Great Wines of Italy Tasting (Brunelli)

I managed to taste only a small number of exceptional wines offered by Zachys that night. I tried to capture the overall impression left by each wine, highlighting the texture and the feel of each wine perhaps at the expense of individual flavor nuances. Below are a few memorable Brunelli from the Great Wines of Italy tasting.

• 2006 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Bold, structured, vibrant wine, showing ripe earthy, leathery, dark fruit. A powerhouse, a queen on a chess board.

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• 2006 La Serena Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gemini

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Tannic, strong, full bodied and fruit driven. Feels just right for a long lived Brunello. Excellent.

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• 2008 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A well extracted, masculine wine. Not overly extracted, but bold and powerful.

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• 2007 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Softer than '06, but more tannic at the same time. Powerful, structured wine that can cellar for a long time without losing the vitality of the underlying fruit. Excellent.

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• 2008 La Serena Brunello di Montalcino

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Really liked this wine. Unlike most other '08s' strawberry flavored wines, this wine has a dark fruit profile. The fruit is ripe, tannic, with a very unusual but appealing hints of nuts and clove in the finish. Tangy and extracted -- this was a very pleasant surprise for me.

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• 2007 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A very pretty, fragrant, sandal wood nose. Similar to other southern hills wines -- Fanti, Salicutti -- a soft, aromatic profile. A solid effort.

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• 2006 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Santa Caterina D'Oro Vigna di Pianrosso

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Delicate fruit with hints of carnation, wild flowers. Needs time in the bottle.

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• 2007 Tenuta Fanti Brunello di Montalcino

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A fragrant, approachable, fruit driven wine. Sandal wood, sage and olives. A more open and a more enticing wine now than '06.

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• 2006 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A big, tannic wine with a hint of raisiny, perhaps over-ripe fruit. Preferred a more balanced and fruit driven normale tonight.

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• 2008 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Pianrosso

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  The fruit is pure, soft, delicate but more concentrated than the normale, yet this wine still struggles to create excitement.

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• 2008 Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino Pelagrilli

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A perfumed, elegant and balanced wine. Open now, thought still quite tannic. Preferred it tonight to the regular Brunello, though both wines were quite different from a more monolithic '06.

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• 2008 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Taste of strawberry compote, bit off-balanced. Similar to many other '08s, missing tension and vibrancy.

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