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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.2 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 20 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by absolut on 7/11/2012 & rated 90 points: fruchtige Nase, noch sehr tanninreich und kompakt, starke Säure, nicht sehr harmonisch und homogen aber interessant, für Otto-Normal-Genießer fraglich; an zweiten Tag (über Nacht verkorkt) Tannine besser eingebunden (91), gut trinkbar, aber PGV ... (5985 views) | | | Tasted by dcwino on 5/11/2012 & rated 93 points: Inaugural Great Steak-Off (Clarksville, Maryland): A lot softer impression than the 99 Silvio, strawberry, red fruits, raisin, leather and cedar. Not one element that sticks out, harmonious and drinking nicely at the moment. (7085 views) | | | Tasted by wickedwax on 6/6/2011: Northern Italian Dinner and Wine (Shannon's): This was drinking so perfectly with just enough primary fruit coupled with beautifully apparent secondary notes. We "Audozed" it for 2 hours and it was ready to go. Aromas of primarily red fruit with a touch of black fruit and notes of milk chocolate, cigar box, leather, blue flowers, anise and earth. There was a small touch of brett, but it only added to the complexit of the wine rather than intrude on it. Elegant with a satin soft texture with great concentration and beautiful juicy acidity. Layered with great complexity in the palate, this was so amazingly balanced and so difficult to keep ones hands off of it. Wonderful length. I'm usually not much of a Brunello drinker, but this was quite special and I'd probably be drinking more if I had more like this. (7136 views) | | | Tasted by blancdeblancs on 5/19/2011: Tasted this with winemaker Vincenzo Abbruzzese. touch of brick color on the edges. really a different animal than the '04 and '06. dried herbs and soft compost otn. tea leaves...like drinking the earth. like younger vintages, a very silky mouthfeel. lost some of its pretty fruit up front but still round in the mouth. a hint of grip. (6488 views) | | | Tasted by Lipsman on 10/18/2010 & rated 93 points: Great nose showing rich aromas. Complex wine. Smooth and ready to drink. Full bodied. Balanced. (6827 views) | | | Tasted by ricknat1 on 4/25/2010 & rated 90 points: Bright and fruity. The 98 is a lighter version of the 97 or 99 that is drinking very well right now, with only 30 minutes to breathe. Very nice, more delicate than powerful, but unmistakably Valdicava. (2522 views) | | | Tasted by the godfather on 4/25/2010 & rated 93 points: excellent wine from a lesser vintage with plenty of vibrancy (2603 views) | | | Tasted by wallstreet on 11/18/2009: Excellent wine. very smooth and elegant. Highly recommended. I believe the wine is "ready" for consumption, but probably could improve with a few more years. Went perfectly with the veal parmagiana I had for dinner. (2859 views) | | | Tasted by Serge Birbrair on 11/17/2009: Alan opened the bottle 2 hours prior to dinner, no decanting. Chocolate and mint, very pleasant at the moment and still has some room for improvement. I liked it at blind tasting few months ago and I like it now. (2781 views) | | | Tasted by Serge Birbrair on 8/11/2009: ready now, drink and enjoy (2820 views) | | | Tasted by Chevaliers on 11/12/2008 & rated 94 points: Elegant, balanced with warm suave tannins, a hint of Burgundian barnyard aromas, full bodied and ready to drink. There is a great nose of plums, cedar, black cherries and leather with long flavor. This will last years but can drink now. -JBL (2991 views) | | | Tasted by foodandwineblog on 11/5/2008 & rated 93 points: Opened and tasted, then poured- the wine sat in the glass for 45 minutes before drinking while the bottle remained opened and was drank over 2 hours. Deep Brunello color with tons of raisin, dark berries, black cherry, and wet cedar, tobacco/earth on the nose. On the palate the wine is very rich yet elegant, with layers of dark fruit, hints of spice and perfectly integrated and silky tannins. Had this most recently two years ago and thought it was a solid 91 pts...this has evolved so well and is drinking beautifully. Peaking soon, though I think it will continue to please for many years to come. This was paired with a perfectly prepared rack of Wild Boar served with a celery root risotto and chianti reduction at Cinghiale in Baltimore- one of my favorite meals of 2008! 93 pts by itself, 96 pts with the meal. (2971 views) | | | Tasted by vanpe003 on 6/2/2007 flawed bottle: corked (3215 views) | | | Tasted by vanpe003 on 6/2/2007 & rated 91 points: Popped / poured. Less complex, and not quite the depth of the 2001, but a nice wine nevertheless. Still needs more time, as the tannins haven't fully integrated with the rest of the palate. Decanting would be another option. Remains fairly youthful at this point. Probably overpriced at retail. (3241 views) | | | Tasted by VegasTony on 2/21/2006: These notes from a tasting of Brunellos from Valdicava, Friggiali, and Canalicchio, including all vintages from '95-'02, except '97. All bottles were open approximately three hours. Of all the wines, the '01 Valdicava Brunello came out on top. Very big, plenty of fruit. Would love to see this one again in ten years or so.
