March 17, 2024 - Women Who Wine & Their Arm Candy (Estelle, St. Paul, MN): Dark red color. PNP, drank a glass over an hour. Black cherry, tar, glycerin, cassis, crushed herbs, earth, firm tannins. Wasn't thinking about this too hard, gut feeling 92(+)pts.
March 17, 2024 - Dusty black fruit, dark plum, lots of underbrush, slightly floral, Indian spices on the nose. Palate shows black fruit and tar. Finishes quite tannic; needs food to show best.
February 28, 2024 - Decanted and drank at a restaurant with Italian meal. Took 15 min in the glass to find it's footing and then drank like a well aged wine. Had real weight. Great balance. Wonderful with food.
February 20, 2024 - PnP that is consistent with previous bottles: very good. Another decade or more of wonderful drinking yet ahead. A fair amount of sediment, fwiw. highly recommended
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January 13, 2024 - My second time drinking this wine and scoring it a 96 with firm conviction that it's truly outstanding value among the great 2010 vintage. I bought a wide range of 2010 Brunellos rated 96-100 by the pros. So far, this has performed the best of what I've opened adjusted for price. Often the crowds rate below the pros, but I support the pros in this case. Drinking great now and for at least another 5 years.
January 5, 2024 - I've been tracking this since 2015 when I bought 6 bottles. It's starting to lose its energy and show its age, I liked it more back in 2021. Still plenty of tannins, well integrated, but aged fruit starts to be unbalanced in my opinion. Drink up over the next two years. (Tasted over four hours, including with decanting.)
December 21, 2023 - big, deep and a bit burly; then you notice the heat on the finish. ABV 15. Not my style. Could smooth out over time, but on day two the heat on the finish was even more prominent.
November 20, 2023 - Mostly consistent with previous bottle but seemed a bit tighter at the moment. Would have benefited from decanting but still showed great Sangiovese traits and has plenty of structure so this will definitely continue to improve with time.
October 12, 2023 - Aromatic. Tannic but integrating nicely. Overall a solid BdM.
October 8, 2023 - Prior bottle was 18 months ago and this wine continues to show exceptionally well. Black cherry and blackberry along with spices and earth notes on the nose. Between medium and full bodied with elegant and silky black cherry upfront with brighter blackberry as a contrast. Darker black cherry mixed with plum come in through the middle. Neatly integrated tannins, acidity and tart black cherry on the backside along with earth, spices and minerals through the finish. Overall balance and integration and have improved since my prior bottle and the fruit has retains its expressiveness. May have slight room for additional positive improvement and should be able to hold this level for several more years. I'll plan to open my next bottle in Q2 2024.