Winery of the Month: Talosa

The historic cellar of Talosa is located right in the middle of the historic center of Montepulciano, just a few metres from Piazza Grande, between Palazzo Tarugi and Palazzo Sinatti. With its underground tunnels and its recesses full of barrels, it’s a place that can take you back in time until Renaissance.

Ilaria, Cristian and Andrea let me visit their cellar in complete freedom, after a warm welcome in their shop. I walk down under the vaults, among long rows of barrels, until the remainings of an ancient etruscan tomb. I’m told that it’s completely natural to have 14°C (57°F) and 70% humidity there, and that such conditions remain stable throughout the year. Photographs can’t really convey the actual charm of this place, where brick tunnels and passages through the raw stone alternate.

The cellar is dated to 1972, the year when the enterpreneur Angelo Jacorossi bought the property and started the restoring works. Before then, the cellar wasn’t open to the public. It was a private property where the whole production process of the wine took place, bottling and storage of the bottles included. The tunnels were like an immense, natural refigerator, which probably unfolded beneath the whole town.

When Angelo bought Talosa, the difference from the present situation was huge. The company was born in the early ’70s because of his love for the place, for the wine and for the town of Montepulciano: not to make money, but for passion.

The farm counted 32 hectares of vineyards and 3 farmhouses, plus 55 hectares of arable ground. Through the years they specialized in wine, and they have a fermentation cellar in the locality Pietrose, fraction of Fognano. In Poggio Pietrose are located, to this day, the vineyards, while the aging in the wood barrels takes place in the historical cellar of Talosa, near Piazza Grande.

Jacorossi’s company kept on investing and specializing in the production of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, always paying a particular attention to its quality.

The restoration of the historical cellar ended in 2010, and it officially opened to the public on May 1st of the same year. Cristian was already present at the inauguration, which is particularly proud of their wine:

“The cellar isn’t a staging for tourists, we’re not figurants. Here is where we actually work!”

Talosa’s output is very limited: pretty much 100.000 total bottles of red wine, Vino Nobile and Riserva. They also have a small production of Chianti Colli Senesi and Filai Lunghi, a Nobile selection that can be made only when the season allows it. Not to forget the Vinsanto and the Vinsanto Riserva, which is a true house specialty!

Ilaria, Andrea and Cristian let me taste their Vino Nobile after my tour of the cellar; they’re the ones taking care of reception and tasting. Ilaria has a 20 years experience in the fiels and she cheerfully displays their Nobile Riserva 2010, which obtained a score of 94 points on Wine Spectator. A result that made her happy, but that also makes her worry:

“The day after, the purchase requests in our mail outnumbered our total production! We are so happy about the success of our wine, but we also feel the weight of responsibility. Our goal for next year is to improve ourselves, or at least keep the level up.”

Andrea has a great passion for wine. He visited the cellar of Talosa when he was graduating in marketing and communication, and he asked to became an intern in Montepulciano. The result? A new job and a stable member of the staff.

Cristian can tell by his own experience the opening of the cellar in 2010, when he joined the Talosa company. For three years he ran the shop by himself, handling the tours and the tastings. The need to expand their staff was synonimous of quality of the product and good work. The wine is important, but what matters, according to him, is the passion:

“It’s not all about a bottle of wine, you must sell a territory. We must show the passion that those winemakers put in their everyday work, to make a great wine that’s unfortunately often left in the shadows compared to other tuscan wines”.

(for visits and informations: Via Talosa, 8 Montepulciano – Mail: shop@talosa.it – Tel: +39 0578757929)