Felice Anno Nuovo! Salutations, Friends, and Happy New Year!

Welcome to the new quarterly newsletter!

2022 is one for the books and what a year it has been! Our first full year as owners was packed with plans, ideas and a very steep learning curve…

We are sad to share the news that Laura Gray is leaving Il Palazzone. We are very sorry to lose her, although we are excited for her as she discovers her next adventures. For now, she is planning to finish her book, The Magpies Guide to Montalcino, while she considers new opportunities.

It is no secret that 2017 was a tough vintage in Montalcino. January was wonderfully cold, with night temperatures as low as -6 C (21F) but by March temperatures were 2.5 degrees celsius warmer than "normal" (hitting 22C/71.6F) and we had had half the usual rainfall.

On Sunday 3rd October 2021, the four quarters of Montalcino are holding a moveable feast with a course at each of their headquarters, rooms usually absolutely inaccessible to the general public.

Recently I submitted to a free consultation for our Instagram profile. I was informed that for a winery there is not nearly enough wine in our feed. Apparently what would really bump us up the algorithm would be more pictures of grapes and failing that glasses of wine every second post. Enough pesky shots of buds and leaves and Montalcino panorama.

19th May 2021; the third time in Giro history that Montalcino gets a look-in… 35km of strade bianche!

Meet Mario Marconi and his nativity scene, a Montalcino institution spanning decades.

The inspiration and evolution of the label of our new wine, Le Due Porte Brunello 2015 created by Chris Watson.

Benvenuto Brunello, Montalcino, vintage 2014