Dark garnet in color with some clearing & slightly amber at the edges. Full, forward, assertive & aromatic nose of mature, ripe dark fruit aromas of cherries, blackcurrants & plums with overtones of earthy/dusty & floral notes, orange peel, tobacco, leather, tar, camphor, herbs, minerals & a hint of cedar. Full bodied with very good concentration of well balanced & silky smooth textured, mature, ripe dark fruit flavors of cherries, blueberries & plums with mushrooms, minerals & a hint of oak. Long, lingering smooth finish. Drinks quite well at present and should hold onto this current stage of development for a few more years although any further development would be negligible. Ullage was in mid-neck; cork was clean & intact.
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Dark red color with fading at the edges. Plums and cherries on the nose. Edgy on the palate, plums, bit of tobacco, cedar. Some pepper on the mid-palate. Nicely resolved tannins, good acidity and balance. Finishes long with red fruits. Brighter with food. Well-made but just not my style.
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Camphor on the nose. Cherry, currant, and notes of earth and spice, with slight jamminess and light tannins on the medium to long finish, with good acidity. Although this is good, it doesn't taste entirely like Brunello to me - I would say it's an international style. Excellent, but it was only an average value at about $60. This can go for several years yet, and may even improve; the Cellartracker drinking window is too short.
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From a magnum. Just superb. Less oak than normal but Sangiovese st its best. Clearly defined laters, earth tones, great red fruits. Nose was among the best wines some had tasted at dinner.
Opened an hour before dinner and decanted. Drank with gigot d’agneau, Point being that the match of this wine with food is terrific. Six people at dinner all loved this wine.
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for 16 years of age, this was great with a skirt steak! cherry plum. bright red fruit still there with usual brunello acidity. def not going to get better so drink up!
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Drank 2 bottles on two different occasions that showed a very advanced wine. Despite pristine corks, one bottle tasted tired and raisiny, with almost cloudy, brownish wine; the second bottle showed dominant balsamic and woody aromatics, lacking in finesse and minerality. Acquired both bottles from the same distributor -- a substandard storage issue, perhaps?
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This wine came into its beauty after an hour of decanting. The fruit was shy and needed to be coerced but once it did it was a show stopper. Notes of red fruit and eloquently balance with acidity. Med to long finish. Made a perfect match with easter lamb
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Decanted about 1h and was immediately struck by the strong fruit bouquet. Served around 18 C. I have been drinking this wine since 2006, this was bottle #9 and the first time the fruit was so strong. For the previous bottle, a year ago, tannins had just melted away, but the fruit was subdued. This one however showed a much more interesting balance; everybody loved it. Maybe the wine is reaching optimal drinking window (or it was a lucky bottle) .
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A delightful bottle of wine. Youthful color of red and pink roses, with not a hint of bricking. The nose is rich, with aromas of red fruits and layers of smoky and jammy flavors. The tannins are completely resolved and melded into a sweet rich texture that echoes for quite some time with every sip. The overall balance is just right -- the ripe fruit is supported by a velvety seamless texture. A pleasure to drink now. I've tried a number of '01 wines and this wines stands out with its impeccable balance.
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Somewhat thin and one dimensional. Classic Brunello notes of cedar, cassis and berry, it is enjoyable but does not have sufficient fruit to pull together to a higher level. I don't think this will improve.
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Stunning smooth brunello that's just now coming into its own. Sour cherry notes with a bit of funky motorcycle leather (yes) start off followed by a balanced blackberry cream soda taste that delights. Medium bodied with well integrated tannins and a 20-30 sec finish. Lovely and will last several more years.
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Dunkel rubinrot, wenig Wasserrand; braucht nicht dekantiert mehrere Stunden Luft; dann entfalten sich Aromen von roten Beeren, Veilchen, Süßholz; am Gaumen mit kräftiger Säure, leicht bitterem Tannin, feinkörnig, mittlerer Körper, vielschichtig, aber schon mit Alterungszeichen; sehr langer, interessanter Abgang; feiner Wein!
