16 Act I / Poggio al Tesoro in the Spotlight 17 Act I / Poggio al Tesoro in the Spotlight It was the first week of June 2005 and as in that period of every year, I found myself in the bright, white tasting room of the Producers’ Consortium of the Bolgheri appellation. At the time a facility shared with the offices of the Wine Roads of the Etruscan Coast in Bolgheri, right in front of the San Guido estate at the point where the world’s most famous cypress-lined boulevard begins. I tasted happily and serenely the various wines of the 2003 vintage in Bolgheri: first the DOC (appellation) wines and then the IGT (Typical Geographical Indication) offerings. I finished with great pleasure the round of appellation wines and began the series of IGTs, first the simpler ones and then the richer and more substantial bottles until the moment when, with six glasses in front of me, I perceived that quality was at the highest possible level and began to hypothesize certain well known and renowned labels of the zone until I finally found myself, amazed, before the fourth or fifth glass; I was certain that I did not know the wine, couldn’t give it a name, i.e. place a label, an identity, some sort of recognition. But in the apparent silence of a summer day, barely interrupted by the rustling of the breeze, by the buzz of insects and of far away motors, with a tone of voice that I myself did not expect, I exclaimed almost with a roar: superb!!! Fabio Cartei, the sommelier who was assisting, stuck his head of the kitchen to peer into the tasting room, smiling and satisfied: knowing me well, he expected a reaction of that sort from me. It was the Dedicato a Walter IGT Toscana 2003 from a debut estate, Poggio al Tesoro. In the Guida Oro “I Vini di Veronelli 2006”, the guide to Italian wine founded by Italy’s pioneering wine journalist, Luigi Veronelli, the wine was immediately awarded the sun The Guide’s highest honor. Poggio al Tesoro in the Spotlight the discovery Act I Scene II On the right: The Le Sondraie vineyard, the oak tree dedicated to Walter Next pages: View of the vineyard Le Grottine with the church of San Giuseppe
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