Anteprime di Toscana: Brunello di Montalcino 2019

Tasting notes and reviews on 78 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2014 and Riserva 2013 at Benvenuto Brunello 2019

by Michael Godel

Looking east from Montalcino

The preview or anteprima tasting of current vintage releases known as Benvenuto Brunello took place on February 15th and 16th in the Chiostro Museo Montalcino. The producers were on hand to introduce their most recent (or imminent to be released) Rosso DOC 2017, Brunello DOCG 2014 and Brunello Riserva and/or Vigna 2013. Journalists from all over the world were present, including myself and WineAlign’s John Szabo M.S. John and I also paid most opportunistic, informative and excellent visits to the properties of Conti Costanti, Casanova di Neri, Col d’Orcia and Sassetti Livio – Pertimali. I’ll have more extensive reports on those visits coming in the next few weeks. I also had the opportunity to discuss the most pressing and current matters of the territory and the landscape with Consorzio Director Giacomo Pondini.

Last year I asked the questions, “are the 2013s much better than the 2012s? Do they exhibit more character, structure and depth?” If that contrast was a difficult one then the one moving from ’13 to ’14 is surely not a fair fight, nor should we spend any real-time engaging in the comparisons. Better is almost always the wrong word, especially because we are once again discussing the nature, merits and potential of sangiovese, a grape that needs the bottle before showing its true character. As I noted about the 13s, I am confident that history will be kind to 2014, though selection will be a greater part of the reconciliation. I repeat the mantra. “Diplomacy, kindness and patience will reward us all.”

Meteorological credentials are not required to understand how difficult the 2014 growing season must have been in Montalcino. Rather than focus on disconnects like dilution, astringency and bitterness it would be much more beneficial to celebrate what attributes went right. There are two examples of excellence in 2014 Brunello di Montalcino. On one hand there are sangiovese of clarity, transparency, honesty, grace and finesse. There are also a few handfuls of highly concentrated and glycerin-curved Brunello urged on by succulent acids and sweet tannins. Taste as many as you can to find the best of the best.

In Ontario Market Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2013
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

Not in market Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2013
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

In Ontario market Brunello di Montalcino

These are the wines from producers with importation agency representation in Ontario available for purchase either through LCBO channels (LCBO General List, VINTAGES, Classics Catalogue, VINTAGES Shop-Online or Destination Store) or through case purchases in the LCBO-Agent Consignment program. The list does not include producers’ wines represented in Ontario that are either brought in periodically through Private Order or have not yet been imported at all.

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2014

94 Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG Canalicchio 2014

Clear, transparent, honest and finessed. This is what you hope for from the 2014 Brunello. The clarity here is apparent from the get go, with fruit locked and shut tight beneath a reductive shell. Acids are succulent and far from sour, tannins pure, sweet and of the finest grain. Not about concentration because the vintage will resist allowing it. But this is made in the best possible way and will live a few decades or more. Drink 2024-2038. Tasted February 2019

94 Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Here comes a sangiovese with swagger and confidence born and bred out of understanding and finesse. Sweet rose and violet candied floral fruit gives way to a caressing palate of fine acids and some of the vintage’s finer tannin. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

94 Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Substance, glycerin and concentration gather for a Brunello of Brunello standards in Poggio di Sotto’s ’14. Intensely saturated and insular the nose is closed and for good reason. What you notice about the quality here is the silk across the palate and the length., It surely indicates quality, fine and ripe tannins and an ability to age. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2019

93 Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Cortonesi works through the challenge with a sangiovese in 2014 that finds critical mass and therefore celebrates la vita bella in Brunello. With no reason to choose a Vigna-designate nor a Riserva to produce, the best of the best therefore finds its way into this eponymous family Brunello. It’s equipped with notable vintage fruit, finer acids than many and a tannic structure that is not only correct but highly promising. Lengthiness is one of the best in the vintage. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted February 2019

93 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Ciacci e buono, from the beginning, instilled with confidence, finesse and grace. The fruit is beguiling Brunello sangiovese, sour cherry sweetening and flashing as it sits and you taste. Gathers all the necessary attributes along the forest path, through the well-attended vines and into a cellar ready to make things happen. That they do, with charm and structure. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2019