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Decanted and poured, this seemed less impressive than previously tasted bottles. Overall, this gives a very good showing but seems to lack the attributes to leave a more compelling impression. This is at or around its peak.
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Deep garnet with a touch of orange. Crushed red berries, swamp, later notes of brie cheese on the nose. Elegant palate, fresh, medium-bodied with redcurrants, wild strawberries, lingonberries and a touch of spice. Tannic and slightly bitter in the aftertaste with long remainingtraces of red berries. Nice, rather aged, relatively light-styled.
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Decanted and poured, this wine gave a similar impression to the last experience with this wine. The wine benefits from airing. Initially the finish seemed somewhat short. Airing lengthened the finish and gave the wine better overall harmony. This is at or around its peak but should continue to drink well over the next 3 to 5 years.
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Pop/pour + 30 minutes in the glass. On the nose, some secondary funk with some pleasantly piercing cedar chest high notes. On the body, initially quite open and lush, but shuts down a bit the longer it's in the glass, with tannins becoming more pronounced while the fruit becomes somewhat less lush. 92 points on opening, 90 its after 30 minutes. As for the future, this one is hard for me to project.
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Young Barolo vs. Brunello; 12/18/2010-12/19/2010 (Haslams House): Looked young - beautiful nose - rose petals / tar / high acidity / medium body / very long finish with grippy tannins - For tasting group, wine of the tasting. I intitially guessed it was a Barolo. Buy more from this producer. 92-94 range.
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Decanted and poured, this wine showed a balanced mixed of aromatics that included tar, mocha, cherry, cigar ash and floral notes. The color is a tarnished dark ruby to purple. It is correct for the wine age. The medium/full bodied palate shows concentration and depth with balanced fruit. Tannins and acidity appear on the finish. This is drinking well now and is likely at or around its peak.
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Drank on Thanksgiving at parents' house. Mom's glassware made it tough to get a good bead on the nose, but definitely hints of cherry, spice and flowers. Nicely balanced with good fruit, integrated tannins, and fresh acidity. Flavors come across with cherries, some blacker fruit, a spicy sandalwood, and milk chocolate. Clean finish rounds out the experience. For me, this is drinking pretty well, but will likely improve further over the medium term. Definitely more mature at this point than the non-Altero Brunello.
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This bottle drank very well, nice nose, very full palate with a good clean finish. Not as tight as last bottle, did not require long decant to open up.
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Very unusual bottle. Decanted 2 hours prior to first glass, which was tight, a bit woody, some interesting tertiary aromas, but so little fruit that I sniffed the decanter hard for any cork taint; found none. Four hours after that the last glass was singing, very nice fruit, great depth, good finish. Wish I had waited more. Leave rest for several years or decant for a long time.
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An earthy nose of mushrooms and black cherries. Hints of asphalt. Light hints of oak. A really nice sweet funk. This still has grippy tannins, but is definitely more velvety. More dried cherry. A bit dusty, but in a good way. Really starting to get some of the secondary flavors coming through.
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Back to the popcorn burnt hazelnut thing. What the hell?
Ok, to be fair, we were discussing Poggio Antico's use of oak and why they show such strong hazelnut right off the bat. The general consensus seems to be that this blows off after a couple of hours on in thier older age. These are generally not wines to be drinking young I guess.
I would also like to note that I am currently batting 33% corked bottles with Poggio Antico. Maybe its time to clean up the cellar a little bit?
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Open at 2:30. Some sweet cherry and reductive funk on the nose. Much brawnier than the regular brunello. More grip too.
These Brunellos were drunk together in this order: flight one, 2001 Conti Costanti Riserva, 2003 Casanova di Neri, 2003 Siro Pacenti; flight two, 2003 Poggio Antico, 2001 Poggio Antico Altero, 2005 Poggio Antico Madre; flight three, 2001 Fuligni Riserva, 2002 Caparzo, 2001 Uccelliera, 2002 Argiano, 2003 Lisini. Served in Riedel’s Restaurant Series Sangiovese / Riesling I opened them at 2:30 and slowly drank them down. The bulk of the imbibing happened between 7 and 9 pm.
