On Tuesday 6 January at 6pm, our much loved sommelier Michael Simms will be opening a twelve litre bottle of 1988 Le Pergole Torte and would like you to join him to try it and raise a toast to the New Year in the Sartoria bar.

One of London’s most experienced sommeliers, Michael has been after an excuse to open this beast of a bottle ever since he inherited it nearly 7 years ago and we thought it apt to pop open the cork to celebrate the Epiphany.

The story behind the bottle

Montevertine, the winery that make this wine, is an old property in the Radda area of Chianti in Tuscany, bought by Sergio Manetti in 1967 as a holiday home. Sergio decided to make some wine for friends and clients and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since Sergio’s death in 2000 his son Martino took over the winery with Le Pergole Torte being their premium wine, made from 100% sangiovese grapes. This was mainly due to the consultancy of the great Giulio Gambelli who died in 2012 at the age of 86 known as ‘il grande maestro del Sangiovese’.

What makes this bottle so interesting is that not only is it a great wine from an excellent vintage, but comes in such a rare large format bottle. The labels of Le Pergole Torte are also interesting in that they are all etchings of women’s heads by the artist Alberto Manfredi (1930 – 2001).