Podere Forte, Orcia, Petrucci Melo 2015 - 75cl

Pasquale Forte made his fortune in electronics, then poured it into a hillside in the Val d'Orcia — the postcard corner of southern Tuscany better known for cypress avenues than serious wine. Podere Forte farms biodynamically, and the Orcia DOC it works within sits quietly in Brunello's shadow. Melo is a single vineyard, planted entirely to Sangiovese, and 2015 was a warm, generous year across Tuscany.

The wine opens with sour cherry and damson, then turns savoury — worn leather, allspice, a lick of clove, dried tobacco drifting underneath. On the palate it manages silk and tension at once: mineral-edged red fruit, plum and blackcurrant carried by the brisk acidity Sangiovese does so well. Rose-petal florals lift the close. The tannins still have an edge, with liquorice and sage fading slowly behind them.

This is a cellar wine, not a Tuesday-night pour. It drinks well now with a proper decant, but give it to 2028 and beyond and that grip will settle into something genuinely refined. Serious money — and it earns it.

How to Serve

Decant an hour ahead and serve at around 18°C in a large Burgundy-style bowl to give the aromatics room. If the bottle has real age on it, go gently and pour off the sediment.

Where to Drink It

• Trullo, Islington — wood-grilled meats and honest Tuscan cooking suit its savoury side.
• Noble Rot, Lamb's Conduit Street — a wine-first room that will do this bottle justice.
• Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone — refined Italian cooking for a wine of this seriousness.

Food Pairings

Bistecca alla fiorentina is the obvious call — char and fat meet those firm tannins head-on. Failing that, pappardelle with a wild boar ragù.