Conti Costanti seemed to be an excellent example of powerfully aromatic cherry, chocolate-y palate with dusty dry tannins. “Classic” Brunello. Or, to paraphrase Victor Hazan, “few can challenge Biondi-Santi in prestige but foremost among them is Costanti.” And hell, he’s married to Marcela.
Costanti yearns to be more classical than it is. Can an inanimate liquid long for the days of being dried to parching? Can it pine for the yesteryears of grouchy-old-farm-wife acidity? This is what Costanti seemed destined to be; but is falling short. Nicolas Belfrage comments that “[Costanti] has shed what toughness it once had.” Maybe old farm wives just can’t hawk their biscuits anymore. Also, whence Riserva? After having had several other Costanti’s I would rather have the normale than the Riserva simply based on price ($77 and $124 respectively). Call me Scrooge.
Once we drank the 2003 Casanova di Neri my worries about Costanti became irrelevant. Casanova is currently the greatest exemplar of anygrape-anywhere-98point wine. Is it Syrah? Cabernet? Sangiovese? Or maybe some funky Pecornio / Abruzzo blend (oh yeah, how do you know it isn’t?) At $70 it hits the habitual 98 point nail hard. If you taste in points you should go looking for this bargain of a wine but I hate to think what your sex life is like. Furthermore, Casanova does what it does so much better than the shameful Siro Pacenti ($24 more than Casanova and frankly tastes like $30 Grenache). After drinking these two I yearned for my Costanti back. By the way, Costanti was at its best 6-1/2 hours open while Casanova was jumpy right from the get go.
Poggio Antico was quite a mess, but a distinctive mess. The Brunello was corked (alas). The Altero was ferociously oaked on the nose but still distinctively Brunello. Six hours in it started resolving into something dramatic. Rest this for a couple of years and try again. Madre is the best example I have had of its type but that doesn’t mean it’s worth the same price as Tignello. On the other hand Tignello is so restricted these days I can’t seem to get it.
Next we began fooling around. The back half ran through Montalcino’s as yet undrawn crus as suggested by Franco Biondi Santi in the Decanter article Brunello on the Brink (August 2008 issue, page 52).
Fuligni took the cake with its densely layered, dramatically expressive aromatics. The big man says that wines from Fuligni’s region, Montalcino, are complex and balanced with beautifully rich bouquets. Read into this that they don’t have the palate weight of others in the zone. One disgruntled taster who hates Italian wine in general commented with a veiled undertone “Fuligni disguised the blending well.” This argument is a little bit like saying 30% of the population is gay and in the closet. Half of all Brunello producers are under indictment for blending in illegal wine, we just haven’t developed our Grosso-radar enough to be able to spot them (or them us!). Times do change, in this world and that. To get back to the point, was there a greater joy to go back and forth between the Costanti and the Fuligni? You can tell which ones were my favorites. My only regret is that I have not tried a non-reserve Fuligni and so cannot speak to the Reserva’s price.
Caparzo, the little green label that could, fell a touch flat being from 2002. Showing its mineral dexterity (is this what Montosoli is all about?) it was a good wine, and worth its bargain Brunello price of $43. Drink up.
Now big fun. Uccelliera, from Castelnuovo dell’Abate (which is fun to say fast after drinking 11 Brunellos) was simply a smash. Here is what this novice Brunello drinker believed to be a prime glance at Montalcino terrior. Powerful, muscular, expressive and fully and utterly worth its $74 asking price. Did I say Muscle? To lay down. More needs to be drunk from this region.
Tosca wept for Argiano’s 2002. The grand giant of Solengo fame is truly making blended shit. Not even the comment that Sant’ Angelo in Colle is all about rich, robust fruity Brunellos can save Argiano from its own hypocrisy. Drinking this wine leaves you in no doubt as to why they voluntarily declassified their entire 2003 vintage.
But let’s not paint the whole Sant' Angelo in shame. Like Castelnuovo, Montalcino in Sant’ Angelo seemed to be giving up a lesson in terrior to us. Opulent, lush, rich, and well worth the $83 asking price. In fact, given the flailing failing strength of the dollar this and the Uccey are probably under-priced (Poggio Antico was more recently imported hence $10 to $20 more).
