This is a terrific wine. Sort of like a lower-toned Brunello on steroids. Fun to try and in a drinkable place but could probably unwind a bit more. Advise to hold for 3 more years.
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Very good, but needs time to really, fully, shine. I first tasted this wine with Giampiero at Vin Veri during the wine's release. Without hesitation, I walked over to the enoteca inside the event and purchased four bottles; if I'd had the ability to transport more, I'd have bought more. But, that can be said of pretty much all of his wines. This was opened for a friend in VT that said he'd not had it before. I knew the conditions for service were less than optimal (e.g. I'd have preferred to have aerated this for 4 hours vs the one hour I actually had, and I've have preferred the service temp to be at closer to 60F vs the 69F it had), but these days it's far less about optimizing all the variables than being in the moment with good friends. At release, this was wide open, med>full-bodied, and clearly very tasty; I knew complexity would come with age. That said, this performance was better on day 2. I'll hold my remaining 3 bottles for another 2-4 years before opening another, as I'm confident it'll be more to my preference. Should hold at a high level for another decade+. The EtOH poked out, at times, but it's not problematic for me as this, with time and a lower service temp, will most likely be hidden. highly recommended
Sangiovese dominant, but the Sagrantino and Montepulciano really adds body and dimension. Rich and layered, dark fruit, but with the Italian acid finish.
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This has mellowed some in the last year although the tannins are still formidable. There are deep flavors of blackberry and dark cherry with superb intensity and great mineral lift. This is big and powerful but still traditional with an earthy core and a wonderfully taut spice-driven finish.
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Decanted for about an hour. The nose is deep and multi-layered with savory notes up front. Moist soil, mushroom, spice box, violets, dried herbs, balsamico and animal notes hovering over a solid background of black cherry and dark plum.
Full bodied with prominent tannins and high acidity. This is a true power house of a wine with great intensity to the flavors and hefty structure. The flavors mirrors the nose well where the earthy and savory notes are dominating upon a solid base of dark fruit. Long finish.
This was my first encounter with a red wine from Paolo Bea and it tastes just like imagined it. Deep, structured, intense and earthy. Accessible today but will probably show better with some proper aging. 2024-2035.
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Dark garnet. Dark berries, black pepper, roses on the nose. Concentrated dark fruit on the palate, biting tannins and warm acids, penetrating aromatic fruit at the back moving into a very long finish. Full bodied, medium to high alcohol (15%). Fresh and powerful at the same time, utterly delicious, flush with expectation of future riches, excellent with Elizabeth David’s marsala rabbit.
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Very powerful and very fresh with intense black cherry fruit and great mineral lift. A bit feral and wild in the Bea style with a crunchy texture and a potent finish with strong dry tannins. Love it! 92+
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A generous buddy of mine brought this over to share which was super exciting since I had not yet tried the 2015 Pipparello. Bottle #4232/9963. The wine pours a deep garnet color with moderate staining of the tears, medium+ viscosity. On the nose, medium- intensity and pretty reticent to be honest. After a few hours in the glass it only started to uncoil; beginning to reveal a mix of dark and red fruits, cumin, dried herbs and exotic spices. On the palate, the wine is dry, medium+ acid and medium+ tannin. The fruit is tightly packed and comes across extremely primary and clearly still developing. However, the quality is undeniably high and I’m very much looking forward to tracking the evolution of this vintage. That being said, I personally won’t consider opening another bottle until after 2025.
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Opened in the bottle five hours plus and had tannins gripping hard (though more than enjoyable to drink). This might be the easiest drinking Pipparello I’ve had to date with the alcohol completely integrated. Loads of dark fruit (plum), milk chocolate, dusty earth, tobacco, and cassis. Uniquely not Tuscan Sangiovese or a typical blend. Needs time but really ripe and dense now.
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dark purple nose - grapeskin / grappa, black olive mouth - big dark fruit on the attack, followed by a wall of tannins, however after the juicy finish the conclusion is this wine is all about the freshness of the fruit. i dont find it sauvage at all, but rather new world in style, in that it very successfully exhibits the lushness of the underlying grape material. And without being flabby or overdone. Hold 5+ yrs.
Contrary to some other notes, I don’t think the tannins are that bad at this point, and I think the montepulciano in the blend is fairly prominent—it’s clear there is sagrantino, but I don’t think it dominates. Drank this over 6 hours (decant) but I don’t know that it fundamentally changed it, and it may have been best on opening.
This is a beautiful, crunchy, intense wine with blue and red fruits and great succulence and mineral lift. However, the tannins are very firm and dry and it's almost painful to drink today. I love the material here but the tannins need to soften up with time. 91?
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Color: dark ruby Nose: started out with va. Once that cleared, leather, plum and black cherry, spirit-preserved and well ripe. Smoke and violet as well. Very high intensity Palate: tannins are grainy and high, medium-high acidity. Full body, almost chewable. Lovely dark fruit and smoke and leather. Almost port-like at 15% though balanced by some sweetness Finish: very long
Display of power here, with the sagrantino and sangiovese super strong. Too young by a decade minimum but already great. Needs 5 hours of air at this stage and your teeth will try to leave your mouth
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2/11/2024 - dkstar1 wrote: 92 Points
This is a terrific wine. Sort of like a lower-toned Brunello on steroids. Fun to try and in a drinkable place but could probably unwind a bit more. Advise to hold for 3 more years.
