Villa Di Corsano Toscana
by Ken Wohlrob, Editor, Bully Magazine

Normally, label shopping can get a wine drinker into trouble. But hell, I couldn’t resist the Mario Bavaesque dark castle with the ominous tower reminiscent of Kill Baby Kill.

To call this wine subtle would be a huge mistake. Yet, that was the first impression myself and several others had when we tried out this red before a nice Italian dinner. Both the flavor and the aroma barely registered a presence. It seemed more like a Bill Evans album with its subdued delivery. In fact, I kept asking myself, what’s missing? I liked

Email this article to a friend!

the taste but wasn’t in awe of it. An average table wine at best.

Then came the dinner – raw smoked salmon served with bread and greens; fusilli con verdere - and the wine opened up. Here was the taste I felt was missing! It was as if a blindfold had been pulled off my eyes and I was seeing this little wine in a whole new light. Blackberry, currant, charcoal, and sangiovese flavors suddenly appeared where they were undetectable before. What was a somewhat typical wine (at least according to our poor estimation) was actually a stunningly, well-crafted rosso that required the proper accompaniment in order to amplify it’s good qualities.

Then of course, once I started gesticulating wildly about how good the wine was, the rugby scrum ensued as members of the dinner party scrambled to try it. Bastards! Not that I’ve ever heard anyone say “Well that wine just ruined the meal!” But in this instance the Villa Di Corsano could not be fully appreciated without being tried as it’s makers in Italy intended it to be tried…with a nice Italian dinner.

Cantina di Montalcino is a 250 member cooperative comprised of small farms throughout the Tuscan hillsides from Montalcino to Florence. It operates two wineries in this region, each with their own cellars. Villa di Corsano Toscana 1996 is imported by Wine Wave Inc., Jericho NY (Rating***3/4)

Posted 12/15/01