Delicious Brunello, but still a bit young at this point. Should come together, smooth out, and go up a few points in a couple of years. Very well made wine.
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Primary nose and taste, deep red, very full palate, great length, tannins evident. I enjoyed it with dinner, less so on its own without food. It should get better and better with age. To my taste, not a waste to open now. Glad I own more.
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A bit disjointed and tight at this point, but has all the right raw ingredients. Medium bodied. Sweet fruit against a backdrop of good structure. A reasonably long and appealing finish given a fair amount of fine tannins. Every indication is that this should improve with age.
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(at Sage – Boston) Young, purplish / ruby color. The nose was lovely and open with scents of rose, plum and black cherry. The wine was very tight in the mouth. Nice initial burst, but a boatload of tannin on the finish. I think there is plenty of fruit there, but give this wine a good 10 years. Very nice. (16+)
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Trip to Italy 2006 (part 2); 6/13/2006-6/15/2006: Wonderfully floral nose. Beautiful thick red fruits on the palate. Roses and strawberries yet somehow thick and dark at the same time. Cassis, chocolate. Wonderful! 93++ Dying to try this in a few more years. 2 years in french oak, 2 years in bottle.
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Medium-garnet/ruby colour. Aromas of cherry, plum, orange rind, blackcurrant, and a hint of vanilla. Medium-bodied, tannic, with red plums, currant, cherry, and cherry stone. Moderate finish, 35s, with red fruit. Not as much oak as in previous vintages, which is a good thing.
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5/16/2023 - Vinnut Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark garnet in color with some clearing & slightly amber at the edges. Full, forward, assertive & aromatic nose of mature, ripe dark fruit aromas of cherries, blackcurrants & plums with overtones of earthy/dusty & floral notes, orange peel, tobacco, leather, tar, camphor, herbs, minerals & a hint of cedar. Full bodied with very good concentration of well balanced & silky smooth textured, mature, ripe dark fruit flavors of cherries, blueberries & plums with mushrooms, minerals & a hint of oak. Long, lingering smooth finish. Drinks quite well at present and should hold onto this current stage of development for a few more years although any further development would be negligible. Ullage was in mid-neck; cork was clean & intact.
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6/24/2022 - Charlie C wrote: 88 Points
Dark red color with fading at the edges. Plums and cherries on the nose. Edgy on the palate, plums, bit of tobacco, cedar. Some pepper on the mid-palate. Nicely resolved tannins, good acidity and balance. Finishes long with red fruits. Brighter with food. Well-made but just not my style.
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4/23/2020 - RichardP wrote: 91 Points
Camphor on the nose. Cherry, currant, and notes of earth and spice, with slight jamminess and light tannins on the medium to long finish, with good acidity. Although this is good, it doesn't taste entirely like Brunello to me - I would say it's an international style. Excellent, but it was only an average value at about $60. This can go for several years yet, and may even improve; the Cellartracker drinking window is too short.
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2/5/2020 - SINOPTICUS Likes this wine: 95 Points
From a magnum. Just superb. Less oak than normal but Sangiovese st its best. Clearly defined laters, earth tones, great red fruits. Nose was among the best wines some had tasted at dinner.
Opened an hour before dinner and decanted.
Drank with gigot d’agneau, Point being that the match of this wine with food is terrific. Six people at dinner all loved this wine.
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6/5/2018 - Machiavelli wrote:
Brunello tasting. Young, powerful, ripe fruit, sweet tannnins.
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3/31/2018 - ens982 wrote: 93 Points
Opened for 10th anniversary dinner. Decanted for one hour and it paired beautifully with a wagyu sirloin steak.
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10/15/2017 - winelover1808 wrote: 92 Points
for 16 years of age, this was great with a skirt steak!
cherry plum. bright red fruit still there with usual brunello acidity. def not going to get better so drink up!
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9/30/2017 - Machiavelli wrote:
Steve & Ivor's 40th birthday dinner. Great Brunello, sweet fruit, a little rustic, perfect for wild boar.
