Cerretalto Vertical Tasting

This vertical tasting of all the vintages made of the Cerretalto Brunello was created by the importer of Casanova di Neri in Denmark, www.bb-vinimport.dk.
All of the wines were bought by the importer all over Italy as many of the vintages are impossible to find in the common marketplace. Not even the producer have the old vintages any more so this tasting was also a first for the attending winemaker, Pier Luigi Bonardi from Casanova di Neri.

The Cerretalto vineyard is located in the eastern part of Montalcino in the bottom of a vally approximately 200 m above sealevel.
In the of vintage 88 and 90 they did not use any barrique at all and in 93/95 they started experimenting with barrique (50% new barrique in these two vintages). From 96 and forward they have used 100% barriqe for each vintage.

• 1988 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Just by the initial smell of this wine I was blown away. Loads of red currant and light plum fruit with mature notes of pine, wood and a little iron. Additionally, it had a pleasing and refreshing minerality. Simple a nose that you could linger over for a very long time. With air the nose opens nicely and increases the complexity.
  
  On the palate it is very elegant and fresh with a big and present acidity that is almost vibrating together with red currants and elegant cherries. Silky smooth tannins wraps everything nicely together in an elegant and long aftertaste. With air the complexity also increases now showing a number of elegant spices dancing around :-)
  
  This vintage were not aged in barrique.

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• 1990 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  The nose is very similar to the 88 but the fruit is significantly younger in the 90. It still has the same impressive elegance and freshness.
  After having tasted the 88 it was almost unbelievable to get the 90 in the mouth. A amazingly elegant fruit with ditto acidity and the cherry fruit is still insanely fresh. The tannins are still powerful and together with the fresh fruit it seems like this wine could age for a lot longer. However, it is simply an amazing wine right now..
  Of all the Cerretalto vintages from 88-04, this was definately WOTN for me.
  
  Like the 88, the 90 did also not have any barrique influence.

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• 1993 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Barnyard nose that did not give much. Difficult to say if the it was closed or it simply did not anything more to offer.
  The palate is mainly ripe fruit which overpowers most of the other flavours and makes the wine seem a little unfocused and messy. The tannins are quite hard and also seems to overtake the acidity which is a pity.
  Overall this is a very nice wine, especially looking at the vintage and my notes are potentially affected by the fact that this was served right after the fabulous 90.

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• 1995 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Very smooth and packed with primary fruit on the palate. The fruit was full-bodied and mostly dark cherry. The tannins were still very young and overal the wine seemed to have a great potential but I had difficulty finding enough acidity and freshness to be convinced. Basically, I could not get everything to connect with this wine but many others at the tasting were more excited about this.
  Would be very interesting to taste this again.

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• 1996 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Usually, I do not touch Brunellos from this vintage but based on this wine I will have to revise that statement :-)
  Intense and full-bodied nose with some wet hay and classic dark cherry. Additionally, I did find some petroleum but nothing to disturb the overall impression.
  Very fresh and excellent balance. A still very young Brunello with an excellent potential.

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• 1997 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  The nose seemed very closed and even with additional airation I couldn't get it to yield anything other than dark cherry and some yoghurt.
  Luckily the palate was completely different! Was almost assaulted by the very rough acidity and harsh tannins. A full body of dark cherries balances everything nicely. Even though the wine seems very forward and almost oppressive I still feel that the wine has a certain balance to it.
  Beautiful wine!!
  A lot better than a bottle I opened 1,5 months ago.

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• 1999 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Very "deep" and full bodied fruit on the nose with chalk and minerals in the background. The fruit is quite extracted but without beeing overripe. With some air it also gets some floral tones and a little bonfire. Basically a flowerfield on fire :-)
  The palate is packed with opulent and powerful fruit which almost is over the top. However the acidity and tannins seems to be potent enough to balance out the fruit. Pretty wild fruit...
  Maybe a wine that will not appeal to all but definately at a high level of winemaking that can not be overlooked.

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• 2000 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  A very different nose than the other Cerretaltos tasted before this. Meaty notes is mingled with dark and overripe fruit, mixed with yoghurt and black pepper.
  Also pretty strange in the mouth which is mainly dark plum fruit that only "affect" to first part of the mouth.
  A quite messy and unbalanced wine with a quite short length.
  Clearly the worst of all the Cerretaltos in the vertical.

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• 2001 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Finally we arrived at the infamous wine that many people almost love to hate after the 100P in WS. This was my first experience so I did not quite know what to expect.
  The difference nuances pretty much jumps out of the glass. A nose of dark cherries delicately mixed with chocolate and heaps of minerals. With more air it becomes more complex and opens up for different spices and grass.
  The palate is packed with potent powerful dark cherry with a minor overripe note. The overripeness is not (for once) in a negative way as it fits the fruit nicely.
  It is still very young but not as powerful and wild as I would have thought. It has a nice freshness and even balance to it despite the powerful fruit. There was plenty of minerals in the long and impressive aftertaste. A little coffee is coming through at the end and it also has a very delicate almost perfumed vanilla to it.
  The acidity profile is simply amazing and was in no way overdone wrt the use of barrique.
  Everything fits together nicely and this is without a doubt an amazing wine.

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• 2003 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  The only wine in the vertical where the nose clearly showed the barrique aging. The nose was mostly coffee and dark chocolate with hints of sewer. It was very difficult to get the fruit to present itself.
  Luckily, the use of barrique was as present on the palate. It was extremely primary with blackberry and black currant and seemed to lack acidity. Only a medium aftertaste which primarily were dominated by the wild tannins.
  Judging this wine was a little bit difficult due to the fact that it was served directly after the amazing 01 which can have lead to a harsh impression of this wine.

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• 2004 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto

  Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

  Had really anticipated tasting this vintage of Cerretalto as I have been amazed by the quality of the other Brunellos from Casanova di Neri in this vintage.
  The nose is very intense and fresh with an almost cool touch to the fruit. Also has a little coffee, sewer and wet hay.
  Abundant fruit fills the palate but still with a fressness to it. An amazing dark cherry fruit with an almost amazing structure. The tannins are harsh but still somewhat delicate which gives the wine a smoothness to it. The vibrant and refreshing acidity collects everything nicely into a beautiful and awesome wine.
  Very close to being better than the 90 on the night and the pleasure of this was almost as gratifying.
  Could potentially be the best wine from the producer but only time will tell :-)
  This is to me, clearly on of the best wines of the 2004 vintage. The quality of this wine simply cant be disregarded.

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This was simply an amazing once-in-a-lifetime vertical tasting of Cerretalto. I was very impressed with the quality and even though the acidity not is as piercing in the Cerretalto as other high-end Brunello, there is a clear and lovely Brunello character to wines. From the vertical tasting it is clear that the acidity clearly starts showing itself after some aging and when it does it is very vibrant and elegant.

Top-4 for the night:
1. Cerretalto 90
2. Cerretalto 04
3. Cerretalto 88
4. Cerretalto 01