Formidable. That’s how I would describe this wine. No, it’s not some brooding, bash-your-face, over-oaked monster. It’s formidable in the way that Roy Lichtenstein was formidable, or in the way that Wilco is formidable. There’s an easy accessibility – and instant connection and understanding that happens. You get it – you can enjoy it right there on the surface, and be totally content with the first layer, that first order of “getting it”. Or you can go deeper. You can peel away layers of complexity, access a deeper truth, get lost in what’s underneath the initial appreciation. Then, after thinking about it, letting it roll around the recesses of your brain a bit, that primal connection grabs you again. It forces you out of the contemplative realm and brings you back to a place of simple, unequivocal enjoyment.
I Collazzi’s Libertà is a Super Tuscan. A blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Sangiovese from an estate (literally) designed by Michelangelo. They make wine the way you would make it if money were not a concern. In fact, they price wine the same way. Their south-east facing vineyards yield a minuscule 2.4 tons of near-perfect fruit per acre. After hand-harvesting the grapes and slogging the individual varieties back to the winery, they sort them (by hand) on the sorting table. They manage every parcel of vineyard independently and age the wine in a combination of large wooden tanks and stainless steel for around 8 months before bottling it and letting it hang out for another two months. After all of that effort, they still let this wine out the door at under $20 a bottle. Who else does that? Well, certainly in Tuscany amongst IGT producers, I Collazzi is alone. There isn’t a single IGT bottling this good that comes within $15 of this wine – and most of the others in the class will set you back double the money.
The wine smells like red licorice, black cherry and spicy olive tapenade. It is full bodied and plush, but there’s an old-world marker in there – that paradoxical combination of sleekness and rusticity that can only be found in balanced wines from the old country – from wineries not afraid of juicy acidity and tounge-tingling tannins. Every sip starts out with a little tickle of cedar and vanilla, which gives way to red and black cherry, red licorice, clove, tobacco and rosemary. The wine then leaves behind a very pleasant trace of salt-water taffy.
We liked it so much we bought all that we were offered – which wasn’t much. You won’t find this beauty anywhere else in Vermont. So send us your orders, or call them in today. It really is this good, and it won’t be around for long.
IGT Libertà, I Collazzi, 2009 – $19.99