93 Gianni Brunelli Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Le Chiuse di Sotto in Podernovone just southeast of the Montalcino village where famous neighbours lurk and the valley stretches east to Pienza and Montepulciano. Gianni Brunelli’s is a careful, four-part curation of estate cru sangiovese for an honest, exacting and hearty worn on every family members’ sleeves Brunello. This may be exaggerated more than ever because of the 2014 vintage but we see it as the truth. Red fruit as sparked and punchy as ever meets equally spirited acidity and sharp, pinpointed tannins. Take me as I am this whispers beneath the vintage screams and you hear it clear as a blue sky Montalcino day. Bang on, banging the drum slowly so that cellar-aging is also possible. Drink 2019-2028. Tasted February 2019

92 Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
In the vintage there was no Cerretalto or Tenuta Nuova produced so this is an amalgamation of the three. All the best selections into one Brunello at the price of the white label. The vineyards from that label are in Podernuovo and Fiesole, with the Tenuta Nuova grapes coming from Cetine and Pietradonice. What does it all mean? In a sense it’s a super house-style and exaggeration of the way the white label has been made (expect for 2002 and 1992). Very specific red fruit, strawberry very alive and concentrated, with some variegated ripenesses beginning at one and showing up in many increments. High acids vintage, seemingly more savour than many and tannins quite intense. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

92 Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Argiano is expressive of a lovely herbal nose with blood orange and a little bit of sanguine personality. Typical vintage character done right, proper and well. Fleshy like a very ripe peach crossed with a tart red plum and certainly offers more of the it Brunello character than many or most in the field. A bit commercial for the house but understood of a vintage clarity and appreciated out of great necessity. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

92 Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Fattoi delivers sharpness and vitality for 2014 with verve, energy and rigour. Though the fruit is by now classically 2014, meaning it’s tangy and sour, the acids and the tannins are driven or are powerfully driving forces, of nature and for success. Would really like to see where this one goes. Could be a sleeper and one of the great values of the vintage. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2019

92 Sassetti Livio – Pertimali Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
From primarily grey arglileux (clay) soils though truth be told the variegation includes yellow, black and brown. Also found is Galestro, Pietra (like Forte) and a wide array of fossil shells, all much larger than it would be imagined. Here to the south west of the Montosoli hill is a warm and humid place so airflow is much more important than anything, to prevent disease and because ripeness is rarely an issue. The fruit is dark, hematic, all in. I tasted 45 examples of 2014 this morning and none were like this. It’s also silky smooth without any oak sheathing, make-up or cake icing. Salumi notes define the curative nature, acids are fine and driving, a high-toned moment is slightly Bretty and tannins are super smooth. High quality from 2014. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2019

92 Il Marroneto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Correctly light and transparent, accepting of vintage and what such a sangiovese needs to be. The grandi botti feel comes across on the palate, with a sweetening but even more so a true spice clarity. Fine acids and generally sweet tannins put this lightning Brunello in a class of its own, not often seen, surely atypical but well done in the context of limestone-light and sharp red Italian reds. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

91 San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
The rusticity is apparent in Brunello with mouth attacking tannin and excellent acidity. Very much appreciate the lack of sour-edging that is so prevalent in many 2014s. This is more along the dried fruit and savoury-herbal lines without the tang. Some volatility though not a sour one. Lingers well and seems built for aging as well as any. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2019

91 Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Nardi takes the vintage hand and likewise opens up their hearts, throws their cards down and makes public the plan. Ripe fruit, short to moderate structure and relatively easy early drink ability. Some more tannin than a few, some it of underdeveloped but for the most part sweet, fine, ready and willing to work with protein, preferably on the saltier side of hard rock life. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2019

91 La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
La Gerla finds and coaxes some pretty fruit out of 2014 in a stylish Brunello that affirms the appellation in the best possible way. Though really quite dusty and even a bit sharp it is ripe cherry fruit that leads the way. A bit chewy and on the sour-edged vintage side but mostly balanced and showing good length. Solid work up against all odds. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2019

