3/16/16, 9:39 AM - I completely concur with this note.
11/9/15, 12:41 AM - I'd wager that you wouldn't see any significant difference in a year. I think it would be very safe to leave these in the back of your cellar until at least 2020. Based on my experience with the 1995, which was not a dissimilar vintage, and the 1990, my guess of an ideal drinking window would be 2022-2030. This is a wine built to age.
3/22/15, 8:40 PM - Ouch.
2/22/15, 11:45 AM - I too had positive memories of previous vintages of this wine, and while it might have been suffering after transport to the UK, it's also possible that Fontodi has moved to a more internationalist style. It'll be interesting to read others' impressions of this vintage.
2/4/13, 5:54 PM - When I was at the winery in 2005 or 2006, it could only be described as quite rustic. The facilities, at that time, weren't exactly conducive to clean, hygienic wine making. I will never forget the bottle of the 1998 Bea Sagrantino I drank and found several inches of a branch of some sort, presumably part of a grape vine, at the bottom of the bottle. The wine was great, but when they say their wines are unfiltered, they really mean it.I understand there has been recent construction to expand and improve the winery, improving drainage, lighting, ventilation, etc. It's absolutely amazing that Montefalco's best wines have been produced for years with such antiquated facilities. Hopefully the upgrades to the winery will allow for better quality control and consistency alone with their employment of traditional production techniques.
12/19/12, 10:12 PM - It's too young! A 10 year old Cerbaiona from an age-worthy vintage like 1999 will probably still be pretty tight, and it'll certainly need a long and vigorous decanting at this stage. I'd estimate this wine to be at its prime from 2017-2025.
12/19/12, 8:19 PM - I'm not quite sure this qualifies as a "light" Brunello.In fact, I don't think any quality 2006 Brunello could accurately be described as being light.
12/14/12, 9:58 AM - Decaying fast?In 2011? Are you nuts?I do love Benvenuto Brunello, but one does tend to be rather drunk by the end!I guess if you've been drinking Siro Pacenti and Casanova di Neri style oak juice for a few hours, it would be rather difficult to discern the nuances of a wine that actually tastes like Brunello!
12/14/12, 9:46 AM - In a good vintage (e.g., 2006, 2004, 2001), you'll often find that the new Brunelli are remarkably open upon release, and many wines close up once the primary fruit starts to recede leaving a tight, tannic, acidic monster in your glass. Eventually, lots of secondary and tertiary nuances develop, the acids and tannins come into balance, and after 20 years, you have a fantastic, life-changing wine. I will probably open one of these soon, then not another until 2026.While many bottles of Brunello drink well right after release at 5 years of age, the process of shipping the bottles across oceans, on trains, trucks, in and out of warehouses, etc., can certainly affect how a recently shipped bottle comes across. It sounds to me like your bottle might have needed a month or two of rest in your cellar for it to show better.
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