Tuscany is an ancient land and Montalcino winemaking tradition runs deep. Which makes Jan Erbach and Caroline Pobitzer miracle workers of a sort.

Neither of them are locals (he’s German and she’s from Alto Adige), and yet their little estate has gone from being an exciting young estate to being one of Montalcino's flat out best.

Of course, they haven’t done it alone. They became tight friends with Stella di Campalto and Francesco Leanza (founder of Podere Salicutti), both of whom also began making wine in the ‘90s. They all share a passion for Sangiovese, organic and biodynamic farming, and the terroir of Montalcino. They even started an organization, Sangiovese Per Amico, to increase understanding and appreciation of the grape and its wines.

Erbach, who trained as a winemaker in Germany, makes the wines with a very light touch. It helps that the wine has the sort of effortless complexity that comes from diverse soils (clay, calcerous, stony) and different expositions and elevations (as high as 500 masl).

Professional Reviews

What importer Polaner Selections has to say about this wine...

Orientation
Scopeta is a .7 hectare parcel with a 12 degree slope that was planted in 2005. It has a southeast exposition and is at 270 m in elevation.
Soil
Greyish silty clay of marine origin (Pliocene),Macigno (lower Miocene - upper Oligocene) homogeneous and very clayey, calcareous.Macigno is a hard grey-blue sandstone.
Viticulture
Certified Biodynamic. Hand-harvested between September 24.
Vinification
As always, immediately after picking, all harvested grapes were hand-selected on the triage table. Only healthy, ripe berries are used for vinification. Spontaneous fermentation started in 24h, reaching a maximum temperature of 30°C, and taking 2 weeks until completion. The following maceration took other 2 weeks, so the young wine was drawn off after 4 weeks.
Aging
The young wine aged for 42 months in a 12,5hl oak barrel. The malolactic fermentation set in immediately following the alcoholic fermentation. As always, no artificial yeast or other enzymatic or technological additives were used during the whole winemaking process.