91 La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Not too many Brunelli were able to rise above the simple and the superficial in 2014 so La Leccaia’s perfume and grace stand apart. The palate texture is all ’14, tangy, tart and fully equipped with demanding acidity and tannin. That said there is nary a moment of astringency, leading to believe the age ability here is at the fore. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2019

91 Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino Docg 2014
Lisini’s rises quickly to another level with some glycerin fruit full of pectin and pure energetic drive. The extraction and concentration are at the forefront of the vintage which allows the high-toned acids and demanding tannins to stay in balance with the rest. Aromatics and texture are righteous and proper though the sour notes are just a pinch awkward early on. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2019

91 Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
One of the more reductive 2014s, the concentration is above average in Mastrojanni’s non-vigna designate Brunello. There is some solid palate richness and while acidity leans to the sour it’s quite rich in its own right. This is a pretty viscous sangiovese for the vintage and with few years time should deliver one of the more authentic Montalcino experiences. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2019

91 Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
There is a substantiating reality to this sangiovese, typical of the sourness that vintage will not allow to be hidden though with more concentration than many. Chewy really comes to mind when you attack and in turn allows the palate to wage battle on your buds. Things fall into place well enough in spite of what 2014 wants to do to distract from the truth. Clearly a set above the norm. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

91 Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Caprili is quite tense, nervous, unable to relax. It pulses with acidity and tannin, structure is certain and intensity over the moon. Welcome to one side of the tracks, the one without compromise and where Brunello is Brunello and over on the other side sangiovese is sangiovese. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

91 Collemattoni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Collematoni is a ripe one without breaching the grey areas of 2014 Brunello. Fruit in the pomegranate and red currant spectrum is protected beneath a hard tannic shell with circulating acids. Quite a beast this young and needing three to five years to gain its charms. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2019

90 Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Despite and in spite of the northern vineyard’s location of six small plots in a 10 hectare area surrounding Casato Prime Donne this from Colombini is quite ripe for the vintage. Strawberries and dusty, savoury accents drive the fruit into a pool of fine, welling and syrupy acidity. It’s an unusually simplified and somewhat flatlined wine for Donatella out of a vintage neither old-school nor flashy modern, yet major challenges are no obstacle for this estate and so her sangiovese is still very full of charm and grace. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

90 Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Fanti’s takes no bait nor tries to fit odd shapes into even holes simply because 2014 was not the time to do so. And so their Brunello strides straight down the middle of Broad Street like a champion in 2014. Which I suppose is exactly where it needs to be. This is sangiovese confident in ripe if sour and tangy fruit supported by high toned acids and middle weight tannins. Perfectly middle of the road and commercially viable Brunello. Correct, wholly acceptable and well-made. Do what you gotta do. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2019

90 Antinori Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Pretty expressive fruit, a touch variegated, plenty of savoury and dusty accents, verdancy and dried components. Hints at astringency and stays clear enough, with fine, almost sweet tannins. Careful selection keeps this on course to do what it’s supposed to, vintage in and in this case, vintage out. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2019

90 Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Val di Suga’s is well extracted and rendered sangiovese with a combination of fresh and dried fruit. There is a good wealth of triangular attributes running in a straight line up, across and back down. First that fruit, then ripping acidity and finally a variegate of tannin. Quite solid and composed with admirable structure. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

90 Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcinoco DOCG 2014
The difficult vintages separate the adulte from the bambine and so expectation can’t help but run high for this storied house. I except the 2014 may be misunderstood. Though quiet and maybe even needing to be described as in a state of demure, this from Barbi translates to grace. Forget vintage for this is Barbi, albeit in a world occupied by some not so unusual aromatics and flavours. Apples? Limes? Apricots? Perhaps. For now the state of grace is not fully accessible or appreciated. After some passage of time, in conjunction with good grip and slowly dissipating astringency, this will live on as a Barbi Brunello. It will do so in honesty, as if there could be any doubt. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted February 2019

90 Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Capanna delivers the goods for the vintage with a fruit, acidity and tannin appropriation for solid commercial appeal. Ambition is set aside for a different sort of plan and one that includes asking folks to just buck up, sit down and sip. Don’t think too much on this. It won’t reinvent the wheel but it will pour a fine and decent glass of Montalcino sangiovese. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

