Our monthly blind tasting group met recently to blind taste 14 Brunellos at one of our members home. He strategically arranged 3 tables on his ocean view outside patio to accommodate the 14 of us. Our host super exceeded all of the standards established for being such with generous amounts of choice appetisers equally distributed on each of the tables. Between the first and second flights, he whipped up a huge serving of pesto pasta and along with a huge bowl of Ceasar salad and we feasted righteously.
Additionally, he provided 3 quality “starter” wines, all being seriously good wines above and beyond the norm. Our monthly member host status was just raised to a new level.
Our starter wines:
2012 BIONDI-SANTI TENUTA GREPPO ROSATO di TOSCANA- I just had this last week as a friend of our host had gone in with him to purchase a case so it should have come from the same batch, but there was a distinct difference starting with the color which was copper brown; even the taste profile was different in that this bottle had more mature red and black fruit; it did have a similar medium to full body and the unexpected and pleasing oily texture; both bottles gave copious amounts of fruit distinguishing this from many of the “washed out”. thin roses that permeate the market. This was the last vintage under the late Franco Biondi-Santis supervision.  2008 PHILIPPE FOURRIER CUVEE MILLESIME BRUT- new to me, this producer put out a fine bubbly here that was nicely balanced, had bright acidity, gave up rich and luscious fruit with lemon, grapefruit, pear and white peach most apparent and a hit of mint to give just the right accent.  2008 FALLET-DART BRUT- 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir; minimally aged for 72 months; Ive enjoyed the rose from this house, but never had a vintage brut and am happy to have made the acquaintance; it was very refreshing, crisp and citric with lemon oil providing the most prevalent taste and texture.
Now for the wine theme for this blind tasting, Brunello. After each of us scored and remarked on our own score sheets, we voted for each place in the flight and then revealed the wine. We were pre-informed the flights were arranged in order of oldest to youngest.
The first blind flight of 5:
1997 CASTELLO BANFI POGGIO ALLE MURA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- the color had some bricking around the edge of the hazy brown-purple; the nose had wondrous aromas of dried fruit which on the palate was mostly nice black currant along with an overall grapey expression; it was really good and although advanced, so easy and fun to drink. I this #1 in the flight as did the group as it stood out way above all others.
1997 IL COLLE BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- definitely some ageing in the color; ethyl acetate coming off as nail polish remover dominates the nose; the volatile acidity dissipates just a touch on the palate to allow for some decent fruit notes to make this a bit more approachable, but just a bit.
1997 CASTELLO BANFI BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- it had a dark ruby/ garnet color with no signs of aging; there was some VA in the nose again, but it blew off rather quickly and gave way to an abundance of all things fruit; I got blackberry, black currant, blueberry and wld plum with toasty, oaky accents; it was full bodied and had a long finish.
2005 CAPARZO BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- once revealed, I was surprised to find this was an 05` since it had a definitive cloudy signs of aging browning ruby color; initially some green bell pepper notes appeared in the nose, but that faded off and dried as in tertiary and wild cranberry, plum and black currant fruit came in; it had a decent mouthfeel and a better finish than its start.
2006 ARIGANO BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- this also had some browning ruby color and the fruit profile showed some age with dried black currant, blueberry and plum with some tobacco and leather accents; although I have not had this vintage from Arigano, I’ve had a few older ones and they held their age for much longer and had more energy and pizzaz, so I’m thinking bottle variation here and even perhaps that is true for the Carpazo.
The second blind flight of 5:
2007 LA GERLA RISERVA gli ANGELI BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- it had a slight amount of bricking, but no signs of being over the hill with its dried black currant, prune and plum fruit accented by tobacco, wood spice and earth notes; loved the texture and growth in the glass after a slow start. The group had it #! in the flight. My #2.
2007 LIVIO SASSETTI PERTIMALI BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- young and vibrant dark purple color; loaded with fruit and minerals with some earth and a bit of barnyard funk; chocolate and leather infused blackcurrant takes over by mid palate and finishes the deal.
2007 DONATELLA COLOMBINI CINELLI BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- young and energetic, this was loaded with super ripe dark fruit which translated into jammy blackberry and cherry on the palate; it had a streak of minerals and a accent of leather; it was full bodied with a nice fruity ending. My #1 in the flight. The group`s #5.
2009 ANDRETTA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- lots of oak in this bottle with talc, wood spice, woodsmoke and sandalwood joining the wild and wooly black raspberry and black currant fruit; it was medium bodied and seemed to be in a weird place that may change with time and possibly more air as in decanting.
2009 LA FIORITA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- fermentation-maceration takes place in Slavonian oak fermentation vats; then it goes for a 24 months wood aging period which takes place in 5 hl French oak tonneaux and also in Slavonian oak vats; the remaining period before the release of the wine is spent in bottle; our bottle was young and full of ripe black fruit in the nose; on the palate, nice spicy blackberry/ cherry comes in; it had a medium body, but an unexpected syrupy texture and a bit of heat at the end. The group had it 2nd in the flight.
The 3rd blind flight of 4:
2011 PIETROSA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- everything about this wine denotes youthfulness from its pure and dark vibrant ruby garnet color to the fresh and concentrated red fruit, bracing acidity and a full on thrust of power; my childhood recall leads me to claim some of the fruit as being from jujube; it had soft tannins and other than being very fruit forward, was a good wine. Consensus #2 in the flight although I had it tied with another for 2nd.
This is the top wine from Pietrosa, circa 1970, who puts this through a long fermentation on the skins and then matures it for 3 years in Siavonic oak barrels of about 30hl and then it is kept for at least another 6 months in bottle before being sold.
2011 VERBENA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- this had a very dark ruby garnet color; the nose and taste was of concentrated ripe red cherry/ berry fruit with hints of leather and vanilla; the texture was so pleasing being silky smooth; it seemed to get better in the glass and finished on an upward tick. Consensus #1 in the flight.
2012 RIDOLFI BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- super ripe fruit dominates the nose and taste profile in this beauty; wild cherry, raspberry and red plum comes in aided by a touch of spice, leather and licorice; it was soft and easy on the palate and finished with more of the wild fruit notes. I had it tied for #2 in the flight.
2012 CASANOVA di NERI TUNUTA NUOVA BRUNELLO di MONTALCINO- from this producers highly esteemed single vineyard, this dark fruit forward wine had lots of spice, leather and tobacco delivered in a full bodied, smooth texture with a long satisfying finish; I had to score this at least as high as 2nd and so it became my 3rd at that rank.
Once revealed, I knew why i had liked it so much as I have had it and many other vintages over the past few years and am a fan of this release and producer.
Our host pulled out another wine for dessert:
NV [CAFFO] VECCHIO AMARO del CAPO CALABRIA- 700 ml; 35% abv; 70% proof; produced in 4 consecutive generations by the Caffo family, it was create as a toxic-digestive; it is made with 29 flowers, herbs, fruits and roots including bitter orange and orange peel, licorice, mandarin, camomile and juniper infused in alcohol; it is suggested to be drunk frozen in small Capo glasses; our bottle had a copper amber color; aromatics of clove, mint, menthol, licorice and fennel which continue on and are blended into slightly honeyed orange zest; a little drop will do me just fine.
it was the first bitter beverage to be proposed frozen in the slogans launched by the company way back in the Seventies when consumption was mainly in the summer and it was only distributed in Calabria.
My concluding thought is one I put in just about every blind tasting writeup, “ I love blind tastings”.
Cheers,
Blake
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