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10/5/2016 - ClausJ Likes this wine: 92 Points
A delightful bottle of wine potentially close to its peak. Dark ruby Color, fresh fruity bouquet.
Jam - strawberries - hint if tobacco.
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8/28/2016 - SteelerFan wrote: 89 Points
Not exceptional, but very nice tonight.
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5/13/2015 - swapdoc wrote:
Drank 2 bottles on two different occasions that showed a very advanced wine. Despite pristine corks, one bottle tasted tired and raisiny, with almost cloudy, brownish wine; the second bottle showed dominant balsamic and woody aromatics, lacking in finesse and minerality. Acquired both bottles from the same distributor -- a substandard storage issue, perhaps?
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4/12/2015 - gaggs Likes this wine: 92 Points
This wine came into its beauty after an hour of decanting. The fruit was shy and needed to be coerced but once it did it was a show stopper. Notes of red fruit and eloquently balance with acidity. Med to long finish. Made a perfect match with easter lamb
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3/20/2015 - ShiverSeeker Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted about 1h and was immediately struck by the strong fruit bouquet. Served around 18 C. I have been drinking this wine since 2006, this was bottle #9 and the first time the fruit was so strong. For the previous bottle, a year ago, tannins had just melted away, but the fruit was subdued. This one however showed a much more interesting balance; everybody loved it. Maybe the wine is reaching optimal drinking window (or it was a lucky bottle) .
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10/5/2014 - swapdoc Likes this wine:
A delightful bottle of wine. Youthful color of red and pink roses, with not a hint of bricking. The nose is rich, with aromas of red fruits and layers of smoky and jammy flavors. The tannins are completely resolved and melded into a sweet rich texture that echoes for quite some time with every sip. The overall balance is just right -- the ripe fruit is supported by a velvety seamless texture. A pleasure to drink now. I've tried a number of '01 wines and this wines stands out with its impeccable balance.
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9/24/2014 - SteelerFan wrote: 88 Points
Somewhat thin and one dimensional. Classic Brunello notes of cedar, cassis and berry, it is enjoyable but does not have sufficient fruit to pull together to a higher level. I don't think this will improve.
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8/24/2014 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Not sure about this wine. It was incredibly tannic and really didn't show much fruit. Closed? Past it? Not sure.
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5/8/2014 - LARich wrote: 93 Points
Stunning smooth brunello that's just now coming into its own. Sour cherry notes with a bit of funky motorcycle leather (yes) start off followed by a balanced blackberry cream soda taste that delights. Medium bodied with well integrated tannins and a 20-30 sec finish. Lovely and will last several more years.
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10/26/2013 - wurzel68 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Dunkel rubinrot, wenig Wasserrand; braucht nicht dekantiert mehrere Stunden Luft; dann entfalten sich Aromen von roten Beeren, Veilchen, Süßholz; am Gaumen mit kräftiger Säure, leicht bitterem Tannin, feinkörnig, mittlerer Körper, vielschichtig, aber schon mit Alterungszeichen; sehr langer, interessanter Abgang; feiner Wein!
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10/12/2013 - sehill wrote: 88 Points
Decanted and poured, this seemed less impressive than previously tasted bottles. Overall, this gives a very good showing but seems to lack the attributes to leave a more compelling impression. This is at or around its peak.
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10/12/2013 - shellylowen Likes this wine: 91 Points
A little stinky (typical Sangiovese ) at first but blew off. Medium body, sweet cherries, silky tannins, kept getting better over dinner.
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1/31/2013 - Wino from Michigan wrote: 93 Points
Excellent Brunello -- great mineralness (word?) and structure. Classic style and drinking well. Needed 1 hour to open but worth the wait.
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1/15/2013 - igaf wrote:
Deep garnet with a touch of orange. Crushed red berries, swamp, later notes of brie cheese on the nose. Elegant palate, fresh, medium-bodied with redcurrants, wild strawberries, lingonberries and a touch of spice. Tannic and slightly bitter in the aftertaste with long remainingtraces of red berries. Nice, rather aged, relatively light-styled.