90 Col D’orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A gregarious and sour-edged entry marks the ’14 Col d’Orcia with plenty of spice. Cinnamon and star anise are exotic notes off the top and then things turn tough and closed. This is a tightly wound 2014, clearly one of the ambitious albeit traditional attempts at perpetuating great and storied Brunello glory. Remains to be seen if it can reach the heights of 1979. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted February 2019

89 San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Lovely sweet candied rose and herbal nose to this sangiovese and for the first time some reduction. Quite intense, locked down, massive and working for a living. Give some credit to this wine. It will settle into a lovely place in a few years time. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2019

89 Fornacella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Fornacella, as in “fornace,” the furnace, from a nearby and still standing 1490 built brick kiln. Fornacella is both fruit fleshy and high-toned, full of tangy if unusually designed, orchard and stone fruit. Really tart and high strung, it’s as if the fruit spent time in that kiln, so much so it could take 10 years to come down. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February 2019

89 La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
La Màgia’s is rich and extracted sangiovese with tangy acids that linger for quite some time. Some quality fruit marks the way but it’s two years away from finding any real integration. It seems there should be some more substance, even if concentration is compromised because of the season, to merit and handle the level of acidity and then tannin. Nevertheless it should find a few years of good open window drinking. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2019

89 Terre Nere Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campigli Vallone 2014
Here is a house also in understanding of what needed to be done and accomplished in the treacherous and lecherous vintage. The fruit here is almost sweet, certainly crushable and blessed with negligible tannin. If it’s priced to sell it should populate restaurant lists for three years while waiting for the much anticipated 15s to come. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2019

89 Piccini Villa Al Cortile Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A wild and exotic perfume pervades the ’14 Cortile and one that is the first of its ilk after 23 others showing nothing of the sort. It’s admittedly mixed with a good level of volatility but the promise is great. Returns again and agin to that perfume, where strawberry and liquorice live. A bit overripe perhaps as noted on the palate. Acids are tart, tight and supportive while tannins do the yeoman thing. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

89 Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A hint of zafferina marks and marls the sweet fruit entry into Salvi’s ’14, from which a combination of that sweetness and sour edging express the vintage. There is a kindness on the nose that invites while the palate tries hard to offer a similar level of amiability. Restaurant ready, perfectly fine and amenable, good to go on a commercial level. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2019

89 Podere Bonacchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Molino Della Suga 2014
Molino della Suga is a new cru label for me from Bonacchi and this particular sangiovese is a concentrated and grippy number. Intensely tannic and somehow not overly astringent but certainly drying and demanding. More fruit would make this a formidable Brunello. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

89 Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Caparzo’s is blessed with a sweet aromatic perfume, at once exotic but also different. At first it’s almost as if it strikes like riesling with botrytis-affected fruit notes but no, it’s more about flowers and fruit on the ripe side of life. The fruit is drawn from a few Montalcino poles but the southern blocks are what try hardest to keep it balanced. In the end it’s highly consumable, commercial and drinkable. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2019

89 Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Bosco’s in certainly one of the riper 2014 Brunelli, with orange, lemon and peach notes that stray very far away from the classic cherry sangiovese spectrum. It’s acids are tart but not overly demanding and the tannins relatively calm for the vintage. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2019

88 Quercecchio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Ripeness was achieved with extra hang time and while the fullness and power are duly noted there is a lag of tannin, even while acidity pops and powers its way around. An able-bodied sangiovese to be sure and one to talk out loud with plenty of support for a few years run. Length is pretty good in the face of sour edging. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2019

88 Lazzeretti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Guarded and reductive, this is a stand alone Brunello with no hurry to allow judgment to be passed. More a case of self-preservation than hard to get there are tannins here as fierce as any. The sour notes are minor and the drying fruit makes it difficult to find any great pleasure. Will improve though not forever. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted February 2019

88 San Felice Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A notable amount of Brett on the quick nose and then some fleshier stone fruit. All sorts of fruit in here, variegated in ripeness and creating a wine of personality if not one of early cohesion. Lingers long so structure wants to be its friend. Give it time to of reconcile the awkwardness youth. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2019

