Tag Archives: Montalcino

April 5, 2013 · 8:31 am

Costanti – 20/04/2012

Rosso di Montalcino 2010
Very bright floral raspberry tightness, with fresh fruit sweetness and generosity on the palate making it balanced, focused and approachable.

Brunello di Montalcino 2007
Had that fantastic stinky reductive power, but also showed dried cranberries and spices with full bright yet soft tannins, balance and harmony with great focus down the middle of the palate.

Brunello di Montalcino 2005
A lot more earthy development on the nose, but was also quite closed. On the palate it had developed suppleness and balance, and was wonderfully approachable.

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2006
Very closed and needs a lot of time to soften out and open up. On the nose it combined earthy minerality with toasty black cherries, and whilst expressive and full, with time it will become more opulent as the very tight tannin structure mellows.

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2004

Probably the best wine I tasted in Tuscany, and with good reason as it came from one of the best vintages ever. Exquisitely aromatic, combining delicate florals, juicy blackberries, red liquorice, delicate herbs and spices with a molasses character to boot. On the palate it was so gentle and rich, yet elegant, balanced and focused, and the classic faecal notes where hauntingly subtle to make it unmistakably great Brunello.

The Costanti range

The Costanti range

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April 5, 2013 · 8:28 am

Poggio Antico – 20/04/2012

Rosso di Montalcino 2009
Had a stalky cherry and pomegranate juiciness on the nose, coupled with approachable gentle tannins and full flavours on the palate, with some nice blackberry fruit sweetness.

Brunello di Montalcino 2005
An oxidative banana skin oak note on the nose, with chocolate, tar, blackberry and raspberry liquorice, and whilst soft and broad was a little hot at the moment, and will need some more time in bottle.

Altero 2005
A much better wine, showing more exuberance and integration, the oak reacting better to the conditions of the vintage. On the nose it of course showed toasty caramel and aniseed notes, but was showing some slight fennel notes as well, dense and powerful tannins and fruit with some earthy complexity and plenty of life left.

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2003
Not a strong vintage, was looking good now but won’t hold up for much longer. On the nose it showed charred wood and smoky spiced notes combining with salty caramel, prunes and crushed violets. On the palate were powerful tannins and warm oaky texture, and was decidedly more new world in style.

Madre 2006
A blend of 50% each of cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese, and expressed the volcanic nature of the soil, with complex salted liquorice and blackcurrant, herbal tea and savoury elements adding depth.

Le Martine 2010
50% sangiovese, 25% cabernet sauvignon and 25% petit verdot. It was a very soft and mellow yet tight wine, showing sweet oak and fruit tannins combining with plum, blueberries and raspberries, but also had a slight bruised character to the wine, making it look a little simple.

The Poggio Antico range

The Poggio Antico range

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April 5, 2013 · 8:15 am

Fuligni – 20/04/2012

Rosso di Montalcino 2010
This wine comes from the Ginestreto vineyard, sitting lower than the other parcels, and with younger vine age. Had a countenance that is very smooth and bright with cherry and cranberry fruits, great finesse and crispness, fantastic balance that will develop nicely over the next few years.

Brunello di Montalcino 2007
A blend of the other vineyards, and is kept for three years in barrel and up to two in bottle. Had a dusty stalky delicate raspberry character, and whilst very dense and tannic is opulent and mellow with some toasty dark chocolate. This wine actually reminded me of some of the Barolos I had tasted the previous week.

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2006
Showed as very reductive and stinky in the classic mould, but opened out to express wild cherries and tomatoes, very intense and velvety on the palate, focused and expressive with gentle yet firm complex tannins. Truly a wine for the ages.

One of the Fuligni vineyards

One of the Fuligni vineyards

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December 21, 2012 · 8:07 am

Recapturing the vibe (Montalcino, Italy – Day Two)

It’s such a relief to simply be in holiday mode after most of the past 14 months have been spent not only travelling but researching and arranging appointments and then writing as much as I can. I have joined my parents who have flown up from Melbourne for us to travel in Italy for my last six weeks in Europe. Not only is this a great experience for me not having seen them for over 14 months, but also my mother brought me as a baby to Italy for five months whilst she worked on her masters in a dialect from Campania. I may have mentioned in a post back in April that I was actually returning to Italy after almost 30 years, and now my mother and I are reunited in Italy as well. As I am travelling I won’t be doing much writing in the hope of making the most of the trip with my parents, but they are interested to visit a few wineries whilst we are here so I will write about them. I raved to them about how beautiful Montalcino was, and as we were staying a few nights in Siena to the north and we were passing through, I made an appointment to a winery that I didn’t visit when I was here before.

