Brunello is back

[Comte Flaneur]

I used to buy quite a lot of Brunello di Montalcino in the 1990s but gradually bought less and less as these wines underwhelmed me. The low water mark was a tasting of 2001s we did in CT seven or eight years ago. Many of these Brunellos were insipid, low in acidity/unbalanced, anodyne/anonymous/not recognisable as Brunello.

My attitude was why bother with Brunello when you could buy Rosso cheaper, and Rosso is more accessible and fun to drink than those lugubrious Brunellos.

But we are hearing better things especially from the 2010 vintage on, from people here and elsewhere. I just want to throw my hat in the ring too. Better late than never.

I recently bought a case of straight Altesino 2010 - what a marvellous wine it is with a lovely perfume and Brunello-ness.

Last week I went to a burgundy tasting - a U.K. Merchant specialising in Burgundy, California and a little bit of Italy.

The wine of the night was a 2012 Gorelli Il Potazzine Brunello. It really knocked my socks off, and is already drinking very well. It really is a cracking wine, and showed a clean pair of heels to some illustrious premier Cru burgundies and Roagna Barolo.

It is good to see these wines coming back to form. Until now virtually all my Italian purchases had been from Piedmont.

[dstgolf]

Ian

You have summed up my feelings about Brunello's in general to the tee. 1997/8 were supposed to be stellar years in the region and my buddy and I went deep buying about 20 cases of assorted producers each vintage with nothing rated under 94pts. They were disappointing virtually across the board and I found the 97s especially prematurely fell off the map. Super Tuscan's faired a little better but the Sassacaia, Gaia, Tignanello etc were very good but never really evolved into a better wine with age aka most new world wines. Today they are good but not worth the price.

PS Ian the 2001 Margaux is in this months Classics release locally for a mere $1230!!!!

[JimHow]

Il Poggione seems to be a wine that I like, I plan on buying a few on an annual basis.

[Nicklasss]

Brunello good? Worth it price? Can age well? Give me a break.

Maybe I need to try some recent examples?

Nic

P.S. Danny, get the 2001 at the SAQ, and you'll save a bit, "only" 1158 $!

[Blanquito]

In my experience, Brunello is all over the map in quality, style, ageability, but the good stuff is really terrific.

[stefan]

But 2010 Brunello, Patrick, is good across the board even if the style varies a lot.