Stefano Amerighi, Syrah Cortona 2021

94 points James Suckling
"A tight and focused syrah with blackberries, blueberries, bark, spices, tar and grilled meat on both the nose and palate. It’s medium- to full-bodied with juicy fruit and a slightly chewy finish. Needs time to soften. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification."

Jancis Robinson
"Project began with him in 2000 with mass selection from his mates in Cornas. He is just finishing a monograph on Cornas. Sells what remains from this selection to Primo Estate in Australia! Vines are planted on mixed soils. Wine aged in concrete and ceramic and given one year in bottle.
Dense glowing crimson. Very heady and glamorous nose and fruit on palate entry and then the structure kicks in. This is very serious wine that is trying harder than many a Cornas though one can certainly see the relationship. 17.5/20 points."

Vinous Reverie Notes
The winery was founded in 2002, in a small “cru” of Poggiobello Farneta. The Syrah plantings were picked by Stefano from Valle del Rodano (Rhone Valley). Biodynamic practices were of upmost importance from the beginning of the project. Stefano feels a deep connection to the historical ways of winemaking and to the land itself. The grapes are crushed by feet, the land is worked without fertilizers, and the wine is fermented spontaneously. Working just 7 hectares of land, he produces 2 bottlings of Syrah, one of which (A Pice) is only made in special vintages. The wine is transferred to concrete for fermentation without the use of machines or pumps. The wine is aged in ceramic (concrete) and French oak for 14 months before being bottled without filtering or stabilizing. The finished wine is a result of 17 different “terroirs”, that are aged independently, then blended based on each vintage’s outcome. Cortona was established in 1999 and is home to many varietals, however, Syrah is the favored red grape. Cortona is one of only a few places in Italy that could consider Syrah both indigenous and a focus. Why Syrah? After the fall of the Medici, Tuscany passed to the Hapsburg-Lorraine dynasty and shortly thereafter to Napoleonic occupation. These political shifts brought major changes to many aspects of daily life, including within agriculture, where new ways of worklng the land were established and new cultivars were introduced.  Syrah has a presence in Cortona dating back to the late 1700s.  The noted ampelographer Attilio Scienza began a nearly 30-year study of the Cortona zone starting in the late 1970s.  He found the terroir remarkably similar to the Rhone Valley, both in terms of climate and geology. Syrah was already here; it made sense that it would be the benchmark for any forthcoming wine appellation.