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7/20/2023 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
Very good, but needs time to really, fully, shine. I first tasted this wine with Giampiero at Vin Veri during the wine's release. Without hesitation, I walked over to the enoteca inside the event and purchased four bottles; if I'd had the ability to transport more, I'd have bought more. But, that can be said of pretty much all of his wines. This was opened for a friend in VT that said he'd not had it before. I knew the conditions for service were less than optimal (e.g. I'd have preferred to have aerated this for 4 hours vs the one hour I actually had, and I've have preferred the service temp to be at closer to 60F vs the 69F it had), but these days it's far less about optimizing all the variables than being in the moment with good friends. At release, this was wide open, med>full-bodied, and clearly very tasty; I knew complexity would come with age. That said, this performance was better on day 2. I'll hold my remaining 3 bottles for another 2-4 years before opening another, as I'm confident it'll be more to my preference. Should hold at a high level for another decade+. The EtOH poked out, at times, but it's not problematic for me as this, with time and a lower service temp, will most likely be hidden. highly recommended
https://www.ItalianWine.blog
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4/16/2023 - tonyhuang Likes this wine: 94 Points
Sangiovese dominant, but the Sagrantino and Montepulciano really adds body and dimension. Rich and layered, dark fruit, but with the Italian acid finish.
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3/13/2023 - dream Likes this wine: 92 Points
This has mellowed some in the last year although the tannins are still formidable. There are deep flavors of blackberry and dark cherry with superb intensity and great mineral lift. This is big and powerful but still traditional with an earthy core and a wonderfully taut spice-driven finish.
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2/6/2023 - Es7e2003 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Deep ruby in glass. Iodine, blood orange and currants. Medium plus intensity on the nose. Serious tannins. Hold.
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2/2/2023 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 95 Points
Prior note still holds. This is the most approachable Pipparello I’ve had but that said it still needs more years in bottle.
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12/3/2022 - karl.1480 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Deep, ruby color with garnet at the rim.
Decanted for about an hour. The nose is deep and multi-layered with savory notes up front. Moist soil, mushroom, spice box, violets, dried herbs, balsamico and animal notes hovering over a solid background of black cherry and dark plum.
Full bodied with prominent tannins and high acidity. This is a true power house of a wine with great intensity to the flavors and hefty structure. The flavors mirrors the nose well where the earthy and savory notes are dominating upon a solid base of dark fruit. Long finish.
This was my first encounter with a red wine from Paolo Bea and it tastes just like imagined it. Deep, structured, intense and earthy. Accessible today but will probably show better with some proper aging. 2024-2035.
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7/3/2022 - wgmccallum Likes this wine: 95 Points
Dark garnet. Dark berries, black pepper, roses on the nose. Concentrated dark fruit on the palate, biting tannins and warm acids, penetrating aromatic fruit at the back moving into a very long finish. Full bodied, medium to high alcohol (15%). Fresh and powerful at the same time, utterly delicious, flush with expectation of future riches, excellent with Elizabeth David’s marsala rabbit.
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3/28/2022 - tk54 wrote: 94 Points
Fantastic
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1/29/2022 - dream Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very powerful and very fresh with intense black cherry fruit and great mineral lift. A bit feral and wild in the Bea style with a crunchy texture and a potent finish with strong dry tannins. Love it! 92+
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12/30/2021 - thesternowl wrote:
A generous buddy of mine brought this over to share which was super exciting since I had not yet tried the 2015 Pipparello. Bottle #4232/9963. The wine pours a deep garnet color with moderate staining of the tears, medium+ viscosity. On the nose, medium- intensity and pretty reticent to be honest. After a few hours in the glass it only started to uncoil; beginning to reveal a mix of dark and red fruits, cumin, dried herbs and exotic spices. On the palate, the wine is dry, medium+ acid and medium+ tannin. The fruit is tightly packed and comes across extremely primary and clearly still developing. However, the quality is undeniably high and I’m very much looking forward to tracking the evolution of this vintage. That being said, I personally won’t consider opening another bottle until after 2025.
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12/10/2021 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 95 Points
Opened in the bottle five hours plus and had tannins gripping hard (though more than enjoyable to drink). This might be the easiest drinking Pipparello I’ve had to date with the alcohol completely integrated. Loads of dark fruit (plum), milk chocolate, dusty earth, tobacco, and cassis. Uniquely not Tuscan Sangiovese or a typical blend. Needs time but really ripe and dense now.
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11/27/2021 - soyhead wrote:
dark purple
nose - grapeskin / grappa, black olive
mouth - big dark fruit on the attack, followed by a wall of tannins, however after the juicy finish the conclusion is this wine is all about the freshness of the fruit. i dont find it sauvage at all, but rather new world in style, in that it very successfully exhibits the lushness of the underlying grape material. And without being flabby or overdone. Hold 5+ yrs.
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9/23/2021 - Gunakadeit Likes this wine: 93 Points
Contrary to some other notes, I don’t think the tannins are that bad at this point, and I think the montepulciano in the blend is fairly prominent—it’s clear there is sagrantino, but I don’t think it dominates. Drank this over 6 hours (decant) but I don’t know that it fundamentally changed it, and it may have been best on opening.
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3/2/2021 - dream Likes this wine: 91 Points
This is a beautiful, crunchy, intense wine with blue and red fruits and great succulence and mineral lift. However, the tannins are very firm and dry and it's almost painful to drink today. I love the material here but the tannins need to soften up with time. 91?
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1/6/2021 - stet Likes this wine: 92 Points
Color: dark ruby
Nose: started out with va. Once that cleared, leather, plum and black cherry, spirit-preserved and well ripe. Smoke and violet as well. Very high intensity
Palate: tannins are grainy and high, medium-high acidity. Full body, almost chewable. Lovely dark fruit and smoke and leather. Almost port-like at 15% though balanced by some sweetness
Finish: very long
Display of power here, with the sagrantino and sangiovese super strong. Too young by a decade minimum but already great. Needs 5 hours of air at this stage and your teeth will try to leave your mouth
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