88 Tenuta Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
From Rainer, Hayo and Franz Loacker in Casanuova to the west of the village. The clay soils pack at upwards of 450-500m on slopes at one of the higher elevations in Montalcino. Here is a big wine from Corte Pavone and one that could only have been difficult to manage in a vintage that tested the communal mettle. Dark fruit, wood spice and finishing chocolate. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2019

#tommaso @cortonesi_wine @brunellodimontalcino

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2013

93 Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta Nuova 2013
The first vintage was 1993, from two newer estates, of Cetine and Pietradonice. The idea was to extend from the White Label with more richness and a potential of five further years of aging. The picking was prudent and it shows in the consistency of both the ripeness and the tannins. The acids accumulate, circulate and then travel up the side insides to a place of near nirvana. They go where they should, leaving the liquorice fruit gaining with spice to linger while the solicitation is for another sip. Chewy and ropey sangiovese, in balance and well-structured for a decade and a half easy. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2019

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013

96 Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Macchiarelle 2013
Fanti’s comes from a very intense climate and soil structure so no surprise this ’13 is a humid, exceptionally warming and high glycerin Riserva. The source is two point five hectares of old vines (averaging 35-40 years) at 250m. Le Macchiarelle, a.k.a “the little thicket” doles wood spice, which only adds to the layering and increases the density quotient. This needs salty protein in a way so many may not, for the past and to look two decades forward into the future. Vigna Le Macchiarelle is truly the sort of high-end Brunello Riserva to put away and forget about in the cellar before emerging at dinner, at home, yours or theirs, with the best of friends. Trust me, please. It will be a grand moment. Drink 2024-2038. Tasted February 2019

95 Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Pian Di Conte 2013
Pian di Conte is only made in the worthiest of years from a select curation of grapes off of 20-plus year-old vines out of two highly specific blocks on 20 hectares in Castelnuovo dell’Abate. At 400m of altitude it is the special vineyard Paretaio, planted to a sangiovese clone selected by Pierluigi Talenti. The ’13 Riserva exhibits that combination of wise and stylish, a well-dressed and seasoned veteran Brunello with expertise born of talent and ethic. The acids are some of the most succulent for 2013 Riserva, surrounding, lifting and extolling the virtues of a well-executed harvest. The texture meets the architecture in a seamless transition though not without that notable crossroads of tension-welling acidity and tannin. Impressive wine. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted February 2019

95 Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Lisini’s Riserva is another sangiovese matter all together. The nose oozes of the most intense liqueur, warm and bleeding with hematic and even ferric notes. The palate is massively layered though stretched, elegantly structured, meandering around, along roads and through woods. High intensity of fruit, equalled by acidity and then these caressing tannins. Perhaps too big for some but what’s to complain about in the potential of a 25-30 year wine. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted February 2019

94 Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
There are Barbi Riservas and there are Barbi Riservas. Many are the toughest nuts to crack and then along comes a fruit beauty like 2013. Not sure I’ve ever tasted this sort of gregarious nature from a Barbi, normale, Riserva, or Vigna del Fiore. There is no compromise to tradition but there too is no holding back in delivery of ripe, fattened red fruit, sweet acidity and even sweeter tannins. The picking, selecting, vinifying and aging of the components that made up this wine were spot on. A gift to the consumer. Start your Brunello Riserva journey right here. Drink 2019-2027. Tasted February 2019

94 La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Hard to get, place and open this Riserva from Leccaiaia. A chic and stylish robe of fruit bedevilled with charm and bedecked with jewels hangs adorned behind a veil of silk and lace. Then you taste this sangiovese and you feel the weight it’s capable of exhorting. It chortles with sanguinity and a toasty, almost charred red flesh, both vegetable and protein. Such an interesting, curious and graceful Brunello. Drink 2021-2030. Tasted February 2019.

