Pergole Torte, Montevertine - Toscana, Italy 2020 - 75cl

When Sergio Manetti released the first Le Pergole Torte in 1977, no one else in Tuscany was bottling Sangiovese entirely on its own and treating it like a grand cru. It was the first single-vineyard, 100% Sangiovese Super Tuscan, and it changed how the world saw the grape. Nearly fifty years on it remains one of Italy's greatest reds — grown high in Radda, aged in oak, and bottled simply as Toscana IGT.

The 2020 is a stunner from a deep, powerful vintage. Ripe cherries and wild strawberry meet violets, then cocoa, coffee and a graphite mineral streak underneath. With air come tobacco, dried herbs, rose petal and a twist of orange peel. The structure is the marvel: fine-grained tannins, bright acidity and real concentration, all held in balance. Ripe and lifted at once — the trick Sangiovese so rarely pulls off.

This will gain depth and savoury complexity over the next fifteen to thirty years, so if you have the patience, cellar it. If you can't wait, decant it hard and drink from around 2028. A genuine icon — and one that, for what it is, still looks fairly priced against Tuscany's other legends.

How to Serve

Decant for a couple of hours and serve at 18°C in a large Burgundy bowl. Young and built to last, it needs air to show what it's got.

Where to Drink It

• The River Cafe, Hammersmith — a fitting stage for one of Italy's great reds.
• Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone — refined enough to match the wine.
• Noble Rot, Lamb's Conduit Street — where a bottle like this gets the respect it deserves.

Food Pairings

Keep it simple and let the wine talk — bistecca alla fiorentina, or pappardelle with a slow-cooked beef and porcini ragù.