Old-school Cabernet, with an Italian line

I sat with this glass and it drank like old-school Cabernet, rugged, with tobacco leaf up front and the taste Cabernet is supposed to have. A wild leafy edge runs through it, a touch of green that is not underripe and not piled on with pyrazine, and the Cabernet Franc shows through clean under the Cabernet.

The intrigue is the sense of place, an Italian higher-acid line sitting lean beside fruit that concentrated, a yin to that yang. I tasted it next to wines at three to five times the price, and this bottle was the standout.

If you drink domestic Cabernet, which note lands first in this glass, the tobacco leaf or that Italian acid line?

"A Super Tuscan with the bones of the Cabernet you already love."

International vines at Montalcino

That Italian acid line starts in the ground at Montalcino. Belnero is the meeting of the Bordeaux varieties with this place: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, with no other grape in the 2023. The Mariani family has owned Castello Banfi since 1983, at the Castello di Poggio alle Mura, the castle between Siena and the Maremma that took its shape from the 9th century through the 13th. Belnero's first vintage was 2005.

The 2023 winter was mild. A cold snap in early April nicked the earliest vines, Merlot among them. May and June brought heavy rain, then the summer turned hot and clear, and September stayed warm under a north wind with almost no rain. Merlot came in on 15 September, Cabernet Sauvignon on 22 September, and Cabernet Franc on 16 October. The wet start and the dry finish are the yin and the yang in the glass: acid from a season that stayed alive, fruit that concentrated once September dried out.

The soils run from sandy clay full of pebbles, which drains, to calcareous clay that holds a little humidity. The vines are spurred cordon and Banfi alberello, planted at 4200 vines a hectare, and the 2023 yield is 70 quintals a hectare.

Each variety on its own, then a short stay in French oak

The leafy edge is in the fruit, and the cellar keeps it. Each variety fermented on its own, at 24 to 28 degrees C, in Horizon tanks that mix French oak and stainless. After that the wine spent a short time in 350 L French oak barriques. This 2023 is 14.0% alcohol. Serve it at 16 to 18 degrees C.

The winery describes a deep red that stays elegant. Plum jam and blackberry lead the nose, with licorice, cocoa, and tobacco behind them. The palate is powerful and soft at once, the tannins sweet and fine, and the finish stays long. That tobacco is the same leaf in the glass, sitting under the Cabernet Franc.

Ribeye, a pot of beans, and a roast chicken

The tobacco leaf and the acid line next to it do not want the same plate. The winery puts Belnero with soups, red meat, and white meat. A grilled ribeye takes the tobacco and the rugged Cabernet. A pot of white beans and kale takes the acid, the lean side of the fruit. A simple roast chicken covers the white meat, on the same bright side as the soup.