Our tasting impressions
Seems like every year, we pronounce: "another terrific vintage of Le Lame". And so it is in 2022. How is it possible for such a seemingly wine to be so distinct? Well, it's an Innocenti, of course. It reveals all the usual exotic flavors and weight of Malvasia. But this rendition is even more savory. You can drink this regularly and never tire of it. Fantastico!
About this wine
IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica. It is unclassified wine but not necessarily a measure of quality (i.e.,expensive Super Tuscans are IGT).
The wine is 100% Malvasia from a 4.5ha Montefollonico vineyard planted in 1998 in textured clay soil. They perform double cluster thinning (green harvest) before a manual harvest. Any grapes that are not to their standards are sold.
Fermentation is in steel tanks without the skins. It is usually bottled the following April after wide-grain filtration.
Tuscan whites are more typically based on Trebbiano. But Vittorio hates Trebbiano (except for in Vin Santo). So, he pulled up most of the vines and replaced them with his preferred Malvasia.
About the grape
Malvasia is an incredibly flexible grape variety used to produce many different types of wine. Likely of Greek origin, it was first cultivated about 2,000 years ago. It is prone to oxidizing, which is why it is commonly used in fortified wines.
About the vintage
The winter was cool and dry. A warm spring foreshadowed the searing heat of summer and there was no rain until late July. These conditions naturally led to an early harvest with small yields of very concentrated grapes.
On Your Table
One satisfied client suggested turkey, stuffing and, most importantly, gravy to experience the incredible savoriness of this wine. Serve it chilled -but closer to cellar temp than refrigerator, so not to stunt the flavors.
Vittorio Innocenti, a former philosophy teacher, started producing wine from his family's vineyards with the 1978 vintage from his 13th century cellar in Montefollonico. There are 32 hectares of vines in Montepulciano and Montefollonico but only 12 are planted with vineyards of up to 80 years old. The vista views from the back patio are incredible.
Today, Vittorio's son Tommaso and his partner Vincenza (aka Nancy) handle most of the work. But Vittorio is the keeper of the intellectual capital for all seven wines - in particular both versions of Vin Santo. In total, they produce about 35,000 bottles annually.
The Innocentis are a gracious, wonderful family. The Guru has known them longer than any other wine producer. He admires their intense commitment to producing the highest quality wines - taking as much pride in their most modest offering as they do in their top bottling.
VDLT is the only North American source for these extraordinary wines that are released much later than most top estates in the appellation. The Vino Nobile, Riserva and Acerone are capable of long and magnificent aging. In the photo to the right, we enjoyed a 1985, 1988 and 1993 at a recent lunch. Their freshness and vibrancy belied their ages.
