4/20/2024 - finlero Likes this wine:

Some light-to-moderate reduction, but eminently drinkable. Clean violet, very little bricking. Aside from the thiols, nose of plum and ammonia. Still good fruit on the palate, very ripe black plum, leather. Medium-long finish, nicely resolved tannins. Maybe approaching the end of its window, but to me, it's doing just fine.

4/6/2024 - finlero Likes this wine:

My last of three, this is still impressing me as an amazing, transcendent feat for the cold, rainy vintage.

What it lacks in a BdM's warm, sunny typicity, it makes up for in elegance and finesse. Like a few other of the very best '14s, notably Il Marroneto, I'm 100% sure there are plenty of people who would enjoy this preferentially over bottles from the sunnier five-star vintages.

Typical Brunello nose of plum, leather, and earth. The vintage characteristics really come out on the leaner palate, but they're very well balanced. Tart pie cherry, orange peel, a little clove, with a velvety, Burgundian smoothness. Finish is on the short side for a Brunello, but it does endure, with relatively light tannins.

Went great with a spring asparagus pasta. I probably won't dream of this bottle forever, but I'm a little sorry I don't have more. Should be good for at least three more years, likely longer.

3/24/2024 - finlero wrote:

Corked.

3/5/2024 - finlero Likes this wine:

This is the boxed wine I've been searching for.

Straight ahead, old world, no fuss Sangiovese. Clocks in just under $60/box = $15/bottle. "Fiasco" is the bottle and straw basket Chianti sometimes arrives in.

Easily good enough for a weeknight glass or two, or excellent (if slightly over-specced) for cooking.

Organic, biodynamic grapes and an eco-conscious house.

Very, very impressed, will try to get more.

2/3/2024 - finlero Likes this wine:

Vibrant, clean ruby, easy to see through the glass. Almost Burgundian nose of cherry, licorice, barnyard. The youthful vibrance really leaps out on the palate, fairly acidic profile of wild strawberry and pie cherry. Long finish, low tannins, maybe a shade too hot for a 13.3%. Great with food. This would be a good bottle to serve to a mixed gathering of wine nerds and non-wine nerds; it's interesting without being weird or unapproachable. Drink or hold.

1/27/2024 - finlero wrote:

Decanted 2 hours. Inky violet, garnet rim. Black currant, licorice, and a bit of raisin on the nose. Balanced palate of just-ripe black plum, wet slate, just a little birthday cake. Tannins still quite big, notably long finish, with a shade more heat than you'd expect for a 13%. Didn't knock my socks off on its own, but it sure brought out the best in a coq au vin. I don't get the impression this will get massively better from here, but the tannins will presumably integrate a bit more, and there's certainly no rush whatsoever, this will be good for decades.

EDIT: better half, who has a much better palate than I, zero interest in drinking wine she doesn't love, and for whom "this is good" is high praise, took a sip and said, "whoa, this wine is SO good." I stand by my opinion, but if you're going to believe one of us, definitely believe her.

1/25/2024 - finlero wrote:

I was so excited to see a boxed wine that clocks in above $20/750-ml-bottle. Sure, it's not meant for aging, but the carbon footprint is lower, and you can enjoy exactly how much you want on any given night, with the wine staying fresh for weeks. This 3L box sold for $120, thus the equivalent $30/bottle, which tends to be about my personal sweet spot for a "real" weeknight wine. Plus it's a single vineyard cab made with organic grapes. So I was excited to order this -- I really wanted to love it.

Bottom line, the wine is pretty good, but to me this didn't taste like a $30 bottle, let alone the even-more-expensive bottle the RGBW company is hyping it as. Very, very modern, meaning it's quite sweet, borderline cloying, with a super-dominant vanilla element. Light tannins, medium-short finish. To its credit, there's a decent hint of structure, and it's fairly light on its feet for a 14.8%.

Admittedly this is stylistically out of step with my fusty old world tastes, but at the end of the day, I think my ambivalence is about more than that. Just one fickle taster's opinion, but to me, this doesn't drink like a $30 wine, or a $20 wine, but more something in the $10 - $15 range. That's still a huge step up from what you might have found in a box a generation ago, but it's not enough to make me a repeat customer.

If any wine industry people are reading this: if you throw a half decent $20 Chianti in a 3L box, you will have at least one enthusiastic customer! For now, apparently I'm sticking with bottles.

12/31/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Beautifully weighted. Light and spry, but anchored by some earthy minerality. Loved this, and all the more for the sub-$50 price.

12/29/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

After the first few sips, I was getting ready to write a note about bottle variation. But I just hadn't let it breathe enough. Very good after open 2 hours, really lovely after 3 more.

