Word: montalcino
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...portion of prosciutto generous enough to upholster a Chesterfield when I approached. I only intended a quick hello, but his girlfriend, misinterpreting my postprandial bloat, sweetly asked when the baby was due - a bloomer that left us seeking comfort in our cups. These were quickly filled with Brunello di Montalcino. And so began the rigorous series of tests. A few snapshots: the bar has closed, but G. and Andy are apprehended in the kitchen, searching for wine. A fine white is offered without hesitation. Later still, another bottle disappears from an ornamental selection next to the reception. Our second night...
...Campbell and his "Mozart effect" empire. "It has to be more complex than that," he says. "We're not doing Mozart a favor to reduce him to an effect." But in this Mozart anniversary year, it seems, anything goes. Just ask Carlo Cagnozzi. He's a Tuscan winemaker in Montalcino, near Siena, who has been piping Mozart to his vines for the past five years. He first had the idea as a young man, when he would bring his accordion to the grape harvest. Playing Mozart round the clock to his grapes has a dramatic effect, he claims. "It ripens...
...Brunello, made from the Sangiovese Grosso grape, is often referred to as Chianti on hormones?it's bigger, bolder and pricier. The Biondi-Santi winery in Montalcino is credited with making the first Brunello around 1888, and the firm still produces a glorious version. But it took two winemaking brothers from Long Island, New York, John and Harry Mariani, to raise the wine to fame. In the late 1970s, the Marianis bought a medieval castle in the Montalcino area, Castello Banfi, started growing Sangiovese Grasso grapes on some of the surrounding 2,800 hectares and began making their own Brunello...
...Speaking of sage, I encouraged my friends to pick a few fresh sage leaves to clean the red-wine residue from their teeth. If they couldn't travel to Montalcino to soak in the wine culture, the least I could do was to bring a little Montalcino to them...
...Biondi-Santi Rosso di Montalcino, $60 Intense perfume of crushed dried roses and sunbaked plum ? 2000 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino, $100 Very pretty, marked by bittersweet chocolate, black olive and roses ? 1999 Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino, $50 Delicious. Touches of cherry and Earl Grey tea and tangy acidity. Look for the same maker's Schiena d'Asino, a single-vineyard version, gorgeous at $80 ? 1999 Castello Banfi, $60 While this is a more modern style than the other three, it's a sure crowd pleaser with its smoky cherry and little-red-berry flavors