Of the Valdicava wines, the '02 (a Rosso - no Brunello was made) was just ok. The '99 was good, the '99 Madonna a bit better, but the '98 had some unattractive vegetable elements on the nose & palate, and the '98 Madonna was brett-affected. Of these Valdicavas, the '01 Brunello was the best and the only one I'd like to consider further.
Of the Friggiali wines, the best was the '01. Nice! Of all the '01 Brunellos tasted, this was the best bang for the buck. The '02 Friggiali (again, just a Rosso in that year) was no good, with strong vegetable influences and some volatility. The '01 Donna Olga, though more expensive than the "regular" '01, showed a watery hole in the mid-palate, and a shorter finish. The '99 was ok, but showed some vegetables (tomato, red pepper). The '99 Donna Olga also had some stewy vegetable aromas, and some volatility, but tasted ok. The '96 was browning, on its way out - don't bother.
Of the Canalicchio wines, the '98 Brunello was the best tasted, and was actually the best of all wines tasted if you want to drink a bottle NOW. The '01 "Canalicchio di Sopra" had more fruit than most of the other wines tasted, with some grippy tannins, but just ok on the taste. The '95 was browning, and had a slightly stewed vegetable nose, but actually tasted significantly better than it smelled.
In summary, the best overall was the '01 Valdicava, the best value was the '01 Friggiali, and the best for drinking immediately was the '98 Canalicchio. (3791 views) | | | Tasted by rjonwine@gmail.com on 8/8/2003 & rated 91 points: Subtle but intriguing tart cherry, beet salad, game nose; tart cherry palate with good body and medium acidity; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. (1845 views) |
| Valdicava Producer website
Valdicava is the name of the area that leads into the foothills of Montalcino. To the left is the La Casa vineyard of Caparzo and to the right is Val Di Suga and the small hill in the middle of his property is the oldest vines planted on the property (1970) “Madonna del Piano”. The Valdicava estate was one of the original members of the Brunello consortium, formed in 1967. Like everyone else in the region the Abrusezzi family was trying to emulate the wines of Biondi Santi. The early years were tough as the producers were feeling their way through production problems and many did not have the facility to produce outstanding wines. The 1970’s saw a huge investment of newcomers in Montalcino. The Cinzano vermouth firm, with Coco-Cola money behind it, headed a group that purchased Col d’Orcia, an estate that has produced wine for years. Marchesi de Frescobaldi was involved with a group known as Enoviticola Senese, which had French, German, and Spanish investors as well. Their estate, Castelgiocondo, brought out its first bottles in 1980, not all Brunello. The most talked about outsider was the house of Banfi, the largest US importer of Italian wines, which had prepared some 1,000 acres of vines (only 125 of them in Montalcino) at a place called Poggio d’Oro, or “The golden Hill”. With all this new activity the old timers like Valdicava were forced to continually improve their wines to keep up with the foreign talent. Valdicava has been experimenting with rootstock and different clones of Brunello Grosso on their estate for the last thirty years and today they seem to have the winning combination.
Valdicava is one of the stars of the Brunello district. The wines of this young estate are the handy work of Vincenzo Abbruzzese. Vincenzo is a perfectionist. He will settle for nothing short of excellence and it shows in his work. He has seen the big companies come in and make a huge impact in terms of recognition of his regions wines, but loves the things about this region that make it unique. One of the things that make him feel at home here are the goat and the horse outside the winery. His father had a goat and a horse on the property that became comrades (supposedly not an uncommon thing in this part of the world) and when Vincenzo looks out over the vineyard and sees these two animals hanging out together it makes him remember his father.
