Wine EP Flaccianello Dinner

Terra Rossa St Paul's
Tasted Thursday, June 25, 2026 by thecrookedpergola with 47 views

Introduction

My first dinner with the Wine EP group, and what a dinner to start with - a vertical tasting of Flaccianello, one of my favourite wines.

All the wines showed well - no faulty bottles - although we did struggle to keep later vintages to temperature on what was a swelteringly hot day in London with temperatures still at around 30 degrees when we started (and no air conditioning in the restaurant!)

As for the food, we shared a few starters and, for the main course, all 12 of us had pappardelle al cinghiale! And why not, as it was a perfect pairing for the wine and, I have to say, a very passable attempt at what is one of my favourite dishes (and almost certainly the best I've had outside of Tuscany)

Flight 1 - Aperitivo (1 Note)

  • 2015 Castelveder Franciacorta Riserva Extra Brut "Renato Alberti" 88 Points

    Italy, Lombardia, Franciacorta DOCG

    A bottle of Franciacorta to start us off. This is 80% chardonnay and 20% pinot noir, and it spent a whopping 95 months on the lees. Zippy and fresh, with light aromas of hazelnut and citrus fruit. On this hot day, it hit the mark perfectly and did its job of warming up our palates.

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Flight 2 - The mature vintages - 2006, 2007 and 2009 (3 Notes)

  • 2006 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 94 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    First wine of the vertical and one of my bottles. Decanted for 30 minutes, also to remove sediment (of which there was plenty), and back in the bottle. Quite explosive on the nose and palate, showing dark cherry, cedar and dried herbs. Tannins mostly resolved. The table picked up on a balsamic note which definitely highlighted the maturity of this wine (or of this particular bottle). Some felt it was already over the hill; I didn't share that view though suspect this probably didn't need the 30 minute decant I gave it. Overall, an excellent start.

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  • 2007 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 95 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    From magnum. This was the biggest surprise of the night for me, as 2007 is a vintage I don't care for too much in Tuscany. A hot vintage, and my experience of several wines (including a bottle of the Flaccianello a few years ago) is that they are already on the limit, and showing overly ripe /stewed fruits. So my conclusion here is that the magnum format must make the difference as this was absolutely singing, and for many at the table the wine of the night. Harmonious and complex, with a good mix of primary and tertiary notes. Very impressive!

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  • 2009 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 93 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    Third wine of the night and, sandwiched between the superb 2007 and 2010, this one passed me by a little bit. Still very good, and no doubt fully mature at this stage, showing again the balsamic note and also some cigar box, plums and that dusty earthy note you often get in sangiovese. I suspect this wine suffered from the competition and that I might have scored it a touch higher if drinking on its own.

    For what it's worth, 2009 was the vintage served at The Wine Society's dinner with Fontodi owner Giovanni Manetti 18 months ago and he remarked then that it was a very good vintage that is ready to drink now.

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Flight 3 - Fontodi's flagships - Flaccianello versus Vigna del Sorbo (2 Notes)

  • 2010 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 96 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    Moving onto the 2010, and this was compared against the Vigna del Sorbo from the same vintage. This was another of my bottles, and it was given the same 30 minutes in a decanter earlier that day, including to remove sediment.

    This is stunning juice. So open and voluptuous, showing everything you want - a mix of primary and tertiary aromas, nice acidic bite, fine tannins. There's a richness to the texture, so complex and structured yet it just glides across the palate; not at all heavy like Flaccianello can sometimes be. My wine of the night and, I think, pretty unanimously in everyone else's top 3 at least. Drinking beautifully now but years to go.

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  • 2010 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo 94 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

    Drank alongside the Flaccianello from the same vintage, a fascinating comparison of the two top wines from Fontodi's portfolio. Of note, this is from a vintage when Manetti added a small amount of cabernet sauvignon to the blend (mamma mia!) Also of note, Antonio Galloni has previously expressed the view that Vigna del Sorbo ages better than Flaccianello. And I can see what he means here as this is still surprisingly backward and brooding compared to the Flaccianello.

    It's holding plenty in reserve; still quite primary on the palate with dark cherry, blackberry and violet. But you can sense the underlying quality. The fruit is precise and long lasting on the palate. My third favourite of the night, though I'll wait a few years before opening my next bottle.

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Flight 4 - The inbetween vintage - 2011 (1 Note)

  • 2011 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 93 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    Another warm vintage Flaccianello - we have a few here with 2007 and 2009 as well - but one that I have always enjoyed. Maybe it won't be the most long lasting Flaccianello, but it has always been open and enjoyable and today was no exception. Red cherry, fig, leather, some graphite. Quite rich and explosive on the palate. Very good and no need to wait on these, in my opinion.

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Flight 5 - The young vintages - 2012, 2013 and 2014 (3 Notes)

  • 2012 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 93 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    From magnum. This was widely enjoyed by the table, though I felt it was too young. Perhaps my palate was tiring, or we have crossed the mark between the mature previous vintages and the now not-quite-so-ready ones. While the magnum format helped elevate the 2007 beyond my expectations, here I think it hindered the 2012 and I didn't enjoy this anywhere near as much as I did a 750ml bottle a year or so ago. More to come in future, as despite this being closed today there is a lot of underlying quality here, and from a middling vintage it is clear that Flaccianello has overperformed (as it often does).

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  • 2013 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 93 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    Palate fatigue settling in a bit now but several of us felt this was still closed and unyielding. The 2013 Fontodi wines have been stubbornly slow to age...I've burned through a case of the Chianti Classico annata with only the last bottle - opened earlier this year - finally showing the promise of the 2013 vintage. Like the 2012 tasted before it this has all the component parts to mature into a fabulous wine, but it needs a few more years.

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  • 2014 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Colli della Toscana Centrale IGT

    Final wine of the night and a tough ask for the 2014 - a weak vintage in Tuscany generally, and here with tired palates and no food to pair it with. It is, though, yet another Flaccianello that outperforms the vintage and it feels - unlike the 2012 and 2013 before it - pretty ready to drink. Seductive red fruit and some dried herbs. It is a bit thinner than the other vintages but that's 2014 for you. By all means one to open now while the prior and subsequent vintages mature.

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Flight 6 - Dessert wine (1 Note)

  • 2009 Château Suduiraut 93 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Two half bottles provided free of charge by our generous host. My first Suduiraut and this is excellent. Medium bodied, with notes of honey, saffron and nectarine. It has a beautiful acidity that carries this on the palate so well, and was a perfect pairing for the tiramisu dessert and conclusion to the night.

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