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9/12/2012 - sehill wrote: 91 Points
Decanted and poured, this wine gave a similar impression to the last experience with this wine. The wine benefits from airing. Initially the finish seemed somewhat short. Airing lengthened the finish and gave the wine better overall harmony. This is at or around its peak but should continue to drink well over the next 3 to 5 years.
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8/1/2012 - svpandae wrote: 89 Points
I have to agree. Seems a bit shut down after opening. Quite a bit happening, but not all coming together at the moment. Hold.
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2/18/2012 - vanpe003 wrote: 90 Points
Pop/pour + 30 minutes in the glass. On the nose, some secondary funk with some pleasantly piercing cedar chest high notes. On the body, initially quite open and lush, but shuts down a bit the longer it's in the glass, with tannins becoming more pronounced while the fruit becomes somewhat less lush. 92 points on opening, 90 its after 30 minutes. As for the future, this one is hard for me to project.
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1/23/2012 - Burre wrote: 93 Points
Too bad this was my only bottle. Drinking very well at the moment. Medium-long finnish. Very good! Didnt take more notes...
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1/4/2012 - navybrat wrote: 90 Points
second glass, hour after first pour much better than first; let it open
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11/12/2011 - BRSAustinTex wrote: 92 Points
Drinking beautifully now. Racy acidity balancing substantial fruit.
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10/15/2011 - sehill wrote: 90 Points
Decanted and poured, this wine showed well and is at or around its maturity.
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9/15/2011 - willthethrill wrote: 91 Points
No idea where this bottle came from. tight and volatile...would try again, but not a favorite...
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7/4/2011 - ricknat1 wrote:
good body, tanins still storng, fruit is not in place yet, too closed
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12/18/2010 - CWilliam wrote: 93 Points
Young Barolo vs. Brunello; 12/18/2010-12/19/2010 (Haslams House): Looked young - beautiful nose - rose petals / tar / high acidity / medium body / very long finish with grippy tannins - For tasting group, wine of the tasting. I intitially guessed it was a Barolo. Buy more from this producer. 92-94 range.
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11/26/2010 - sehill Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted and poured, this wine showed a balanced mixed of aromatics that included tar, mocha, cherry, cigar ash and floral notes. The color is a tarnished dark ruby to purple. It is correct for the wine age. The medium/full bodied palate shows concentration and depth with balanced fruit. Tannins and acidity appear on the finish. This is drinking well now and is likely at or around its peak.
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11/25/2010 - Cahill wrote: 91 Points
Drank on Thanksgiving at parents' house. Mom's glassware made it tough to get a good bead on the nose, but definitely hints of cherry, spice and flowers. Nicely balanced with good fruit, integrated tannins, and fresh acidity. Flavors come across with cherries, some blacker fruit, a spicy sandalwood, and milk chocolate. Clean finish rounds out the experience. For me, this is drinking pretty well, but will likely improve further over the medium term. Definitely more mature at this point than the non-Altero Brunello.
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9/20/2010 - Rechrom wrote: 92 Points
This bottle drank very well, nice nose, very full palate with a good clean finish. Not as tight as last bottle, did not require long decant to open up.
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7/9/2010 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Cherry, sweet spice, orange and a bit a swamp water thing. Very complex, lengthy finish, a bit crazy, but just opened and needs to settle down.
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1/25/2010 - Rechrom wrote: 91 Points
Very unusual bottle. Decanted 2 hours prior to first glass, which was tight, a bit woody, some interesting tertiary aromas, but so little fruit that I sniffed the decanter hard for any cork taint; found none. Four hours after that the last glass was singing, very nice fruit, great depth, good finish. Wish I had waited more. Leave rest for several years or decant for a long time.
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3/10/2009 - Beavis77 wrote:
An earthy nose of mushrooms and black cherries. Hints of asphalt. Light hints of oak. A really nice sweet funk.
This still has grippy tannins, but is definitely more velvety. More dried cherry. A bit dusty, but in a good way. Really starting to get some of the secondary flavors coming through.
