Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose on this is nice enough, with some black fruit, as well as a generous amount of earthiness. The palate, however, features far too many bitter oak tannins for my taste. They're fine grained, show lots of astringency, and leave quite a bitter aftertaste, which pretty much ruins everything else.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Supposedly a bit of a modernist producer, I still found this very much to my liking, in contrast to the Casanova di Neri. The nose here shows more fruit and less earth, with some very clear plum and cherry notes, but this is fairly dark in complexion. The palate seems to have a light bit of leafy herbaceousness, but there's a beautiful roundness here. Perhaps a little bit of woodiness on the back end, but nothing too out of place.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Another wine that shows more of a darker fruit character on the nose. The palate seems to focus on earthier tones complemented by black fruit, but there's a delicacy here that is quite entrancing. Silky and svelte on the palate, the tannins are fine-grained, but still youthful, and I'm pretty sure improvement is in the cards with more time.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
I had this next to the Conti Constanti, and I preferred that wine by a hair. In contrast to the earthier, darker tones of that wine, this is a little lighter and focusses more on the red side of the fruit spectrum. The earthiness is toned down here as well, this is a lighter, more elegant wine, if not as deep. I do like the savoury tones on the palate here, which play very nicely off the tart red fruit.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose here is high-toned, and shows a slight bit of volatile acidity. This wine is firmly rooted in the red-fruit spectrum, but shows more of a sappy, sweet, and ripe quality than I'm accustomed to with that sort of fruit character. Almost some raspberry notes here. It's a little disjoint on the palate, with acid that seems separated from the ripe fruit, and it certainly doesn't taste as ripe as the nose would indicate.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Inky, dark, and burly. Too young for certain. Lots of black fruit, there's a certain quality here that reminds me of young Bordeaux, but I can't otherwise label it. Black-fruited and structural, this is clearly a well-built wine, but it's just not sufficiently expressive right now.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
One of the few wines tonight that displayed a pronounced herbaceousness on the nose, which I quite liked. Perhaps this was also accompanied by just a little bit of smoke as well. Light and elegant on the nose and palate, with the acidity giving lots of lift to the fruit here. Using a pinot metric, this wine felt the most like a stereotypical Burgundy to me with its restrained yet elegant palate.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Quite similar to my last experience with this producer (a bottle of 2008), I found this quite disappointing, given the reputation. High-toned Sharpie marker on the nose, with red fruit dominating and a hint of brown spice thrown in. The palate seemed reduced to me (though no one else seemed to find that to be the case). A bit heady and hot on the finish.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
This was my favourite wine this evening. It had generous fruit on the nose and palate, but it was counterbalanced with a little bit of brine as well. The palate is simply gorgeous, with a fruit density that is bolstered by a clean earthiness. Powerful, elegant, and complex, this is something I ought to put in my own cellar.
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Another one of my favourites of the evening, this wine was quite different than the Lisini. It's more of a brooding wine, with a little bit of cough syrup on the nose, but mostly featuring dense dark fruit. The palate, too, is intense, with plenty of black fruit and balanced with earth and some silky tannins. This feels a little more taut and coiled up, but I found it impressive all the same.
2006 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino 83 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose on this is nice enough, with some black fruit, as well as a generous amount of earthiness. The palate, however, features far too many bitter oak tannins for my taste. They're fine grained, show lots of astringency, and leave quite a bitter aftertaste, which pretty much ruins everything else.
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2006 Pian dell'Orino Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Supposedly a bit of a modernist producer, I still found this very much to my liking, in contrast to the Casanova di Neri. The nose here shows more fruit and less earth, with some very clear plum and cherry notes, but this is fairly dark in complexion. The palate seems to have a light bit of leafy herbaceousness, but there's a beautiful roundness here. Perhaps a little bit of woodiness on the back end, but nothing too out of place.
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2006 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Another wine that shows more of a darker fruit character on the nose. The palate seems to focus on earthier tones complemented by black fruit, but there's a delicacy here that is quite entrancing. Silky and svelte on the palate, the tannins are fine-grained, but still youthful, and I'm pretty sure improvement is in the cards with more time.
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2006 Martoccia di Brunelli Luca Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
I had this next to the Conti Constanti, and I preferred that wine by a hair. In contrast to the earthier, darker tones of that wine, this is a little lighter and focusses more on the red side of the fruit spectrum. The earthiness is toned down here as well, this is a lighter, more elegant wine, if not as deep. I do like the savoury tones on the palate here, which play very nicely off the tart red fruit.
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2006 Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino 88 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
The nose here is high-toned, and shows a slight bit of volatile acidity. This wine is firmly rooted in the red-fruit spectrum, but shows more of a sappy, sweet, and ripe quality than I'm accustomed to with that sort of fruit character. Almost some raspberry notes here. It's a little disjoint on the palate, with acid that seems separated from the ripe fruit, and it certainly doesn't taste as ripe as the nose would indicate.
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2006 Caprili Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 88 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Inky, dark, and burly. Too young for certain. Lots of black fruit, there's a certain quality here that reminds me of young Bordeaux, but I can't otherwise label it. Black-fruited and structural, this is clearly a well-built wine, but it's just not sufficiently expressive right now.
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2006 Querce Bettina Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 90 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
One of the few wines tonight that displayed a pronounced herbaceousness on the nose, which I quite liked. Perhaps this was also accompanied by just a little bit of smoke as well. Light and elegant on the nose and palate, with the acidity giving lots of lift to the fruit here. Using a pinot metric, this wine felt the most like a stereotypical Burgundy to me with its restrained yet elegant palate.
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2006 Azienda Agricola San Giuseppe Brunello di Montalcino Stella di Campalto 85 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Quite similar to my last experience with this producer (a bottle of 2008), I found this quite disappointing, given the reputation. High-toned Sharpie marker on the nose, with red fruit dominating and a hint of brown spice thrown in. The palate seemed reduced to me (though no one else seemed to find that to be the case). A bit heady and hot on the finish.
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2006 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
This was my favourite wine this evening. It had generous fruit on the nose and palate, but it was counterbalanced with a little bit of brine as well. The palate is simply gorgeous, with a fruit density that is bolstered by a clean earthiness. Powerful, elegant, and complex, this is something I ought to put in my own cellar.
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2006 Sesti (Castello di Argiano) Brunello di Montalcino 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Another one of my favourites of the evening, this wine was quite different than the Lisini. It's more of a brooding wine, with a little bit of cough syrup on the nose, but mostly featuring dense dark fruit. The palate, too, is intense, with plenty of black fruit and balanced with earth and some silky tannins. This feels a little more taut and coiled up, but I found it impressive all the same.
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