Montalcino: put on your hard hat!

I don't know what's up with Montalcino, but the whole town seems torn up or covered with scaffolding. No matter where we walked today, buildings were being refurbished in some way. It gives the town an unattractive look, but then it also makes me want to come back to check on the progress sometime in the future.

We had an appointment this morning for a tour at Pian dell'Orino, a biodynamic brunello producer, just outside of Montalcino on the way to Sant'Antimo. Caroline and Jan, the owners, and their two dogs, walked us around their property, which abuts the famous Biondi-Santi vineyards. The views from their cellar are magnificent.

 Caroline took us down to a new vineyard where they are planting several different sangiovese clones to see which are most successful in that soil. We have been on many different winery tours, but this is the first time we've watched the grafted canes going into the freshly manured ground. The green wax protects the graft union until it sets. Eventually it will dissolve.

Pian dell'Orino only has 6 hectares of vines in production, which is very small (especially when compared to Felsina yesterday, which has more than 90 hectares of producing vines). The biodynamic methods go even further than organic as there are only a few home-made sprays that can be used to combat fungi and pests, the work is done by a moon calendar, and the materials used to harvest, make and store the products must be natural and breathable. Last year we toured a biodynamic vineyard in France and I am amazed by the passion and commitment the proponents of this philosophy adhere to. It's almost a meeting of gardening meets science meets cult.

They do not offer tastings, as their production doesn't really lend itself to opening bottles for everyone who shows up, but we did purchase four bottles to try at home.