Often times one of the most challenging aspects of selling a bottle of wine is just trying to figure out what the guest is really looking for. This is especially true when the customer is buying wine for someone else and has come equipped with a napkin which has some chicken scratch scrawled on it. This was the case last week when a woman approached me and her napkin had the word "Rosso" on it. "Where can I find this wine?"

From past experience I've learned that rosso could mean anything from Carlo Rossi to Rosso di Montalcino. After a few short questions I was happy to learn she was in the market for a quality wine from Italy.

In Italian, rosso means red. So I knew she was looking for a red wine. However the list of Italian wines with rosso in the nomenclature is still quite extensive. Rosso Conero [Marche], Rosso Salento [Puglia], Rosso di Berchidda [Sardinia], and the list goes on. Having been served the "rosso" in a local restaurant I assumed she was looking for something a little more mainstream like Rosso di Montalcino.

Rosso di Montalcino can be a wine of great distinction. Well-made examples have a depth of black cherry and wild berry fruit, balanced by careful use of oak revealed in hints of spice and vanilla. Rosso di Montalcino is found in the same delineated area as its big brother, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. Both are situated in the heart of Tuscany in Central Italy. Rosso di Montalcino was granted DOC status in 1984 in order to make the most of the fruit from younger vines from new plantings. The idea was to create a fresher style of wine needing considerably much less aging time than its sibling [one year with only six months in oak].This would allow producers of Brunello to have cash flow whilst waiting for their DOCG wine to age, as well as being able to declassify any Brunello that had been aging two to three years, but had not quite reached the required standards.

When shopping for a Rosso di Montalcino vintage matters. Lucky for us Montalcino has not had a bad vintage since 2002. Perhaps even more important when selecting a Rosso di Montalcino is the producer. Those producers that consistently make spectacular Brunello are the ones that produce superb Rosso di Montalcino. My two favorite producers to look for are Poggio Il Castellare and La Gerla. Both producers' Rosso can be purchased for around $20 per bottle.

Paul Quaglini

Wine Supervisor, SE Florida