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3/10/2009 - nzinkgraf wrote:
Empson Brunello/Barolo immediate revisit (Waterford Wines Milwaukee): again, that same deep aroma of burnt nuts as the '01 brunello. hazel or macadamia. bits of barnyard wafting off this one. again, what a weird spot for a wine to be in.
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3/10/2009 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Back to the popcorn burnt hazelnut thing. What the hell?
Ok, to be fair, we were discussing Poggio Antico's use of oak and why they show such strong hazelnut right off the bat. The general consensus seems to be that this blows off after a couple of hours on in thier older age. These are generally not wines to be drinking young I guess.
I would also like to note that I am currently batting 33% corked bottles with Poggio Antico. Maybe its time to clean up the cellar a little bit?
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11/30/2008 - Swaindo wrote: 93 Points
Drank a bottle with Risotto, wonderful! Not over-oaked like some of its cousins, beautiful well balanced tannins.
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8/20/2008 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Open at 2:30. Some sweet cherry and reductive funk on the nose. Much brawnier than the regular brunello. More grip too.
These Brunellos were drunk together in this order: flight one, 2001 Conti Costanti Riserva, 2003 Casanova di Neri, 2003 Siro Pacenti; flight two, 2003 Poggio Antico, 2001 Poggio Antico Altero, 2005 Poggio Antico Madre; flight three, 2001 Fuligni Riserva, 2002 Caparzo, 2001 Uccelliera, 2002 Argiano, 2003 Lisini. Served in Riedel’s Restaurant Series Sangiovese / Riesling I opened them at 2:30 and slowly drank them down. The bulk of the imbibing happened between 7 and 9 pm.
Conti Costanti seemed to be an excellent example of powerfully aromatic cherry, chocolate-y palate with dusty dry tannins. “Classic” Brunello. Or, to paraphrase Victor Hazan, “few can challenge Biondi-Santi in prestige but foremost among them is Costanti.” And hell, he’s married to Marcela.
Costanti yearns to be more classical than it is. Can an inanimate liquid long for the days of being dried to parching? Can it pine for the yesteryears of grouchy-old-farm-wife acidity? This is what Costanti seemed destined to be; but is falling short. Nicolas Belfrage comments that “[Costanti] has shed what toughness it once had.” Maybe old farm wives just can’t hawk their biscuits anymore. Also, whence Riserva? After having had several other Costanti’s I would rather have the normale than the Riserva simply based on price ($77 and $124 respectively). Call me Scrooge.
Once we drank the 2003 Casanova di Neri my worries about Costanti became irrelevant. Casanova is currently the greatest exemplar of anygrape-anywhere-98point wine. Is it Syrah? Cabernet? Sangiovese? Or maybe some funky Pecornio / Abruzzo blend (oh yeah, how do you know it isn’t?) At $70 it hits the habitual 98 point nail hard. If you taste in points you should go looking for this bargain of a wine but I hate to think what your sex life is like. Furthermore, Casanova does what it does so much better than the shameful Siro Pacenti ($24 more than Casanova and frankly tastes like $30 Grenache). After drinking these two I yearned for my Costanti back. By the way, Costanti was at its best 6-1/2 hours open while Casanova was jumpy right from the get go.
Poggio Antico was quite a mess, but a distinctive mess. The Brunello was corked (alas). The Altero was ferociously oaked on the nose but still distinctively Brunello. Six hours in it started resolving into something dramatic. Rest this for a couple of years and try again. Madre is the best example I have had of its type but that doesn’t mean it’s worth the same price as Tignello. On the other hand Tignello is so restricted these days I can’t seem to get it.
Next we began fooling around. The back half ran through Montalcino’s as yet undrawn crus as suggested by Franco Biondi Santi in the Decanter article Brunello on the Brink (August 2008 issue, page 52).
