A beautiful vintage, with very well articulated wines with no muscular excesses, no aggressive tannins and fresh aromas. Watch out, however, for wines that are too light: you can feel the alcohol, the tannins are aggressive and the texture disappears.
After two complex vintages for Brunello di Montalcino, such as 2017 and 2018, the Consorzio presented the 2019 loaded with expectations, thanks to rumors from many associates. A fine event was held in the Cloister of the Montalcino museum, excellently organized; it allows the tasting of more than 100 wineries with the appellation vintages “coming out” from January as the specification requires.
Unfortunately, some companies, among the most representative of the denomination, no longer participate in the event, forcing us to take a (very pleasant) tour of the area. The question remains, which we turn over to the new director Andrea Machetti: why are they not participating? Others, although present, do not carry the most representative wines. Why? Perhaps it is because some important foreign tasters taste before this beautiful event with “important” costs? But why does the consortium send emails to members where it requests samples for them? In our opinion it debases the event, it might be convenient to put an embargo on the release dates of the articles of the above-mentioned “spoiled colleagues.” Good thing the rush to anticipate too much tasting often leads to quaint interpretations of some wines (in Rome they are called patches).
The 2019 vintage
But let’s get into the merits of this 2019 Brunello reconnaissance. Good vintage: balanced with rains at the right time, a full ripening not too fast and very well articulated wines without muscular excesses, without aggressive tannins and with fresh aromas. A “European” vintage, austere in its early years but very classy. This comment alas does not apply to all, indeed only 30% of the companies tasted. For others, we could say that something different happened. September rains? the late rain on October 1? Too much grape load in the vineyard? We don’t know, but they were Too many discolored wines with smells that wink prematurely at evolved scents of autumn underbrush, leaves, leather and tobacco, with tannins little helped in their presence. The 2016 was more homogeneous and high in quality. Perhaps the “fashion” of wines in “levare” on Brunello di Montalcino distorts its the soul that is that of the dense but elegant texture that relies depending on the area on tannin, acidity and/or sapidity to find those balances that have made it a worldwide success. If you take away too much, the alcohol remains, the tannins as well, and the texture disappears with unedifying results.
In any case, thanks to the better producers, we have very well defined territorial differences, some historical cru of the territory made the difference, exploding their peculiarities. Excellent are the classic areas of Montosoli, Canalicchi, Sesta classic and low, the high parts near Sant’Angelo in Colle and the area of Argiano. Sparkling new cru (well there have been for 30 years) the Eastern Cerbaie, the San Polo area, the upper part of Castelgiocondo and the western ridge towards Castiglion del Bosco.
Below are our best tastings divided by … crus, sub-areas, call them what you will, and then some farm selections.
Montosoli
An exciting vintage for the historic northern cru:
- Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli 2019 – Crazy
- Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli 2019 (toward the Gode so border) – 0ttimo
- Baricci Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Excellent
- Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino La Casa 2019 – Very Good
- Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli 2019 – Very Good
Canalicchi and surroundings
- La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Giobi 2019 – Fantastico
- Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Excellent
- Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Excellent
- Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino Rosildo 2019 – Very Good
Eastern Cerbaie
- San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino Le Lucere 2019 – Fantastico
- Salvioni Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Excellent
- La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino Persante 2019 – Excellent
San Polo area
- San Polino Brunello di Montalcino Helychrisum 2019 – Excellent
- Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione 2019 – Excellent
- Barbi Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Fiore 2019 – Very Good
- Gianni Brunelli Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Very Good
Sixth area
- Giodo Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Fantastico
- Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Giovanni Neri 2019 – Fantastico
- Ciacci Piccolomini Brunello di Montalcino Pianrosso 2019 – Very Good
Western ridge area
- Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Excellent
- Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino Filo di seta 2019 – Excellent
- Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino Campo del Drago 2019 – Very Good
- Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino Campo Marzio 2019 – Very Good
Also.
- Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie 2019 – Crazy
- Argiano Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Suolo 2019 – Fantastico
- Capanna Brunello di Montalcino Nicco 2019 – Outstanding
- Luce Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Very Good
- Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Marrucheto 2019 – Excellent
- La Magia Brunello di Montalcino Ciliegio 2019 – Excellent
- Col di Lamo Brunello di Montalcino A Diletta 2019 – Excellent
- Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino Vigna i Poggi 2019 – Excellent
- Mastroianni Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Loreto 2019 – Excellent
- Talenti Brunello di Montalcino Piero 2019 – Excellent
- Renieri Brunello di Montalcino 2019 – Very Good
The official glass
We conclude with one last consideration that concerns the new official glass specially designed and proposed, in these tastings, by the Consortium. After more than 200 tastings, we were not convinced by two main factors: first, the base is too flat and wide, so the amount of wine needed to reach the curvature of the glass (optimal for tasting) is too high. As a result, the wines result with faded colors And tending more toward garnet than they are. In addition, the form adopted tends to enhance some tertiary aromas at the expense of cherry, the most important factor in the recognizability and quality of Brunello di Montalcino, making the wine appear more evolved.
The Golden Holm 2023
For the record, these are the 5 award winners Leccio d’Oro 2023, among restaurants and wine shops, national and international, with a wine list highly representative of the wines expressing the Tuscan village.
RESTAURANTS:
- Veranda Restaurant of the Hotel Villa d’Este in Cernobbio. An elegant establishment overlooking Lake Como, Ristorante Veranda boasts a wine cellar with more than 50 thousand bottles, and its wine list features a selection of more than 3,500 labels, 300 of which come from Montalcino.
- Sistine Restaurant in New York City. Located in a 19th-century Upper East Side mansion and featuring a collection of artworks ranging from Matisse to Miró, the venue has a wine cellar with about 100 thousand bottles and 4,600 labels, including the best vintages of Brunello and Brunello Riserva.
ENOTECHE:
- Quadrifoglio of Calosso (AT) whose online catalog offers more than one hundred labels including Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino.
- Berry Bros. & Rudd of London, Md, with an e-commerce that exceeds one hundred Ilkinese references.
Remaining instead in Tuscany is the Leccio d’Oro “Rosso di Montalcino” Special Prize awarded to Osteria Il Bargello of Siena.. Since 2020, the venue also has the Salotto del Vino, a wine shop with about 1,000 labels of which nearly 100 are from Montalcino. In addition, daily offerings by the glass always include a Rosso or Brunello.