93 Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Caraprzo gives off night scents of a northern Montalcino climate with florals and cool wet Galestro. It adds up to a lovely herbal potpourri in a very stylish Riserva with expertly judged grip, primarily through the conduit of acidity. In and around the Montosoli hill there are these vineyards that slide their way into these wines with savoury pulchritude. Does Riserva get more stylish than this? Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2019

93 Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Welcome to the Brunello Riserva you may just want to drink right now. From estate vineyards at Casato Prime Donne. The fruit is luscious and as full as ’13 can be, ripe to the max and this from the northern zone. Herbal in an Amaro way, some desiccation to create this red, black and blue sangiovese liqueur. Rich and chewy with a silky mouthfeel and even chewier tannins. Not particularly grippy or tannic by demand, it flows and apportions full circle, ode to the earth, all in and blood orange bright. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted February 2019

92 Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Colombaiolo 2013
From Tommasi this is only the third Riserva after the family purchased the estate in 2011, though a wine has been made from Colombaiolo fruit since 1996. The vineyard was planted in 1991 on a hectare and a half on the Sant’Angelo in Colle Casisano estate. The fruit is quite variegated, full and ripe. The acids are supportive, on the high-toned side and the tannins are really fine. A nice balance and a tri-symbiotic relationship exists between the three friends and in the end a structure of fine accord is managed. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

91 Piccini Villa Al Cortile Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
The ways in which Piccini’s Riserva come flying from the glass are a sign of excitement and haste because this sangiovese really wants to gain your respect and your love. Fruit sits on the top of the ripe spectrum and is by now resolved and ready to deliver the pleasures of the flesh. If ever there was a 2013 Riserva to pop, pour and enjoy while the others and certainly the ‘12s continue to develop, this Villa al Cortile must certainly be the one. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted February 2019

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

95 Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 2012
Not so surprising I suppose that Poggio al Vento 2012 is still reductive, closed and locked tight. There is a massive Poggio (al Vento) of fruit piled high inside the shell from the windy hill above the river. Fine tannins are even more impressive is the fine-styled acidity. When the shell cracks the riches will spill out, across and over. Over everything. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted February 2019

94 Sassetti Livio – Pertimali Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012
Finally a nose of something not just recognizable but exacting and necessary for Brunello di Montalcino from this frazioni just to the northeast of the village. Dark cherries, rich and luxurious dark cherries. That and a cool minty savour plus a creamy gelato that silkens the palate. The grip and force are 2012 but the refinement is all 2012 and Sassetti. A very stylish Brunello and not even yet entered the zone. Drink 2021-2035. Tasted February 2019

Grazie e bravissimi to the hardest working sommelier cru in the wine business ~ @consbrunello #benvenutobrunello #benvenutobrunello2019 #duamiladiciannove

Not in market Brunello di Montalcino

These are the wines from producers without importation agency representation in Ontario but also wines represented in Ontario that are not currently available. They may either be brought in periodically through Private Order or have not yet been imported at all.

Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

97 Conti Costanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colle Al Matrichese 2015
Andrea Costanti is convinced this is a great vintage. “One of the best.” The weather was perfect following a beneficial cold winter. The harvest was early but not compromisingly so and it saw no hurdles, obstacles or intendments. The barrel use is bigger, older and wiser. This is the sort of concentrated Costanti that speaks to the 2019 philosophy, of acidity, ripeness and balance. Time on skins was about a month (including two weeks of fermentation and oxidation introducing délestage) and no protective sulphur. There is a control in this sangiovese, a powerful restraint but more than that, more so a calm, but not before storm. Finesse, grip and beauty, like a statue of a stag, in a courtyard, lit by moonlight. Tannins are all pervasive, fully stated, yet to feel a necessity for attack. They will and we will retreat, Then we will advance, with caution, further to find full pleasure for two decades. At the very minimum. Drink 2023-2039. Tasted February 2019

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2014

95 Baricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Baricci’s is extenuated 2014 circumstances Brunello with intense firm grip and fine, fine acids. Those acids are equipped with succulence to support some fleshy, really clean and ripe fruit. The barrel addendum is just about spot on and the length is exceptional. Beautifully structured sangiovese in 2014. Finishes with a great little juicing of blood orange. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted February 2019

94 Cupano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Cupano’s fruit concentration is so impressive in 2014 that the minor amount of Breettanomyces is but a smudge on the glass of sangiovese life. Here is Brunello that found a way in 2014, to grow quality fruit, pick it at just the right moment and deliver it straight to glass. The barrel work et al along the way is but a messenger’s or a shepherd’s conduit. Really well done. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2019