This estate has been dedicated to quality from the very start with an ongoing experimentation of rootstock and clone selection refining every vintage of this wine. The oldest vines on the property were planted in 1970 and the youngest in 2001. Vincenzo Abbruzzese is one of the leaders in terms of progressive thinking and cutting edge viticulture in Montalcino today. He has a no chemical/back to nature approach to viticulture at Valdicava and believes that the health of the vineyard is most important and that chemicals harm the long term the health of the soils. They are a short-term/easy fix to a specific problem and can cause even bigger problems in the long run.
The vineyard is planted 3,000 vines per acre and the soil is a mixture of clay, sand, Galestro and this combination of different soil types, four different rootstocks and four different clones of Sangiovese make Valdicava one of the most unique wines made in Brunello. Valdicava did years of research to find out which rootstock/clone combination did the best in each particular soil type and the new releases from this winery soundly prove that this is one of the top producers in Brunello Di Montalcino today. The winery produces on average 2,000 cases of Rosso di Montalcino, 2,000 cases of Brunello di Montalcino and 500 cases of the Riserva Brunello di Montalcino labeled “Madonna del Piano”. Due to the limited production of these wines they can be very hard to find, especially when wine writers like Robert Parker Jr. giving praise to the effect of: "The 1995 Madonna Del piano is a candidate for wine of the vintage." And even more impressive stating that: “Vincenzo Abbruzzese is Montalcino’s number one over-achiever with winner after winner since 1988. The secret – a willingness, indeed eagerness, to spend whatever it takes for quality in addition to utilizing several of Italy’s outstanding consultants, winemaker Attilio Pagli and agronomist Andrea Paoletti (the former Antinori vineyard manager). Pagli is unfortunately little known to the larger public, but no oenologist in Italy has made so many excellent wines since the mid-1980’s.”
We would have to agree with Parker because whenever we do a tasting including Valdicava’s wines they almost always steal the show. Although most great Brunello's really do not offer immediate gratification, Abbruzzese 's wine has a fair amount of immediate appeal, due to its rich forward fruit. The Rosso Di Montalcino from Valdicava is so rich it surpasses many Brunellos in richness and structure. The grapes come from the same vineyard, and in off vintages the Rosso from Valdicava are some of the best buys from this famous wine region.SangioveseSANGIOVESE: (Pronounced "sahn-joh-vhe-se").
Sangiovese - Italy's claim to fame, the pride of Tuscany. Traditionally made, the wines are full of cherry fruit, earth, and cedar. It produces Chianti (Classico), Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montepulciano, Montefalco Rosso, and many others. Sangiovese is also the backbone in many of the acclaimed, modern-styled "Super-Tuscans", where it is blended with Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc) and typically aged in French oak barrels, resulting a wine primed for the international market in the style of a typical California cabernet: oaky, high-alcohol, and a ripe, jammy, fruit-forward profile.[16]
Semi-classic grape grown in the Tuscany region of Italy. Used to produce the Chianti and other Tuscan red wines. Has many clonal versions, two of which seem to predominate. The Sangiovese Grosso clone Brunello variety is used for the dark red, traditionally powerful and slow-maturing "Brunello di Montalcino" wine. The other is the Sangiovese Piccolo, also known under the historical synonym name Sangioveto, used for standard Chianti Classico DOC wines. Old vine derived wine is often used in the better versions, needing several years ageing to reach peak. A third clone, Morellino, is used in a popular wine blend with the same name found in the southern part of the province. Recent efforts in California with clones of this variety are very promising, producing medium-bodied reds with rich cherry or plumlike flavors and aromas. Among the available clonal versions are R6 and R7, derived from the Montalcino region of Italy, having average productivity/ripening and producing small berries on medium size clusters. R10 and R24 are well-recommended. R23, listed as deriving from the Emilia-Romagna region, has good vigor with medium-small clusters with earlier ripening. R102 derives from the Montepulciano region and reported to have average vigor with moderate productivity that results in higher sugar levels and good acidity from medium-small berries on medium-small clusters. Has synonym name of Nielluccio where grown in Corsica.Italy Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorTuscany Tuscany (ItalianMade.com) | TuscanytMontalcino Montalcino websiteBrunello di Montalcino Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino (Official DOCG website) |
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