It’s March and that means Women’s History Month. I think every month should be women’s history month but that’s another story. This March, I will be fiing posts about all the Women in Wine I meet, befriend, and sometimes work with. I am starting the month with a post about my dear friend Susanna Crociani whose birthday is today, March 1st. I just saw Susanna in Montepulciano during the Tuscan Anteprime release which I will also write about this month. I have been tasting and drinking Susanna’s wines for many years now.

Stylistically, her wines are always clean, straightforward versions of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The Sangiovese always comes through with bright cherry notes, earth tones, and an herbal background. Susanna is a careful winemaker with a hands-off approach. Her vineyards are located in Caggiole which is at higher elevation than some of the other vineyards in Montepulciano and benefit from this elevation in terms of their ability to withstand climate change and temperature increases. Susanna has always used the traditional grapes in her wines – Prugnolo Gentile, Mammolo, Canaiolo, and Colorino for her Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Wine has been made in Montepulciano for 2500 years starting with the Etruscan King Porsenna. Throughout the centuries it has been a favorite of illustrious men including two American statesmen, Thomas Jefferson and Vian Buren. The area is incredibly beautiful as you can see from the photo with the Apennine snow-covered mountain range in the far distance and the rolling hills closer to the town.

The Consorzio for Vino Nobile di Montepulciano was created in 1965 and it became a DOCG wine or Denominazione d’orgine controllata e garantita in 1980, long before many other famous wines. Most of the vineyards are located at between 250 and 600 meters above sea level. Vino Nobile spends at least one year aging in wood and another in the bottle before it is released into the market. Many producers put it into oak barrels for a longer period of time. In order to have the denomination, Riserva on the label, the wine must spend three years aging with at least six months in the bottle.

Today, Susanna is Vice-President of the Consortium and spends a lot of her time working to promote not just her winery but the entire Consortium which she is so passionate about. I met many winemakers throughout my days during the Anteprime this year and in the past thanks to Susanna. She has a winery in town which makes tasting her wines easy too and an agriturismo as well where I have been lucky enough to visit on a number of occasions.

I have always loved her Vin Santo made from Trebbiano and Malvasia. Susanna has been at the helm of her winery since 2007 when her dear brother Giorgio passed away in May 2007 at the too young age of 50. Susanna has dedicated a wine to Giorgio called Il Segreto di Giorgio. She refuses to say what’s in the wine and smiles enigmatically when I press her.

She also has a wine dedicated to her father, Arnaldo, which isn’t sold in the United States, at least not yet. I love that wine and drink it happily every time I visit her. The time was short on this trip to Montepulciano so we only had the time to speak during the fair but I hope to see her at Vinitaly where we usually get to hang out more. In the meantime, happy birthday to this Italian women in wine from whom I have learned a lot about wine, leadership, Tuscany, and many other items through the years. Cin-Cin,