Those of us lucky enough to have tasted the Le Chiuse 2001 Brunello di Montalcino within a year or two of release were floored by its explosively funky character. A bunch of people unlucky enough to have tasted it thereafter reported that it turned into something boring at best and maybe even ugly. Not a huge surprise in a category of wine intended for long-term aging but a little distressing given how instantaneously the wine seemed to have dropped off the cliff. So when I saw the 1997 vintage on Winebid I figured it would be a good opportunity to figure out whether this wine is a choker or if it just needs more time to come around. