La Palazzetta di Luca e Flavio Fanti

The irrepressible Flavio Fanti is a fortunate man indeed. Both his son Luca and his daughter Tea have, in their early twenties, eagerly embraced the family's farming activities, and have become indispensable members of the hardworking, well-oiled machine that is La Palazzetta. Their Brunellos continue to astonish me and other tasters with abundant, deep fruit and intoxicating, complex aromatics. I was there last week with several customers who snapped up our current inventory of 2007 Riserva faster than you can say Sangiovese (a few more cases will be on the way soon). 

Flavio's paradigm is simple, like that of many of our other growers: hard work in the vineyards pays handsomely. And with old-vine vineyards of mixed galestro and ferrous, calcareous material, and with the usually warm, dry summers of their southerly location near Castelnuovo dell'Abate, the family is blessed with 20 hectares (about 50 acres) of amazing grape-growing potential. Get yourself some 2009 or 2010 Brunello from La Palazzetta and dish up some Cinghiale con Papardelle or even better, a beautiful grilled beefsteak, and it will be easy to imagine yourself basking in the Tuscan sun, not a care in the world. I promise. 

It was pretty crazy and hair-raising to watch Luca Fanti backing down the steep, rutted driveway with a very full pallet order for us that happened to be scheduled for pickup the day we left. Fortunately he aced it, and Hillebrand made the pickup without anyone breaking a sweat (except me as I watched breathless). Nick Y, those are your magnums, and 3 and 5 liters of 2010 Brunello on top of the pallet.