Sangiovese and Brunello tasting for my 38th birthday

This tasting was all about Sangiovese but it had 3 objectives, each in his own flight

This was a great comparison between the famed Chianti Classico annata 2016 from San Giusto, 3rd on Wine Spactator top 100 of 2019, and Cepparello 1997, a great supertuscan 100% Sangiovese from a great vintage (I drunk few 1997 in the last 2 years from this region and they were all wonderful).

• 2016 San Giusto a Rentennano Chianti Classico 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  👀 Cherry red but with already advanced garnet nail.
  👃 Beautifully balsamic, a little bit too mature fruits, unfortunately it didn't last enough to see if this would change during the evening.
  👅 Very young and energetic palate, with strong tannins and nice acidity.
  🏁 Quite long and juicy finish.

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• 1997 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT 93 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  👀 Deep garnet color.
  👃 Incredibly complex nose, balsamic, sweet candied fruits (but suiting the overall profile), earthy, meaty, cigar, forest mushrooms.
  👅 On the palate it had a little too much smooth feeling, even with high acidity it seemed a bit over the edge.
  🏁 Non very long finish, another sign of aging. Drink NOW!

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This was a comparison between 3 Brunello producer from 2018 vintage. Each had its own style, however I could not find a perfect bottle. This leaves me a little doubting the 2018 in the area, while I like it in the Chianti region, here it seems more difficult with wines from one side more approachable (like in Chianti) but also less complex and with unpleasant notes. I have more 2018 cause it's my son's birth year but I'm not sure how many I will let age until he is of drinking age.

• 2018 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  👀 Deep cheery color.
  👃 A little bit too sweet nose, with also herbs, orange, red fruits.
  👅 The most powerful 2018 in the line up, still with too much sweetness and quite strong tannins.
  🏁 Long but too aggressive right now, it will need time to settle

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• 2018 Giuseppe Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  👀 Very light garnet color.
  👃 Quite rustic nose, with very pronounced stable smell (for me quite unpleasant, for others the best wine of the night).
  👅 Completely different palate, very juicy and complex but not intense, the most light body that night (even less than the San Giusto annata).
  🏁 Long finish.

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• 2018 Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  👀 Cherry red color with garnet rim.
  👃 Quite sweet fruity nose, with candied fruits with rest lying below the surface.
  👅 Juicy palate, with still pronounced sweet fruits as the most intense taste. Soft tannins and quite easy to drink.
  🏁 Med+ finish. Pleasant to drink but missing something for the price tag and the fame it has, maybe not a perfect bottle? I would not know how this one could have an average 95 on here.

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This flight was comparing 3 Brunello from the 2016 vintage, definitely it included my favorite wine of the night, San Polino (it seems their wines are particularly of my taste) and the second best Brunello, Pietroso. This is definitely a great vintage, with many years in front of itself but also wines not too difficult to approach now (except Costanti, VERY difficult to approach now, if the bottle was inteed not faulty).

• 2016 San Polino Brunello di Montalcino 94 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  👀 Intense cherry red with garnet rim, very lively.
  👃 At the nose it's very similar to the Helicrysium version drunk over a year and half ago, with very pronounced balsamic note, red fruit, bloody and forest notes.
  👅 Powerful and explosive on the palate, very intense, with strong but not too rough tannins, beautiful acidity.
  🏁 Very persistent finish, a pleasure to drink even if very young.

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• 2016 Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  👀 Cherry red color, quite light.
  👃 Balsamic, red fruits, not so expressive in this phase.
  👅 Very juicy on the palate (after drinkine their Rosso 2019 it seems to me a signature of this winery style), medium bodied, the lightiest 2016 in this tasting flight.
  🏁 Nice finish but not that long as I expected it.

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• 2016 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino 91 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  👀 Quite dark garnet color.
  👃 Very mature fruits, herbs and sweet spices, definitely too much sweetness. A little dirty smell which was not so pleasant.
  👅 Very aggressive tannins, not enough balanced by the med+ acidity.
  🏁 Long finish but a too much is happening on this wine. Someone at the table talked about a not perfect bottle, for me it was definitely very yound and not balance, but with potential to be better in 5-10 years.

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Even if the rating are not so high I really loved this tasting! It included few great wines and the level was high. I was expecting more, especially from the 2018s, but I will definitely have the chance of trying others from the same vintage this year and get a better idea. Cheers!