92 Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Lovely little stylish sangiovese of proper red fruit in a vintage that required this effort of exactitude of output. This house takes it easy, stays calm and allows the weakness to become a great positive. No overdubbing or make up here, just simplicity and pulchritude. Not the most structured one but lovely to drink. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

92 Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Ventolaio, the gypsy king Brunello of 2014, wild and feral, ferric and alive. It’s a jumpy sangiovese, hitting all the hight notes and correct vintage buttons. Pulses with energy and delivers some quality tannins. What it lacks in grippy structure last seen in 2013 it makes up for with great fruit. Much love for this exceptional house. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2019

92 Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Le Chiuse delivers one of the realer deals in 2014 Brunello, with admirably pleasing and concentrated fruit set against a traditional backdrop of ripe acidity, minor Brettanomyces and full-bodied tannins. As it’s not an overly perfumed sangiovese it bucks the vintage trend if only because it avoids botrytis-affected atypical aromas. It’s quite a rich 2014, certainly a bit volatile and capable of going longer than most. Finishes by leaving you a linger of its chewy mouthful. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2019

91 Tenuta Le Potazzine Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Darkness of fruit it beautifully lit by a candle of sangiovese transparency in Pottazine’s impressive effort in 2014. It’s a bit past ripe but not in cohorts with angry tannins so treat this explicitly as a drink early Brunello, perfect for restaurant lists in the affordable category. Bravo for the estate’s understanding of the cards dealt and for laying them on the table. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2019

91 Cerbaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Cerbaia is neighbour to Sassetti on the way up the Montalcino hill. Lorenzo is now making their wines though just for the past year or so. This is a cured and weighty ’14, of salumi aromatics, roasted meat bones and the brushy herbs of a hillside. It’s quite a warm and humid sangiovese of dark fruit but also formidable acids. Quite robust, vigorous and serious. Will have many fans and rightfully so. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

90 Tenuta Di Sesta Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Some lovely rich fruit notes orate the opening remarks and that speaks volumes in the vintage. It’s a fleshy Brunello with sweet acids and corporeal substance albeit a minor verdancy streak running through the tannins. Hard to avoid and not so distracting considering the other fine qualities of this generous sangiovese. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2019

89 Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A minty-savoury sangiovese with moderate to good fruit concentration and some high notes early on. In fact these are notes that will likely continue for quite some time if not longer and longer than that. Tart and angular, working through the difficulties with admirability, focus and what we call “gutting it out.” Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2019

89 Podere Canapaccia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
From the northern part of Montalcino, between Caparzo and Torrenieri. Lovely red fruit with high aromatic and perfumed tones bring charm to this 2014 in the face of that vintage’s green tannins. The palate offers more fruit in the cranberry-pomegranate-currant spectrum and a lean and linear stride. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2019

89 Uccelliera Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A combination of sweet fruit and volatility gather in this tart yet reductive Brunello. The fruit is quite gregarious and almost generous. Hard to figure though because the tannins are also somewhat soft. Will drink well for a few years. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2019

88 Podere Le Ripi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A change of pace here with quite tart cran-apple and cranberry sour fruit with more glycerin and substance. Tannins are not exactly green but they are not what could be called caressing. Quick to the point with sweetness coming in the form of an herbal pesto. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2019

88 Agostina Pieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Pieri delivers some pretty solid fruit mixed with a briny, salty, almost pickled acidity and also some botrytis like points. Works in some ways and then goes too far in others. Disjointed and yet the possibilities are there. Remains to be seen where this will go. A bit hot on the finish. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2019

87 Sesta Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Hard and malic, tart and angular, dark fruit but lean and light. Looks are deceiving here in a Brunello apparently light and transparent but actually rather powerful and dank. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2019

87 Tenuta Crocedimezzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
Quite thin, lean and sour red fruit, unfortunately part in parcel very typical of the vintage. Keep wishing for some flesh and some meat on the bone, even a dried salumi but it’s not forthcoming. A good Rosso perhaps, but not even a great one. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2019

