February 3, 2024 - Nice Brunello, first bottle of this Mystery wine from Garagiste.
No formal TN.
January 5, 2024 - 1 hour decant, 60 F. Medium garnet color. Aromatic nose of cherry and tobacco, raspberry, rose, smoke and vanilla notes. Pleasant acidity, smooth tannins, well-integrated alcohol and oak. Light body for a BdM. Lovely cherry fruit on the palate, cranberry, tobacco, leather, balsamic and sun-dried tomato notes. Lingering drying finish. Very quaffable and great QPR for the price I paid. Drink soon
December 30, 2023 - Drinking nicely for what it is
March 21, 2023 - Maybe a flawed bottle but missing all of the fruit and depth one would expect. Nose smells off as well.
March 2, 2023 - Pretty nose upon opening: cherry, mushroom, leather, fruit cake spices. Lots of tertiary notes wafting out of the decanter. On palate, a bit hollow, not matching the depth or range of the nose. It was a difficult year in Tuscany that year.
January 25, 2023 - Dark rusty red color. Fresh fruit aromas. Cranberry and burnt cherry flavors with strong acidity and very lengthy finish.
July 2, 2022 - Really nice showing. An hour in the decanter, steak and pasta ala Norma. Dry, and a bit austere on it's own but sings with a little fat and salt on the tongue. Fine acid pop, pomegranate, a bit of bay. Light, clean finish. Unsure if there's enough there there for significant aging, but fully expect it to hold for the next handful of years.
June 26, 2022 - Still quite young and a little tight still. Very good, classic Brunnelo profile. Dry and tannic.
June 21, 2022 - Final btl. Consistent. Yum.
February 6, 2022 - Very tight (thin sour nasty) upon opening but after a few hours it began to morf into something more pleasant. By the second day it finally began to sing. Great depth and breadth of flavors began to emerge with time and oxygen so definitely open well in advance of when you are planning to serve.
Tasted side by side against the 2013 Il Marroneto Brunello (a wine that may have even racked up more rewards and scores than this particular bottle). The Cantina's wine was great (my score 90) but came up just a little short across the board against the Il Marroneto. Both were much nicer on day 2 (but particularly the Cantina which was finally becoming drinkable by then).
After posting this review and then reading some of the earlier comments, it seems like we may have opened this (and the Il Marroneto) bottle many years too early.