Companion of the Week: MUTILIANA 2018 MODIGLIANA IBBOLA SANGIOVESE Sangiovese has been grown in Modigliana for hundreds of years in an unspoilt environment which miraculously even today still consists of 80% woods and forests with pockets of vineyards in between. Hewn literally out of the forests, where patches had been cleared in the past, many of these vineyards, planted on sandstone and marl, have survived. Fermented by indigenous yeast in concrete the wine is aged in the same receptacle because the maker doesn't want anything to interfere with the transparency of the wine or, in their own words: 'to allow the the expression of terroir in the purest way possible'. The cooler weather and sandstone soils produce a Sangiovese that has less alcohol, fresher acidity and more herbal notes. Starts off herbaceous like eucalyptus and sage, then rounds out with tart fruit like pomegranate or sour cherries.