12/28/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

From magnum. Garnet. Dust, leather, raisin on the nose. Dark and brooding on the palate, plum, spice, orange peel, a little vanilla. Tannins very well integrated; long finish, but it runs bitter and remarkably hot. I love Brunello, and specifically Montalcino North, but for my tastes, this wasn't quite in my top tier of BdMs. That said, a lovely wine to enjoy with friends over a long, leisurely winter evening.

12/26/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

A few months after its 10th birthday, this was (1) open, accessible, and immensely food friendly, and (2) remarkably structured and complex for anyone paying attention. Leaned red over black, with long, lingering spice notes. Flattered a mushroom ragu without demanding the spotlight, but sported a huge amount of finesse and precision.

This is so approachable today that I have to assume it won't have quite the longevity of some of its more tightly wound contemporaries, but it's pretty darn perfect today, with a nice plateau ahead. Drink now, or hold at least 5 years.

12/16/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Clean, light-to-medium violet with just a hint of bricking at the rim. Canonical BdM nose of plum, leather, camphor. Good typicity of the palate, leans red over black, hints of wild strawberry and crushed herbs give this a real sense of place. Medium finish, tannins are already pretty well balanced.

I go back and forth on Fuligni. On one hand, I love the traditional, un-showy craftsmanship that you find in every bottle, and it always flatters good food. On the other hand, it seldom punches me in the gut quite as much as some other (even staunchly traditional!) houses do.

Tonight, anyway, I'm finding the purity of fruit, earth, and perfume to be particularly charming, most especially from this '13 vintage, quickly becoming one of my very favorites. Any which way, a joy.

12/11/2023 - finlero wrote:

This is currently presenting almost like an amaro, with a hot, bitter herbaceousness I'm not used to in a typical bottle of wine. Is that a rant or a rave? Not sure yet. It'll be interesting to check in on this in a few more years and see where it evolves.

12/10/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Deep, clean violet, almost no signs of age. Open nose with classic BdM notes of plum, saddle leather, camphor. Bold, masculine palate, still a prevalent amount of black and then red fruit, underpinned by an earthy minerality. Very long finish, with really grippy tannins, as well as a noticeable burn (label says 15% and I could easily believe it's up closer to 15.5%). Built like a true Riserva, this is showing beautifully right now, somewhere towards the start of a long peak window. Surely at least a 25-year wine, and 30 years or more wouldn't surprise me.

12/6/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Lovely with 2 hours of air. Thin, clear ruby/garnet in the glass. Old world nose of wild strawberries and a little ammonia. Red-leaning palate of currant, strawberry, licorice. Medium finish, with some fine, silty tannins. Extraordinarily, dangerously light on its feet for a 14.5%, caveat potator.

12/4/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Drinks a little on the sweet and simple side, but underpinned by some appealing old-world barnyard/sous bois. Should get a little better with age, but nothing criminal about drinking it now. Wouldn't go out of my way to seek this out, but also glad I have more.

11/22/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Warm, sunny, and likeable, befitting the vintage. After having had several closed '15 BdMs earlier this year, I had vowed to forget about my bottles for a few years, but a friend opened this tonight and I was happy to find it approachable and delicious right from PnP. Black fruit, leather, and spice box, with a long, tannic finish. Great typicity, with just enough populism to appeal to a good number of people. For my tastes, a few more years could work wonders, but it's absolutely drinkable today.

11/6/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

My first Pontet-Canet, and to my mild annoyance and enormous delight, the best BDX I've ever had by a considerable margin. Deep, clear violet, tenacious legs. Nose of plum, licorice, wet earth, and ammonia. Beautiful purity of fruit on the palate, much more black than red, with some spicebox and petrichor notes. Medium-long finish, with some silty old world tannins. Open and accessible, with tons of structure and nuance, and, I'd argue, some serious QPR even with the relatively high price tag. An all-around joy.

11/4/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

My first Costanti. Awesome, traditional BdM after a 3+ hour decant, very tight and ungiving up front. The perfume and minerality really make this stand out. Barely into its drinking window with plenty of air. This is emerging from that late-single-digit Brunello dumb phase, but it won't even hit early peak for another few years. Very precise, I see why this is a marquee house. Glad I have more of this, excited to try it in 2025.

10/31/2023 - finlero wrote:

Thin, dark garnet. Nice sweetness and acidity. The slightly pinched, pruny finish makes it taste just a little cheap.

10/14/2023 - finlero wrote:

Great stuff. Deep, dark violet, syrupy legs. Nose of wild strawberries, raisins, leather, earth, and licorice. Palate is quite sweet, but in balance, and surprisingly bright, with a broad range of fresh stone fruit including an unexpected apricot note, good acidity. Very long finish, with lots of silty, grippy tannins, runs warm, but nowhere near a hot as you'd expect for a 16.5. I'm showing my Italian partisan bias, but personally I'd take this over a modern Napa cab just about every time. Years of graceful aging ahead of it, but lovely now.

