Bakkanali

Inspired by their, if not mystical, then certainly cherished experiences of gathering together to share great wines (i.e. Baccanalia), the duo of Sebastian Nasello (historic winemaker at Le Ripi in Montalcino) and Hugo Fabbri have finally found a terroir all their own. Coming from decades of experience in the fine wine world of Montalcino, they found it right under their noses, just across the valley on the dormant volcano of Mount Amiata. Their vineyards and garagiste cellar are located on Amiata’s northern slope, in the windy mountain village of Poggioferro (600-800 meters). A place that’s known more for itinerant sheep herders than vine tenders. Volcanic mountain Sangiovese – here we come!

Monte Amiata
Amiata is the largest and highest (1,738 meters) of a series of extinct Pleistocene lava domes between Siena and Grosseto. The soils are a complex matrix of ancient limestone sediments, volcanic sands, and Flysch; there are also quite extensive hydric reserves. Bakkanali is certified organic, and in conversion to being certified biodynamic on a total of 5.5 hectares of vineyards. The Sangiovese vineyards around the cellar have high iron content (thus the name of the village Poggioferro, Hill of Iron). As you go higher, the volcanic soils peak out more, as found in their Chardonnay vineyard at 800 meters. The limestone gives the wines tension; the volcanic sands add their own spicy-minerality; and, as always, the higher altitudes tweak everything.

High Hill Sangiovese vs Mountain Sangiovese
There’s an affinity with the high-altitude Sangiovese from Radda or Lamole (c. 600m), yet Amiata’s volcanic banks (600+ m) are exceedingly more desolate and wild. The wind howls here. In fact, this Sangiovese reminds us the mountain Sangiovese from Multiliana more than anything in Brunello or Chianti Classico. Monte Amiata technically falls under the Montecucco DOC, but the mountain wines found here have little to do those wines found at lower elevations and completely different soils. For that reason Bakkanali is bottled as a vino da tavolo.

Judging a Book by Its Cover
The wines exude the extreme and wild side of Sangiovese. The fruit is exuberant and lusty, synesthetically projecting colors, alternatively impressionistic and baroque (as seen on their art labels):

 – Bakkanali Rosato; Makovsky’s Arcadia (1889); a bridge of realism to impressionism, easy flourishes of light and pastel colorways.

 – Bakkanali Rosso; Rubens’ Baccanalia (c. 1615); exuberant yet dynamic, with a baroque shadow giving gravitas, and room for Sangiovese’s rugged and noble tannins.

 – Bakkanali Kab [Cabernet Sauvignon]; Tiziano Vecellio’s Baccanale degli Andrii (1500’s); like Tiziano’s “loose brushwork and subtlety of tone,” there’s nothing SuperTuscan or high alcohol about this Cabernet. Hugo and Sebastian were originally going to replant this vineyard to Sangivoese, but the wine is so damn good they’ve changed their minds.

All the wines manage to merge fine wine details with drinkability, displaying a deep spicy minerality, skeins of sea salt, and an alluring vertical quality to the structure. In short, volcanic mountain Sangiovese – made by people that are chasin’,  lovin’ and drinkin’ fine natural wines from around the world.

Brunello and Brunello Detour
We adore restrained Brunello, but sometimes one does want to walk a bit more on the wild side, and Amiata and Bakkanli is an excellent detour (that someday may be a destination point). If you’re looking for a way point, between Montalcino and Bakkanali, Hugo and Sebastian have created a small watering hole called Vineria Aperta¹. It’s stocked with a bevy of emerging and well known natural wine producers, including lots of Brunello, and, of course,  the sole producer of Amiata.

Notes
¹https://vineriaaperta.com