Welcoming Uccelliera to California: Andrea Cortonesi’s Deep Roots in Montalcino
Pictured above: Andrea Cortonesi of Uccelliera
Podere Uccelliera, 1986.
The first vintage of Uccelliera Brunello may have been 1991, but the roots of Andrea Cortonesi in Montalcino run much deeper into both time and terroir. For as long as can be remembered, his family were sharecropping farmers in Castelnuovo dell’Abate, the tiny hamlet surrounding the medieval abbey of Sant’Antimo in the southeastern part of the appellation. They worked the fields, vineyards, and olive groves long before the boom of Brunello was heard around the world.
Most of us know Montalcino now only as this lauded territory, the source of Italy’s most desired Sangiovese wines, and certainly its most expensive. So it’s extremely striking to think that in 1986, when Andrea Cortonesi purchased the Uccelliera farm, his family had only left sharecropping behind three years earlier. There were just 60 estates bottling Brunello in the mid-1980s—compared to over 200 today—and Andrea had worked at many of them.
“Observe, listen to, and accompany nature,” was Angelo Cotonesi’s advice for his son. But Andrea applied this motto to more than just agriculture. Giuseppe Bianchini, the caretaker and eventual owner of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, saw talent in young Andrea and put him on his work crew that helped to create many of the now-famous estates in Castelnuovo. In fact, Andrea remembers the first vineyard he planted on this team in 1978 for what would eventually become Poggio di Sotto, but there were many others.
Angelo Cortonesi, Andrea’s father.
Andrea, always the farmer-philosopher, reminded me that normally each vigneron has one opportunity per year to do his best, but as a part of this group tending to many estates, he had the fortune of gaining decades-worth of experience in just a few years. And while Andrea got his start working the vineyards, soon his passion for the work brought him into the cantina, where he learned his winemaking skills by collaborating with true giants of Sangiovese: Giulio Gambelli, Roberto Cipresso, Maurizio Castelli, Alberto Antonini and Attilio Pagli, just to name a few. To this day he recalls with incredulity how Gambelli could taste a wine and instantly tell you what was normally revealed by a detailed chemical analysis from a laboratory!
And those estates Andrea helped to create? Beyond Poggio di Sotto, there’s La Torre, Poggio degli Ulivi, Mastrojanni, Tenuta di Sesta and Collosorbo, Sesta di Sopra, Podere Salicutti, and of course Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, where he was cellar master until 1990. Here, Andrea was on the team that made both the great 1988 and 1990 vintages which caught the attention of journalists and launched Ciacci onto the world stage.
Andrea’s first vineyards under his ownership took root in 1987, and by 1998 he was able to dedicate himself full time to Uccelliera. Word of this tiny estate with an outsized experience in Montalcino spread quickly, and the term “cult Brunello” was applied almost immediately.
This year marks over 28 years of collaboration between the Skurnik & Uccelliera families, including our launch together in the state of California in 2024, and we look forward to at least that many more!
L-R: Andrea's wife Paola, Andrea, and their daughter Annarita
Uccelliera employs a mix of large oak botti as well as smaller casks
Podere Uccelliera Today
Podere Uccelliera as seen looking towards Castelnuovo dell'Abate
Annual VinItaly tasting of new vintages
Skurnik's very first invoice from Uccelliera, dated May 20, 1996
2021 was a vintage similar to 2016. It gave harmonius wines, rich in tannin, but beautifully balanced. It has great red fruit, with a density of polyphenols and anthocyanins which will give great pleasure as well as longevity.
PRESS:
Darkly alluring, the 2021 Rosso di Montalcino slowly comes to life with a beguiling blend of mentholated herbs, pine shavings and dried strawberries. This sweeps across the palate with textures of pure silk, soothing all that it touches with ripe red fruits and rosy inner florals guided by vibrant acidity. It finishes structured, potent and long, punching well above its weight class, as licorice mingles with savory spices through the youthfully tense finale. This is next-level Rosso di Montalcino. In a word, spellbinding”93 Points, Vinous
TECH NOTES: From seven hectares of vines, many of which are classified to produce Brunello, in the township of Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The grapes ferment spontaneously on the skins for 25-30 days, including about a week of cryomaceration under dry ice to preserve the freshness of fruit. Since 2003 Andrea has eschewed the use of selected yeasts. The wine then aged in a mix of Slavonian oak cask and French oak for 4-6 months. Roughly 2000 cases were produced.
2019 has everything. It was a wonderful and tranquil growing season. The fruit was well-distributed among the plants, production was medium-high, and everything was in equilibrium. We finished the harvest on the 12th of October, and it almost felt like a shame to pick such beautifully healthy, crunchy, juicy grapes! After the 1990 vintage that I made at Ciacci Piccolomini, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see such another perfect harvest, but 2019 scratched that itch!
PRESS:
Brooding yet intense, the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino bursts from the glass with a wave of autumnal spices, crushed cherries, cedar shavings and steeped plums lifted by pine hints. This is deeply textural, elegant and refined, with a dense wave of ripe wild berry fruits, all guided by vibrant acidity, offset by oranges and balsam herbs. It finishes grippy and extended with a black hole of tension and a sweet and sour sensation that lingers on and on as crunchy tannins resonate throughout. The 2019 is youthfully backward today, yet there’s a balance that can’t be denied, especially as I watched it open up over twenty-four hours. This is a total pleasure to taste. Bury the 2019 deep in the cellar. 95 Points, Vinous
TECH NOTES: From approximately ten hectares of vines in Castelnuovo dell’Abate, the oldest of which were planted in 1975, the youngest in 2000. The soil is calcareous clay, with sand, galestro and small stones. Also for Brunello the fermentations last about a month, with seven days under cryomaceration which assists in developing the indigenous yeasts. After fermentation, the wine is moved into a mix of Slavonian and French oak cask, where it rests for 24 months. Approximately 3000 cases were produced.
