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130 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 wine with it, so yes, it has the structure of a light red, but it's as fresh as a white." The seminar ended on a bubbly note as a spirited Luciano Castiello, Banfi Brand Ambassador, presented the Albinea Canali FB Lambrusco. "There's never a reason not to have a glass of Lambrusco," he said. "FB is made by what we call metodo ancestrale, the ancestral method, fermented in the bottle, unfiltered and totally done on its own yeast. So this is the beauty." Building a Brunello from the Ground Up: A Winemaker's Perspective In the most in-depth seminar, focusing only on Brunello di Montalcino, Pazzaglia and Leicht reviewed the history of Montalcino in parallel with the Banfi and the Mariani families. The Banfi estate was established in 1978 when the Marianis purchased three lots of land. Since then, during a great period of growth, Banfi has conducted a handful of decade-long projects and experiments, the results of which include optimal-density planting, the categorization and isolation of Sangiovese's best clones and the use of steel/ wood hybrid fermentation vessels. Today, Banfi is the one of the leading producers in the area, made up of a large estate, and though made up of a large estate, it is actually a "constellation of single vineyards,"says Pazzaglia, and is the only producer to receive three ISO certifications for environmental, social and ethical responsibility. Of the 600 or so genetically different Sangiovese clones identified, Banfi has isolated three strains with differing strengths and planted polyclonal vineyards for an optimal Brunello, a few of them serving as the base for the Poggio alle Mura bottling. In a terroir-revealing comparison, the class tasted through four single-vineyard cask samples: Biadaioli, Sorrena, Mandrielle and Poggioni. "This makes us understand what we have to play with in this blend. All of these vineyards taste totally different. It's also a study of what each area gives to the easily impressionable Sangiovese," said Leicht. After the dissection came a tasting of the final product: Castello Banfi 2012 Brunello, Poggio alle Mura 2012 Brunello, Poggio alle Mura 2011 Riserva Brunello and the hear t-pounding Poggio all'Oro 2010 Brunello. SAN FRANCISCO photos by John Curley David Glancy, Master Sommelier, founder and CEO of San Francisco Wine School and, on this day, cordial host, helped wel - come the Northern California community of somms/wine buyers to the final stop of the CAC. It's worth noting that the San Francisco students were the most inquisi - tive of those in all the cities. Amarone Amore: Ancient Techniques for Contemporary Tastes: Style Variations and the Future Andrea Sartori and Christian Zulian, a tag team of the contending producers out of Verona, candidly wrestled their way through the history of Amarone, the challenges of remaining true to its traditional lower- alcohol style (despite increasing global tem - peratures) and the differences in produc- tion methods (for Ripasso, Amarone and V alpolicella), as well as the cannibalization of Valpolicella as a result of the immense, worldwide popularity of the other two. While tasting the Bolla 2016 Le Poaine, Bolla 2012 Amarone and the stunning Bolla 2010 Le Orgini, Zulian sang the praises of the native Veronese grapes. "These varieties lend themselves extremely well to the appassimento process, more than any other variety. A lot of people think that appassimento is a strictly a dehydra - tion process, but it's actually a process in which the maturity and ripening continues The rosé faculty (from left): Maurizo Braggi, Lars Leicht, Andrea Sartori, Alberto Lazzarino and Enrico Cerulli.