Blessed with sea and mountain climatic influences, Torre Zambra enjoys a beautiful setting in the picturesque hills of Villamagna. Winemaking is serious and methodical utilising native yeasts, a combination of concrete tank and tonneau ageing, and dedicated sustainable farming. Stunning fresh wines and gorgeous slurpable yet contemplative reds, a producer of amazing consistent quality.
50% Pecorino, 30% Passerina and 20% Trebbiano from plots around the estate, wild fermented and rested in stainless steel tanks before bottling.
An easy jump for a Sauvignon Blanc drinker. Tinned fruit salad, passionfruit skin, finger lime, guava and tropical fruits all through its flavours and aromatics, bound together by nutty impressions (fresh macadamia) and a lovely focused finish of acidity. High toned aromatics without becoming overly heady, countered by a well composed mouthfeel. In our view, the most appealing and accessible release of this cuvée yet, a perfect summery style.
From plantings around the estate. Wild fermented in stainless steel, then aged six months in concrete tanks before bottling. Bright and grippy, enough juiciness for casual drinking and enough depth to take seriously. The Montepulciano grape curiously can provide impressions of oak characters in its chocolate and spice notes – whatever the case, fun drinking here.
“Dark chocolate, spice, black cherry, rich and earthy, orange peel and mint. It’s a rich wine, lots of bitter dark chocolate, blackberry and dried fruit and herbs, thick furry tannin with a black tea quality, savoury but ample in fruit, dense and throaty on a finish that’s packed with tannin, offering good length. Quite robust and chewy, but a good wine that has plenty of personality.” 92 points, Gary Walsh, Winefront
50% Montepulciano, 30% Sangiovese, 20% Primitivo.
Drawing inspiration from Provence here for cracking freshness, but unmistakably Italianite. An intense and refreshing style led by cherries, strawberry and damson plums, over Campari notes, crushed fennel seeds and tomato leaf, with crisply defined mineral edges. A fantastic style for food matching, a great option for broadening a rosé section, and right at home among our keenness for pink wine.
100% Pecorino from a single site, raised entirely in stainless steel. Whites tend to sit in either the textural or aromatic category, here’s one with a foot on each side.
“Passionfruit icing, pineapple buns, lemon thyme, rosemary, parmesan, popcorn and school glue. This is a wild ride, it’s kind of lactic, sage in sizzled butter, has a distinct tinned pineapple thing, but also, bright acid cut and pink grapefruit, something of a chalky texture, with a tasty cheese and pineapple aftertaste and a cinch of bitterness. My word. I kind of hate it, but also, I like it quite a lot; it’s sort of weirdly engaging. It does have length. And charisma. It’s an experience. A durian wine.” 92 points, Gary Walsh, Winefront
Single vineyard here, wild fermented in stainless, then aged four months in concrete tanks before six months in oak; a mix of French and Slavonian barrels, 20% new, and a mix of large and small formats. More obvious seriousness here, initial impressions took us to a freshly opened bar of Old Gold Rum ‘n Raisin dark chocolate.
“Quite some oomph here. Black fruit, mint, coffee beans, dried herbs and damp earth. It’s full-bodied, opulent in dark cherry richness, lots of mocha, rich silty tannin, concentrated and bold, black forest cake too, orange peel, roasted peanut and dried herb on a finish of good length. It’s quite a lot of wine, and while the mint character rides pretty high, and there’s maybe a little too much oak influence, there’s also plenty of wine to wrap your chops around here. Throaty. Bold. etc. ” 92 points, Gary Walsh, Winefront
Single site Montepulciano, fermented in stainless, then aged six months in concrete and 12 months in oak, 40% new, French and Slavonian, large and small format.
A wine of decadence, a hedonist’s style. Old Gold Rum ‘n Raisin chocolate is this cuvée’s signature, around Port Royal tobacco, coffee, mocha, black plums, blackberries, with green herbs popping on the finish. Richness is balanced by a solid core of tannins and the right level of acidity, it’s a wine of length and immensity, in the vein of a grand Rioja or well assembled Barossa Shiraz.
Villamagna is contender for Italy’s smallest DOC at 85 hectares. 100% Montepulciano, fermented in stainless, aged six months in concrete, then 12 months in 50% new French puncheons. In wooden cases of six bottles.
Where the Riserva presents muscle, this presents focus, much like a contrast between a Barolo Classico and a Cru. Checked intensity; leather, dark chocolate, coffee beans, blue and black fruits, black cherry and garden herbs, carried over an epic and monumental swathe of well constructed tannins. Brawn and brains – a show stopper built for braises and hearty dining, its polish and quality shining through and through.
