2019 Andretta Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

In 2019, a rainy spring teed up the vines for the summer, which turned out hot and dry, but without any vine-stressing heat spikes. Compared to recent years past—when temps topped 104 degrees—July was relatively mild, with some mid-month showers (and some in August) providing some relief. A warm September put the grapes on a glide path to harvest, and by the time the call came to pick, the vintners were dancing the Tarantella.

We’re fairly certain Andretta is the only wine we’ve ever sold that’s made by a philosophy teacher and an aerospace engineer. In 1994, Rosalba Vitanza took a break from Hegel and Kant for a romantic weekend escape to Montalcino with her husband, Guido Andretta, who ran an aerospace consulting business. They fell in love with the area, and ended up buying a beautiful property there that included four acres of vines. 

Rosalba decided to use the grapes from those vines to make wine for family and friends—humble beginnings that ultimately led to the creation of her own winery, Tenuta Vitanza, and bottles that earned impressive scores from Wine Spectator.

Guido was always bugging his wife to make his favorite style of Brunello: muscular and rich, with more French oak aging. As a gift for their 10th anniversary, Rosalba launched Andretta, a new label that would specialize in that style. The winery’s flagship Brunello di Montalcino hails from their Vigna Il Lupo property, located in Castelnuovo dell’Abate. 

This is the warmest region of Montalcino, shielded from cold easterly winds but exposed to hot maritime breezes from the Mediterranean to the west, producing a style of wine that is big, full bodied, and dense, but still eminently approachable.