’s tempting to lean toward the more expensive wines – or go countersnob and declare you love only the least expensive. But these were fairly equal in likeability for me. The 2010 Monrosso Chianti DOCG might have been a bit lighter than the 2010 Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG, which had some excellent blackberry notes. But all the wines, even the “Il Poggio†Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG and the 2003 Nemo Cabernet Sauvignon Toscana IGT (current vintage of this SuperTuscan) had lots of florals, some spice and earthiness in common.
They just reminded me that I don’t drink enough wines from Tuscany these days…