87 La Palazzetta Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
La Palazzetta’s is an awkward sangiovese with aromatic intrusions somewhat inexplicable. The augmented feeling comes across with notes of saffron and apricot, in addition to the vintage notes replete with blood orange and cranberry. This is almost cran-apple, with more than enough citrus to acidulate onions. Sour-edged and light but dark-skinned at the same time. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted February 2019

87 Capanne Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014
A mouth-watering and also, if not so much more so a puckering sangiovese with tart acids, slightly hard and pretty demanding tannins. Nothing out of the ordinary in a vintage that is anything but ordinary. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted February 2019

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2013

93 Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Cerretalto 2013
The Cerretalto is kept in the cellar for six years, not as a labelled Riserva but that is really what it is. It’s colder here than in the closer to Montalcino vineyards and the harvest is two weeks later. The first vintage was 1982 for a cru that delivers more savour, redder fruit, sanguinity and firm grip. That it does from 2013, with blood orange acidity and a seamlessness that connects all the dots, dots the I’s and crosses the T’s. The layers here come from development naturally occurring in nature, packed tight, interwoven like vegetable tapestry, with slow-developing help from tonneaux and botti, mostly 50hL or bigger. Fineness of tannin will take this long into the 30s. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted February 2019

Torrecampanaria, Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013

96 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Pianrosso 2013
Striking aromatics emanate from Ciaaci’s 2013 Pianrosso and you know immediately where it stands and where you will be taken. The level of excellence is noted without hesitation and the launch into taking it all in is done without trepidation. A beautifully lit sangiovese, flitting and twirling, “like a flame dancing in a candle, lighting up your living room.” Great presence and finesse, a tight little strummed set of chords and soulful if traditional harmonies. So beautiful and refined. Drink 2021-2032. Tasted February 2019

95 Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Poggio di Sotto’s Riserva persists in a void occupied by reduction and grip, in full protection of fruit not yet needing to really be set free. A few years lay ahead before it will open, bloom and reach towards the the blue light of a Montalcino day. This Riserva is not shy but it sees no reason to open up. The fruit beneath is chewy and crunchy, fresh as the day it was born from the barrel. Very stylish, traditional, culpable in clarity and five years away from laying out the hand it was dealt. Drink 2023-2035. Tasted February 2019

94 Gianni Brunelli Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Chiuse Di Sotto 2013
Gianni Brunelli’s ’13 Riserva is cool, stylish, a touch linear and lean but so very transparent, honest and clear. Few Riserva walk such a fine line and it’s a true breath of fresh air to catch such a wine at a moment like this, so comfortable, so cool and so fine. Drink 2020-2028. Tasted February 2019

92 Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Schiena d’Asino 2013
Here comes Riserva with a furthered concentration, one that is expected but regardless, truly lauded. Still a youthful proposition, the fruit-acid-tannin structure is tightly and intensely wound but also layered with more than notable barrel induction. Quite a mouthful this one and on the road to living a true-blue secondary umami life. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2019

91 Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
Such a charmer this Brizio, immediately with perfume and fields of colour in a modernist’s dreams. Silky and dreamy, full-bodied and while acids are a touch sour, they melt into the berry-chocolate ooze of this highly stylish Brunello Riserva. Fine tannins will help this age for five plus more years. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2019

89 Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013
The aromatics on the ’13 Riserva are pretty, floral, high-toned, like acidulated violets. The palate is deep and brooding, full and marked by barrel notes that bring chocolate and vanilla. The wood is very prevalent and yet the structure is not one of force or grip. The best years are in the present. Drink 2019-2022. Tasted February 2019

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

92 Cerbaia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012
A rich and luxurious Riserva from a single plot from Cerbaia, up the Montalcino hill from Sassetti-Pertimali. Quite a bit more advanced and developed than the sister Sassetti making it so very serviceable while we wait two more years for the warmer and grippier one to come into its window and place. Balsamic and soy are here with porcini and tartufo. Smoky and charred as well with real caramelized, burnt brisket meaty character and plenty of riveting acidity. Might surprise and live 10 more luxurious years. The jury is out. Drink 2019-2026. Tasted February 2019

Thanks once again for reading up on our Anteprime di Toscana experiences. La prossima volta a Montalcino.

Good to go!

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