Fuligni took the cake with its densely layered, dramatically expressive aromatics. The big man says that wines from Fuligni’s region, Montalcino, are complex and balanced with beautifully rich bouquets. Read into this that they don’t have the palate weight of others in the zone. One disgruntled taster who hates Italian wine in general commented with a veiled undertone “Fuligni disguised the blending well.” This argument is a little bit like saying 30% of the population is gay and in the closet. Half of all Brunello producers are under indictment for blending in illegal wine, we just haven’t developed our Grosso-radar enough to be able to spot them (or them us!). Times do change, in this world and that. To get back to the point, was there a greater joy to go back and forth between the Costanti and the Fuligni? You can tell which ones were my favorites. My only regret is that I have not tried a non-reserve Fuligni and so cannot speak to the Reserva’s price.
Caparzo, the little green label that could, fell a touch flat being from 2002. Showing its mineral dexterity (is this what Montosoli is all about?) it was a good wine, and worth its bargain Brunello price of $43. Drink up.
Now big fun. Uccelliera, from Castelnuovo dell’Abate (which is fun to say fast after drinking 11 Brunellos) was simply a smash. Here is what this novice Brunello drinker believed to be a prime glance at Montalcino terrior. Powerful, muscular, expressive and fully and utterly worth its $74 asking price. Did I say Muscle? To lay down. More needs to be drunk from this region.
Tosca wept for Argiano’s 2002. The grand giant of Solengo fame is truly making blended shit. Not even the comment that Sant’ Angelo in Colle is all about rich, robust fruity Brunellos can save Argiano from its own hypocrisy. Drinking this wine leaves you in no doubt as to why they voluntarily declassified their entire 2003 vintage.
But let’s not paint the whole Sant' Angelo in shame. Like Castelnuovo, Montalcino in Sant’ Angelo seemed to be giving up a lesson in terrior to us. Opulent, lush, rich, and well worth the $83 asking price. In fact, given the flailing failing strength of the dollar this and the Uccey are probably under-priced (Poggio Antico was more recently imported hence $10 to $20 more).
Lessons learned: blending distorts Brunello; understanding Montalcino’s terrior enhanced pleasure.
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7/12/2008 - OTTnMIA wrote: 91 Points
Delicious Brunello, but still a bit young at this point. Should come together, smooth out, and go up a few points in a couple of years. Very well made wine.
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6/6/2008 - Rechrom wrote: 92 Points
Primary nose and taste, deep red, very full palate, great length, tannins evident. I enjoyed it with dinner, less so on its own without food. It should get better and better with age. To my taste, not a waste to open now. Glad I own more.
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9/8/2007 - tanglenet wrote:
Poured at a tasting at The Wine Club SF: tennis shoes on the nose; dark green tastes and a somewhat watery dry finish. Needs food. Fair to Good.
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6/20/2007 - vanpe003 wrote: 89 Points
A bit disjointed and tight at this point, but has all the right raw ingredients. Medium bodied. Sweet fruit against a backdrop of good structure. A reasonably long and appealing finish given a fair amount of fine tannins. Every indication is that this should improve with age.
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4/21/2007 - Ali wrote: 92 Points
broke the bottle but as able to salvage one glass and it was delicious. This will be a gret wine in a few years.
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11/14/2006 - dbkitc wrote:
(at Sage – Boston) Young, purplish / ruby color. The nose was lovely and open with scents of rose, plum and black cherry. The wine was very tight in the mouth. Nice initial burst, but a boatload of tannin on the finish. I think there is plenty of fruit there, but give this wine a good 10 years. Very nice. (16+)
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6/13/2006 - trankin wrote: 93 Points
Trip to Italy 2006 (part 2); 6/13/2006-6/15/2006: Wonderfully floral nose. Beautiful thick red fruits on the palate. Roses and strawberries yet somehow thick and dark at the same time. Cassis, chocolate. Wonderful! 93++ Dying to try this in a few more years. 2 years in french oak, 2 years in bottle.
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6/3/2006 - futronic wrote: 90 Points
Medium-garnet/ruby colour. Aromas of cherry, plum, orange rind, blackcurrant, and a hint of vanilla. Medium-bodied, tannic, with red plums, currant, cherry, and cherry stone. Moderate finish, 35s, with red fruit. Not as much oak as in previous vintages, which is a good thing.
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