10/8/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Too young but very good. Light ruby-violet. Nose of cherry, licorice, barnyard. Lots of brambles and sous bois on the palate, currently just a little harsh, but nice, subtle structure. Medium finish, a bit bitter and brackish, light on tannins. Needs time to settle down, hold until 2025.

9/30/2023 - finlero wrote:

Good after a 4 hour decant. Black fruit and leather. Oaky, with a conspicuously bitter finish, but food balances it out. Not my preferred style of Brunello, and far from my favorite bottle from the stellar '13 vintage, but still plenty to like.

9/25/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Very good. Clean violet. Nose is a little reticent, but the palate decidedly isn't. Leans modern and fruit forward, but still tastes like it came out of the ground: black cherry and strawberry, licorice and a bit of earth. Medium-long finish, easy on tannins. Well balanced, wouldn't have guessed 14.2%. Got this for $60 -- seems about right in terms of value, neither a steal nor a ripoff. This should age gracefully for 5 - 10 more years, but it's already in a nice place.

9/17/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Clear, dark violet. Lots of barnyard on the nose. Palate of just-ripe black plum, licorice, and leather. Medium-long finish with lots of minerality and some silty tannins. Beautifully balanced and lovely all around.

9/9/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

This continues to be very good stuff with plenty of air. The prevalent structure will let it age gracefully for 5 - 10 more years, and the tannins will likely soften over that stretch. There's a fair bit of bitterness and brackishness that seems unlikely to recede much; given how lovely the fruit is at the moment, for my tastes I think it'll be best over the next 2 - 3 years. Enjoyed a glass on its own, enjoyed it more paired with BdM-appropriate food.

8/21/2023 - finlero wrote:

Had this side by side with a traditional '13 Brunello right in the same price range (Sesti normale). The Sodi stood out as slightly sharper, quite a bit oakier, and much more modern. I think most people will prefer the Sodi, it fits better into the modern wine vocabulary. For my stodgy tastes, it really laid bare how much I prefer the uncompromising botti-aged BdM style, particularly from a marquee vintage in Tuscany like 2013. This was still lovely, though, if a shade lighter on personality and sense of place.

8/14/2023 - finlero wrote:

Fascinating to have tried this after a recent bottle of the 2010. This was still an undeniable joy, but by comparison, a far less transcendent one. A little warm and sharp, but still beautifully crafted. Did a particularly great job flattering a pork sausage and broccoli pasta.

8/11/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Gorgeous old school Brunello at early peak. Beautiful, pure fruit, with some dusty saddle leather, easy on the oak, balanced tannins, long finish. For my tastes, very close to perfect.

7/31/2023 - finlero wrote:

The blend adds a smoky, spicy, peppery exoticness to the glass, but it's undercut somewhat by a lack of structure. Approachable and food friendly. I'd love to try a higher end version of this experiment.

7/29/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

At $44, runs circles around plenty of Burgs that clock in at twice the price. Excellent.

7/10/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Apricot, lemon peel, birthday cake, river stones, and lots of oak. As American as a bald eagle lighting fireworks on the 4th of July. Not my preferred style, but a perfect bottle for a hot summer night on the back patio.

6/28/2023 - finlero wrote:

Needs a bare minimum of 5 years to come together, but some promising elements for the future. Very disparate right now. New oak, tart red currant and plum, coconut. Plenty of tannins and acidity to last forever. Forget about this until at least 2028.

6/24/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Very good. Open and approachable, on the modern end of the BdM spectrum. The tertiary notes are already pretty strong, making me think this is well into its peak; I probably wouldn't let this go more than another year or two.

I always enjoy Terralsole, it's one of my favorite houses in Montalcino, but to my middling palate, all their BdMs taste pretty similar, be it the normale, the riserva, or these single-vineyard bottlings. Happy to enjoy any of these, they're nothing if not consistent, but I'd generally be content seeking out their base normale over this or the riserva.

6/17/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Excellent for just under $22. Good fruit and acidity, leaning more black than red, quite big and tannic for a CC; warm, but but neither stewed nor cloying. This could age really well, but for my tastes it's in a good place for drinking now.

6/11/2023 - finlero Does not like this wine:

Brunello is, by far, my favorite wine appellation. And I certainly don't want to yuck anyone else's yum -- we should all like what we like. But for whatever it's worth, personally I didn't care for this wine.

I agree with oldwines' comment below about a certain soapiness, and for my tastes, the fruit and acidity were too slight, leaving a flat, almost industrial minerality. Not much evolution over the course of six hours -- the last sip was pretty similar to the first.

Never had the La Casa bottling before, I guess it's possible it was a bad bottle, but having tried Caparzo's other BdMs, I'm guessing that this is more a case of their house style not being to my tastes.