Poggio di Sotto

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December 17, 2012 · 8:53 pm

Poggio di Sotto – 17/12/2012

Rosso di Montalcino 2007
Very light delicate pure colour, fine and lovely brick colour. Bright and fresh on the nose, good red fruit but showing some lovely maturity and finesse. Light clean and yet subtle and pure. Wonderfully light fresh and clean, good fruit concentration without being dark and dense. Not simple fruit, refined and balanced with some lovely savoury notes as well. Good core of acidity but lovely soft round tannin structure.

Brunello di Montalcino 2007
A little darker and denser showing a little sweet cherry oak character. Slightly rosy red floral elements as well. More complex and a little closed still, certainly ripe and juicy. Bright fresh lovely dark red fruit, wonderfully fresh with excellent acids, still youthful in fruit and tannins, but dense with plenty of complexity and time to develop over time. The same soft ripe rich tannin structure but plenty of freshness and mouth-feel very important.

Poggio di Sotto

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April 23, 2012 · 9:03 am

A slightly different model (Tuscany, Italy – Day Five)

Looking back over the past few weeks in Italy there were certain trends that I have identified in hindsight. One of these trends was who I was hosted by in wineries depending on the region. In Alto Adige, Romagna and Valpolicella my hosts varied, in the latter two regions I was only there for a short time. In all of the other regions – or more specifically sub-regions – I was commonly hosted by a person of similar position. For example when I was in Friuli many of my hosts were one of the children of the owner/founder of the winery, who are now heavily involved with different elements of the business. When I was in Piedmont, more often than not I was hosted by either the winemaker or the owner/winemaker. In both of these cases the host is able to provide first-hand insights into the specifics of the winery, and are well prepared to answer any of my probing questions. As you could imagine, Tuscany is the most visited region in Italy by tourists, particularly English speaking tourists, and as such there are dedicated individuals to welcome these guests. In many instances this week I was hosted by these individuals, sometimes privately and sometimes with others. Because I have not only experience with wine education of this nature and also will continue to make this an important part of career, I don’t really mind listening in to different approaches to wine communication. Being somewhat selfish however, it is difficult to take a lot away from these experiences as most of the information provided I already know, and I don’t want to intervene too much on the tour. If I am honest I would think that wineries would take me a little more seriously than this, as I am not a tourist and am going to great expense to visit the region and winery. I don’t feel it is appropriate to ask for specific hosts as any invitation to visit is welcome, but I would hope that wineries I request to visit treat it as an opportunity. Montalcino is possibly the most beautiful part of Tuscany I visited, and the wines are out of this world, but unfortunately I didn’t learn a lot about this complicated wine and was a little disappointed at not being taken more seriously.
The fort of Montalcino

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April 23, 2012 · 8:54 am

Who is Kaiser Soze? (Tuscany, Italy – Day Four)

When you hear names of regions and places for wines, many things may come to mind. Very rarely are you able to associate a specific wine or style with a specific place, but some famous examples are Champagne, Burgundy, Mosel, Rioja, Barolo and Chianti. It is not difficult to see why this phenomenon is common in the vast majority of regions outside of Europe, as the focus on producing regionally distinct wines from specific regions has only been a recent occurrence. In many cases entire countries that may have a huge variety of climates are associated with a particular variety, such as Australia with shiraz, New Zealand with sauvignon blanc, Chile with merlot, Argentina with malbec, and South Africa with pinotage. Anyone from these countries will happily tell you that this does not reflect the entire production, as they produce many more varieties and many more styles even with the same variety. This phenomenon is also common in Europe for a range of reasons. This may be because a range of different varieties are grown but no one or two are considered the best, it may be because the law allows much leeway for blending other varieties, or perhaps the wines are simply not good enough. In many countries this is further compounded by the setbacks in the first half of the 20th century, with most regions rediscovering the right variety for the best sites, and re-establishing many of the winemaking traditions. With so many regions in Europe, with some much bigger and more diverse than others, it is easy to get lost. Thus it is important to establish regional identity and distinction, rather than produce the same wines as everywhere else. Montepulciano is one such region that lacks clear regional identity, in spite of the fact that the most common grape grown is sangiovese.
New shoots on old vines in Montepulciano

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