2017 Il Borro Petruna Toscana IGT 750 ml

The incredibly nuanced 2017 Petruna Toscana from Il Borro is one of the most unique and exciting wines we’ve tasted all year. A pure expression of organic Sangiovese that perfectly captures its terroir, the Petruna takes everything we love about member favorite winery Il Borro and distills it into one brilliant ruby red glass. 

Sangiovese is the undisputed king of Tuscany, and with the Petruna, Il Borro graciously steps back to allow this grape to demonstrate its regal nature by employing the ancient approach of pressing and fermenting in the wine clay anfora. 

Proprietor Salvatore Ferragamo recently described Petruna to us as, “like a vertical dive into the fruit, as you’re peeling away different layers of fruit and flavors… many of our guests have described this wine more like a Pinot Noir because it has this energy, this lightning, this freshness.”

Collectors of singular and evocative wines can count on this beautifully energetic red to stun at every occasion with its pristine balance of vitality and poise. Vibrant aromas of violets and dried apricots give way to veritable mountains of flavors and textures, lifted by a crisp acidity and mouthwatering minerality. 

Purity and clarity are the key characteristics of anfora-made wines—the vessels’ porous material allows winemakers to leave the skins in contact with the juice for an entire year, while still allowing some oxygen to be introduced during the fermentation process. This slow, gentle fermentation creates a crystalline expression of the terroir, and layers in a tinge of rusticity that makes the Petruna come alive with refreshing and dynamic complexity. 

The result is a rich, deeply textured wine without any additional flavors obscuring the natural vitality of the grape, which is the perfect way to showcase the reverence with which the Il Borro team cultivates their land. In the vineyards, they go so far as to ensure that each vine produces a single, perfect kilogram of grapes. 

High in the hills of Tuscany, the Il Borro estate has a noble history, having twice passed through Medici hands before being purchased by Ferruccio Ferragamo from the Duke Amedeo d'Aosta. In 1993, the Ferragamos undertook a massive restoration of their lands, not only replanting the vineyards, but also restoring the game preserve, the adjacent village, and the roads that traverse the property’s four river valleys. At the heart of this project was the desire to preserve the traditions and history of the estate, creating a continuity between past, present and future. 

This provocative Petruna exemplifies that signature Il Borro romance with honoring the past while simultaneously offering a new interpretation of their land. When we first tried it during a tasting with Ferragamo, he advised us to decant the Petruna outside on a sunny afternoon, alongside a classic Tuscan dish of fresh pecorino cheese and fava beans. But we have a feeling that, with Petruna in our glass, we won’t really care much about what’s on the plate.