Elegance and Energy from Montalcino’s Hills: Pian dell’Orino Hits Our Shelves
Pian dell’Orino delivers some of the most authentic Sangiovese from Montalcino’s hillside region. Located near the Biondi-Santi estate, the Pian dell’Orino name has become synonymous with outstanding quality. The winery has been able to rise to benchmark Brunello status while working biodynamically and using a Burgundian vineyard management. They represent one of the more forward-looking producers you can find nowadays in Montalcino.
Pian dell’Orino is one of the most prominent voices in the ongoing discussions about Montalcino's multiple terroirs. The six-hectare vineyard operates under biodynamic certification and completes individual fermentation procedures for each vineyard site to display distinct terroir characteristics. The vineyard team picks grapes manually while using native fermentation and storing wine in large Stockinger Botti. No shortcuts, no compromises—just quiet excellence.
2021 Pian dell'Orino Rosso di Montalcino $89.99 93JD 93WA Do not let the category fool you—Pian dell’Orino’s Rosso is not a second wine. The winery harvests young Sangiovese grapes from mineral-rich terrain at 320-meter elevation. The 2021 vintage brings forth complex scents of red cherry and blood orange with crushed herbs that lead to a refined structure and enduring savory notes. The wine presents itself with exceptional clarity and elegance while offering the potential to age.
2019 Pian dell'Orino "Vigneti del Versante" Brunello di Montalcino $149.99 100JD 97VN 95WA This wine originates from the eastern-facing vineyards of Pian dell'Orino, which is why it receives its name "Versante." The 2019 vintage stands as a remarkable example of Brunello through its red fruit, crushed stone, and spice elements with its fine silty tannins. The wine spent more than three years in large oak containers without filtering after bottling. The finished product displays energetic elegance and aging potential that will last for many decades.
Looking Ahead: A Benchmark Producer, Always in Motion
As always, proprietors Caroline Pobitzer and Jan Hendrik Erbach remain incredibly humble, all while producing some of the best wines in Montalcino vintage after vintage. Their style of understated power, purity, and precision speaks to the mind, the palate, and the soul. Jan and Caroline maintain their usual modest nature as they continuously advance Montalcino's boundaries: the estate recently installed an optical sorter in 2018 to enhance fruit selection; they have built a new cellar to enhance gravity flow; and they have installed solar panels. Another exciting development is the vite maritata (married vines) vineyard that Pobitzer and Erbach planted in 2020. It intermixes Sangiovese vines with maple and fruit trees planted throughout the rows. This is not only a biodiversity project but also a way to battle climate change, as the trees’ leaves will help shade the vines.
A new vineyard section planted in 2024 will start yielding its first limited harvest during the research period in 2024. This estate has a proven history which indicates that it will eventually produce another tale within one of Montalcino's most influential wine narratives.
- Orazio Campoli, K&L Italian Wine Buyer