5/27/2023 - finlero wrote:

Vibrant ruby with just a hint of garnet. Plum and saddle leather on the nose. Cherry cola, licorice, and fresh herbs on the palate. Chewy tannins, the warm year definitely stamped a noticeable heat on the long finish. Best after open 4 hours, it all works. This is great stuff, just entering early peak. Drink or hold for another 5 years.

5/20/2023 - finlero wrote:

10,000 lb gorilla, but a friendly 10,000 lb gorilla. Decanted four hours. Very big, masculine profile, fairly highly extracted. Caramel, raisin, leather, pie spice. Tannic, with a long, hot finish. Slightly surprised the label said it was "only" a 14.5%. A few shades too blunt and hedonistic for my tastes, especially after having just tried and loved this house's 2010, which had considerably more finesse. But well constructed, food friendly, and likeable all the same. Structured enough that it should be better in a few more years after it settles down.

5/15/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

As leery as I am of BdMs in the high-single-digit age range (I don't know how many TNs I've read on this site about "flat" or "over the hill" 8yo BdMs), I've been finding the '15s to be remarkably open and approachable with a long decant, as was the case here.

Even at 4 hours this was just waking up; really came to life around hour 5. Clean, modern styling, medium weight, with Marasca cherry, fennel seed, and a bit of a raisin note that took a little more time to balance out. Medium finish, with some fairly prevalent, but not overbearing tannins.

Very nice effort. Although I usually gravitate toward a more traditional style of BdM, this will appeal to a great many palates. Really enjoyed this!

Drink now with a long decant, or hold until at least 2030.

EDIT: note in the comments to clarify "flat"/"over the hill".

4/22/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Better than ever. Still a good deal of fruit, but there's a refined elegance that was worth waiting for. No signs of fading, this can go for years longer, but it's hard to imagine it getting better than it already is.

4/15/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Best I've ever had from this house. Dark garnet, but clear enough to see through the glass. Nose of plum, pine, barnyard. Balanced, highly structured palate leads with Marasca cherry, but transitions to black currant and licorice. Long, slightly bitter finish is perhaps a little too warm, still some prevalent rustic tannins that seem unlikely to fully integrate (which I don't mind). Fantastic, textbook BdM, surely right at peak. This easily has the structure to hold at least five more years, but no need to wait, it has arrived.

EDIT: better half, who has a much better palate than I, routinely doesn't finish a glass of wine she doesn't love, and from whom "this is good" is high praise, tasted this and said, "the wine is lovely." That bumps the score from my original 94 to a 96.

4/8/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Voluptuous and utterly delicious.

4/7/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Very good at $25. Staunchly old world, very tannic and a little bitter, this won't please all palates, but on the right palate, the rustic elegance will shine. I suspect this will be best starting around 2028 after things integrate a little more and some tertiary notes come out, but it's already excellent with a long decant.

4/5/2023 - finlero wrote:

Got a half case of this in 2019 for $34/bottle. I've kept hoping I was just being impatient and it was going to age into something more interesting, but at this point it's looking somewhat unlikely. There is nothing remotely bad about this wine -- it's really quite good, and terrific with food -- but I think it's climbed as high as it's ever going to, which is just a shade or two less than I might have hoped. Drink or hold, absolutely no rush.

3/24/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Stellar after a four hour decant, and not a minute sooner. This is tightly wound stuff, tastes quite traditional to me. Garnet. Big, but balanced: black cherry, leather, minerals, a bit of smoke. Still very tannic, with an extraordinarily long finish.

Great with food like any BdM, but this one is best on its own.

This has all the elements to hold for at least another decade, but it's into its drinking window with ample air. Fuligni has seldom punched me in the gut the way it seems to for the pro critics, but this was by far the best I've had from this house.

2/24/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Definitely has personality -- maybe a shade too much personality? Regardless, an enjoyable bottle.

Dark straw color approaching tawny. Sherry-like nose extends to the palate, with some raisin and incense notes. Grew on me as I got used to it. Nice, soulful bubbly for a winter's night.

2/14/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Excellent after open 5 hours, but tightly wound enough that it'll be even better in another couple of years. Vibrant, clear ruby/violet. Nose is a little reticent compared to the pure fruit on the palate: marasca cherry, black plum, licorice, new leather. Tannins prevalent but in balance, long finish. With no disrespect to Bordeaux or Napa, Brunello is my steak wine. Approaching peak and eminently drinkable, but its best days are still ahead.

2/11/2023 - finlero wrote:

Corked

1/12/2023 - finlero Likes this wine:

Don't pop and pour. I was pretty underwhelmed with this until it had been open 90 minutes, then it really opened up. Spicy and perfumed at the 2 hour mark, and great with food.

Even better on day 2. Give this hours and hours of air and it'll pay dividends.

1/10/2023 - finlero Does not like this wine:

Some nice elements, including a really lovely lighter weight, unfortunately offset by a pinched harshness that isn't to my taste.