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Tenuta di Trinoro

Tenuta di Trinoro

Have you been to the Val d'Orcia in southeast Tuscany?  I was there in 2023.  it's a UNESCO world heritage site, and it is magnificent.  Looking out my window from our airbnb, it was teaming with birds, olives, flowers, and miles and miles of flora and fauna further than the eyes could see. The off white soils glistened with quartz. We stayed just outside of the walled city of Montepulciano.  It is remote, more rural, and sleepier than the Tuscany to the north in the Chianti area, and right up my alley.

If you're already familiar with Trinoro, you know how well respected these wines are.  If this is your first introduction, prepare to discover one of Tuscany's most visionary estates.

“The Val d’Orcia rises high between two mountains like a large bowl of blue clay; beyond the mountains, the land drops quickly toward the sea or into the deep valleys of the interior. The air swirls with harsher temperatures than anywhere else in Central Italy... There is an advantage to making wine in such a climatic oddity, because the vines behave in unexpected ways and the wines are astonishing.”

Trinoro's owner, Andrea Franchetti,  transformed a forgotten valley in the Val d’Orcia—once home only to shepherds, wheat fields, and livestock—into a powerhouse of world-class Bordeaux varieties. He purchased the rugged 500-hectare property from a shepherd in the 1980s for its high-elevation (up to 620m) and gravel-rich soils laced with blue clay, limestone, and quartz. Its a landscape more reminiscent of Pomerol and Saint-Émilion and not Montalcino or Chianti. His intuition proved brilliant: Trinoro's Cabernet Franc-driven reds rank among the finest Super Tuscans today.

On offer today are verticals of the estate's whole lineup:

Le Cupole Rosso 2022 & 2023: The “Second Vin “of Tenuta di Trinoro, Le Cupole was first produced in 1995. It is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, with percentages varying with each vintage. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in one to three year old barriques and cement, Le Cupole is velvety and approachable. This wine hits the palate with exuberance, full of fleshy, bright fruit, extracted tannins, and rich color.

Bianco di Trinoro 2022 & 2023: Bianco Trinoro is a wine made of 100% Semillon from a tiny parcel of sand located in the highest reaches of the Trinoro estate. The plot sits at about 600 meters above sea level and covers 5,141 square meters. The vineyard was planted partially in 2001 and then completed in 2006, with vine stock from Bordeaux; here, as elsewhere on the estate, the vines are densely planted a meter apart in the Bordelais style. The wine is highly aromatic with ripe, fruity notes, balanced by a lovely freshness and acidity that points to great longevity. Only a handful of cases are imported of this rare white wine.

Palazzi 2020, 2021, 2022, & 2023:  Andrea began making Palazzi with an eye toward producing a wine reminiscent of the Right Banks of Bordeaux. A wine made predominantly of Merlot – it is always a hit amongst critics.  Palazzi showcases Merlot at its best, with plush, supple fruit balanced by intense minerality. A blend of grapes from across the estate, Palazzi comes from a selection of older vines of Merlot, comprising about five to seven hectares. Several months in new barrel add layers of richness and complexity, making the wine approachable and pleasing from release, with elegant structure that can stand the test of time. It is one of the great examples of Italian Merlot, and only a small quantity is produced each year.

Tenuta di Trinoro 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022: Of all his wines, the flagship Tenuta di Trinoro provides the greatest insight into Andrea Franchetti’s approach to winemaking. The proprietary blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot grown on soils of limestone, alluvial plain, and clay changes each year based upon which grapes are the best from that vintage, wed not to any predetermined recipe, formula, or even flavor profile. This Super Tuscan wine showcases the distinct terroir and grapes from this remote estate at the furthest confines of viticulture in Tuscany. Franchetti’s distinct style is apparent throughout each wine and each vintage. Richness and structure, depth of flavor and complexity — these are the hallmarks of his wines.

In addition to the above wines, Andrea focuses on bottling single vineyards from tiny plots, no larger than a few acres. Below are 3 single vineyard bottlings focused on Cabernet Franc, which were started from cuttings from Pomerol.  These three labels of 100% Cabernet Franc have been produced by Andrea since 2014. He wanted to devote the utmost attention to this historic grape of Bordeaux, enhancing its characteristics in relation to three different terroir of the estate.

Campo di Magnocosta 2021, 2022, & 2023: Campo di Magnacosta is a 1.5-hectare (100% Cabernet Franc) parcel of river gravel and silt on the valley’s bottom, at 400 meters asl, where an old stream ate into a hill (magna: eat; costa: hillside). It was planted over 20 years ago with cuttings from a vineyard in Pomerol where Cabernet Franc has grown for three centuries. We have been bottling this Campo separately since 2011.

Campo di Camagi 2021, 2022, & 2023: Campo di Camagi (100% Cabernet Franc) is a 1.5-hectare vineyard where vines have grown on broken quartz and limestone, long before we planted: densely, in a thin layer of soil, at 550 meters above sea level. The plants struggled for room until they reached a balance: roots having filled the ground, each vine has the same number of leaves in its share of the air.

Campo di Tenaglia 2020, 2022, 2023: Campo di Tenaglia (100% Cabernet Franc) is produced since 2014 exclusively with grapes from a tiny parcel of 0.8 hectares characterized by a land over two meters deep, with coarse sand of crushed limestone. The vineyard is located on an open slope facing the sunset at an altitude of about 500 meters.

The extent at which Andrea has gone to produce the finest, most pedigreed, detail-oriented and focused wines, surpasses what many can achieve in a lifetime.  These are some of the finest wines being made in Italy, without a doubt.  

We have small allocations of these wines, and are offering everything at seriously discounted prices off of their normal retail prices.

All wines have excellent scores, up to 98 points.  You can read the reviews on all wines by clicking on them.

Happy Super Tuscan Saturday!

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