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Montalcino vintages '05 - '09
Casa Middachten a 'Olanda
Tasted January 13, 2012 by Jochems with 919 views
Introduction
We tasted a vertical of Rosso di Montalcino from Sesta di Sopra. And some Brunello di Montalcino from Sesta di Sopra, Querce Bettina and Pian Dell Vigne (Antinori).
I'm following Sesta di Sopra now since the '99 vintage (only missed the '00) and find it a very consistent producer of (what I call) classic Brunello. Ettore Spina and his wife Enrica started with the '99 vintage, just after the hype of '97. He has been varying a little more with his Rosso di Montalcino, with a choice to start using Battonage from the '07 vintage. I like the older style a little more. But the later vintages are more of a 'baby Brunello' which some of you might like even more.
Querce Bettina is an even younger wine producer. Roberto and Sandra released '04 Brunello as their first vintage. I coincidently discovered this wine in 2009 and was immediately impressed.
The Pian Dell Vinge was thrown in as a reference and because I recently bought a case of this at an auction, and I just wanted to try a bottle:-)
Flight 1 - Rosso di Montalcino (5 notes)
Red
2005 Sesta di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino
88 points
This is my last bottle of this wine. The smoothness and depth was striking and justified a notch up compared to my previous encounters. '05 is clearly a Montalcino vintage with ripe fruit and refined character.
Ruby color with some hints of amber at the rim. Full aromas of ripe blackberry and some leather. Medium bodied with silky smooth tannins and balanced fruit and acidity. The finish is medium long and remains fresh. Its more lively than I had expected.
Drink now - 2013.
Ruby color with some hints of amber at the rim. Full aromas of ripe blackberry and some leather. Medium bodied with silky smooth tannins and balanced fruit and acidity. The finish is medium long and remains fresh. Its more lively than I had expected.
Drink now - 2013.
Red
2006 Sesta di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino
89 points
Still after a few hours this wine was closed. Only the second day it started to show some of the freshness and complexity that I tasted a few years back. It seems that this wine is closing down, just like its big Brunello brother. In general '06 was a great vintage. I haven 't witnessed this closing down in a Rosso before. Its a shame that this was my last bottle... now I will never know!
Lots of cherry and fresh berry fruit with some barnyard and leather. Full bodied on the palate with fresh acidity and chewy tannins. The finish is long and fresh. This wine needs food! (and more oxigen:-).
If you have some bottles: leave them alone for a few more years!
Lots of cherry and fresh berry fruit with some barnyard and leather. Full bodied on the palate with fresh acidity and chewy tannins. The finish is long and fresh. This wine needs food! (and more oxigen:-).
If you have some bottles: leave them alone for a few more years!
Red
2007 Sesta di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino
90 points
Ruby color. Full aromas of ripe black fruit, some berries and hints of licorice, dried herbs and smoke. Full bodied with chewy-smooth tannins balanced acidity and good fruit. The finish is long and spicy. This is some serious Rosso di Montalcino! In good shape right now, but needs some air to open-up. Drink now - 2017.
Red
2008 Sesta di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino
86 points
Ruby colour with some hints of purple. Full aromas of blackberry, cherry and roasted meat. Medium bodied with fresh fruit and acidity and chewy tannins. Medium finish.
Initially attractive on the nose, slightly lean and edgy on the palate. Drink now.
Initially attractive on the nose, slightly lean and edgy on the palate. Drink now.
Red
2009 Sesta di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino
89 points
Totally in line with my previous note:
Light ruby color. Fresh aromas of cherry, cassis and some strawberry and hints of leather and red licorice. Full bodied and smooth with dusty tannins and fresh acidity. The finish is medium-long and is very fresh with an distinct all-spice twist to it. Nice!
Drink now - 2015.
Light ruby color. Fresh aromas of cherry, cassis and some strawberry and hints of leather and red licorice. Full bodied and smooth with dusty tannins and fresh acidity. The finish is medium-long and is very fresh with an distinct all-spice twist to it. Nice!
Drink now - 2015.
Flight 2 - Brunello di Montalcino (5 notes)
Red
2001 Pian Delle Vigne (Antinori) Brunello di Montalcino
91 points
Another bottle in quite a short time. This time I let it slow-ox for about 5 hours. This definitely improved the openness and the body of this wine (or is the result of bottle variation... who knows, I still have 5 bottles left!). Hence one notch up from the previous bottle on 20/12/11.
Ruby color with some light hints of amber at the rim. Full aromas of ripe dark fruit, some smoke and dried flowers and hints of red licorice. Full bodied with silky smooth tannins, a great fruit and acidity balance with some of that aged Brunello sweetness. The finish is medium long and remains fresh throughout.
This wine has some classic Brunello character in a good, but not impressive, way. Well balanced and developed right now. I don't see much room for further improvement, but the wine will at leas last at this level for several more years to come. Drink now - 2016.
Ruby color with some light hints of amber at the rim. Full aromas of ripe dark fruit, some smoke and dried flowers and hints of red licorice. Full bodied with silky smooth tannins, a great fruit and acidity balance with some of that aged Brunello sweetness. The finish is medium long and remains fresh throughout.