Don’t make the same mistake the journalists made in underestimating this wine. It was a particular harvest, and because of the drought in 2017, the production was much more irregular, but in the end I am extremely pleased with the results: it’s almost the opposite kind of vintage than 2017: it runs on finesse and elegance. And the lesson it taught me is that elegance is not a paucity, but an advantage. This wine is indeed a noble expression of Sangiovese from Montalcino.”
PRESS:
Undeniably pretty and slightly exotic, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino wafts up with a multifaceted bouquet of wild strawberry, fresh mint, balsam herbs, cloves and hints of sweet smoke. This is luxuriously silky and supple, enveloping the palate in ripe wild berry fruits, as a tantalizing inner sweetness and hints of tobacco forms toward the close. Saline-minerals add an almost-crunchy feel through the finish, and while tannic, it doesn’t distract at all from the 2018’s graceful nature, yet also energetic, as notes of plum and licorice linger on and on. This is a spectacular Brunello of the vintage. 94 Points, Vinous
TECH NOTES: Because of the unevenness of ripening, and the prior year’s drought conditions, I only produced 2400 cases of 2018. We did a shorter cryomaceration, and the alcoholic fermentation and maceration was shorter. But the wine stayed 24 months in oak followed by 6 in bottle before release.”
2017 was no ordinary vintage,” Andrea says…”Overall the temperatures were high, and there was very little rain. I made between 27 and 30% less quantity in this vintage. Generally speaking, the pH is higher, with lower acidity, and this gives a soft, rich wine. The fruit is dark and rich. It’s incredibly enticing in the glass
PRESS:
Balsam herbs, cocoa and sweet white smoke give way to crushed black cherry and plum as the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino blossoms in the glass. This is elegance personified, silky, deep and round, yet delivering a core of saline-minerality that creates a savory sensation – umami, in a way – with masses of ripe red fruits and confectionary spices to contrast. The tannins are sweet and round, presenting a chiseled structure; yet it’s not forceful. This tapers off with a tart twang of sour wild berries under an air of lavender and violets. Wow; there is so much concentration and depth here, but also balance. In fact, there’s hardly a sign of this being from a difficult vintage. While I expect it will have a shorter life than an Uccelliera Brunello from a classic year, the 2017 should not be missed 94+ Points, Vinous
TECH NOTES: I produced only 2400 cases in 2017 because of the drought, and harvest was early, from September 14 to the 23rd. We did a slightly longer cryomaceration, and a slightly shorter fermentation. The wine aged in a mix of oak casks for 24 months, and then rested in bottle for 6 months before release.
2020 was an important vintage for this wine. Because of the warmth of the vintage, the merlot prevales. It’s harmonious but we can say that the Sangiovese has been ‘merlot-ified.” It shows an approachabiltity and fruitiness that can capture the heart of an international drinker, not just a drinker of Brunello. My Brunello shows the terroir of Montalcino; Rapace shows the Tuscan identity as a whole, and it’s extremely well adapted to pairing with spicy foods, or aromatic cheeses.
He chuckled when I asked the inspiration for the wine…
When I got back from Vinitaly in 1995 and I realized I was going to have to wait another 3 years to sell my Brunello 1993, I knew I had to declassify some of the wine to IGT for cash flow reasons.
At the time, Andrea was still collaborating with Mastrojanni, who lent him some Cabernet and Merlot, and Rapace was born.
It’s a bit of a crazy thing from an enological standpoint, because I co-ferment the three grapes, and they have their various maturation schedules. But from a quality standpoint, I’ve seen the difference. The final wine is more complete. So, the merlot comes first, harvested at full ripeness, and then it does a cold maceration until the other grapes are ready.
PRESS:
You definitely recognize the wine’s Montalcino DNA, but the mouthfeel is broader and richer thanks to the two French grapes.92 Points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
TECH NOTES: Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation and are in stainless steel, and then the wine is aged in oak. It’s always in French barrique, not all of it new, for 18 months. 70% sangiovese, a lot from Montalcino vineyards, but with some from the Le Spine vineyard across the Orcia river in Montenero, with 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet from Montalcino vineyards. 950 cases produced annually.
2016 was just such a fantastic vintage, in which the spirit of sangiovese from Montalcino expresses its full potential. I chose grapes from my three different elevations in Castelnuovo dell’Abate and aged this special selection in french oak from forests where the trees are 300 or more years old. I left the appellation for this wine because I am convinced that rules can occasionally limit the expression of a wine. A great wine needs more than just terroir, grapes, passion and time.”
PRESS:
Ripe, expressive and harmonious, this majestic red has blackberry, black currant, eucalyptus, menthol, wild rosemary and mineral flavors framed by vanilla and toasty oak. Gains support from firm tannins, yet the lasting impression is sweet fruit, so be patient. 99 Points, Wine Spectator
TECH NOTES: Only 600 magnum bottles were produced in the 2016 vintage. The fruit from the three different elevations was cryomacerated for 8 or 9 days, followed by three weeks of fermentation-maceration. The wine was aged first in the special oak barrels for 18 months, followed by two years in the bottle. Only magnums are produced.
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