This wine has some classic Brunello character in a good, but not impressive, way. Well balanced and developed right now. I don't see much room for further improvement, but the wine will at leas last at this level for several more years to come. Drink now - 2016.
Red
2006 Querce Bettina Riserva - For Friends
95 points
This wine needed lots of time to open up. Initially it had some full aromas but with a slightly unpleasant herbal twist, and on the palate it had an overwhelming acidity. Only after about 8 hours it started to show its potential:
Ruby colour. Full aromas of blackcurrant, cherry and some fresh berry and leather and hints of licorice. Following trough full bodied with silky mouth coating tannins, fresh acidity and lots of good fruit. The finish is very long and remains fresh with a hint of eucalyptus to it!
I think this wine is entering its sleeper phase, but there is loads of development potential here. Don't touch it for the next 5 years or so. Drink 2016 - 2026.
Not bad for something that cannot be called a Brunello :-)
Ruby colour. Full aromas of blackcurrant, cherry and some fresh berry and leather and hints of licorice. Following trough full bodied with silky mouth coating tannins, fresh acidity and lots of good fruit. The finish is very long and remains fresh with a hint of eucalyptus to it!
I think this wine is entering its sleeper phase, but there is loads of development potential here. Don't touch it for the next 5 years or so. Drink 2016 - 2026.
Not bad for something that cannot be called a Brunello :-)
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Comment
Red
2005 Querce Bettina Brunello di Montalcino
91 points
Totally in line with my previous note:
Ruby color. Full aromas of Blackcurrant, cherry some tobacco and spices evolving with hints of licorice and cinnamon. Full bodied with smooth tannins balanced acidity and some good fruit. The finish is long and fresh.
This is a great example of classic Brunello that stands out in refinement and complexity. Its not a huge-structered Brunello. But it provides much of the unique character that a better vintage like '04 and '06 will give in 5-8 years time. Perfect Brunello to get to know something about the greatness of wines from this DOCG, without having to wait for another half decade. Drink now - 2018.
In terms of its drinking window this wine is in the same range as the Pian delle Vinge '01 from Antinori we had during the same tasting. This underlines the early drinker character of the '05 vintage.
Ruby color. Full aromas of Blackcurrant, cherry some tobacco and spices evolving with hints of licorice and cinnamon. Full bodied with smooth tannins balanced acidity and some good fruit. The finish is long and fresh.
This is a great example of classic Brunello that stands out in refinement and complexity. Its not a huge-structered Brunello. But it provides much of the unique character that a better vintage like '04 and '06 will give in 5-8 years time. Perfect Brunello to get to know something about the greatness of wines from this DOCG, without having to wait for another half decade. Drink now - 2018.
In terms of its drinking window this wine is in the same range as the Pian delle Vinge '01 from Antinori we had during the same tasting. This underlines the early drinker character of the '05 vintage.
Red
2007 Sesta di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino
94 points
Light ruby color. Full aromas of dark cherry, blackcurrant, some red licorice and sweet tobacco and hints of pinewood and cinnamon. following trough full bodied with silky, mouth coating tannins, lots of fresh acidity and ripe dark fruit. The finish is very long and spicy. Very accessible right now, but also very youthful. This wine has a long life ahead. If you drink it now, give it some time to develop in an open bottle or in the glass. Drink 2015 - 2025.
There is some resemblance with '06 and '04 here. Now in a more ripe and spicy incarnation. I like '06 a little more, but I can imagine that people who like it bold & spicy prefer this vintage.
There is some resemblance with '06 and '04 here. Now in a more ripe and spicy incarnation. I like '06 a little more, but I can imagine that people who like it bold & spicy prefer this vintage.
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Comment
Red
2007 Querce Bettina Brunello di Montalcino
94 points
Ruby color. Vivid aromas of ripe blackcurrant, sour cherry some roasted meat and hints of cinnamon and red licorice. Following trough full bodied with very silky mouth coating tannins, lots of fresh acidity and some good fruit. And a very long and fresh finish that eventually turns slightly drying.
Perhaps not as fresh and refined as the '06 and '04 but overall at a similar level. I opened the bottle and consumed it over 10 hours. As usual the last glass was the best.... It is still young but very open and lively give it some slow-ox time to show its full potential. While it also has lots of structure to last for some time, based on my experience with similar BdM I expect that it will close down in a few years. Drink now or 2017 - 2027.
Perhaps not as fresh and refined as the '06 and '04 but overall at a similar level. I opened the bottle and consumed it over 10 hours. As usual the last glass was the best.... It is still young but very open and lively give it some slow-ox time to show its full potential. While it also has lots of structure to last for some time, based on my experience with similar BdM I expect that it will close down in a few years. Drink now or 2017 - 2027.
Closing
If I had to give a score to these vintages according to the 5-star system of the Conzorzio del Vino Brunello it would look something like this:
2005 - ***
2006 - *****
2007 - ****
2008 - **
2009 - ****
Please bear in mind that the '08 and '09 ratings are only based on Rosso di Montalcino! In fact, '07 would be a ***** if where only because of the Rosso... Anyway, as a closing remark I would say: drink some '05 Brunello now!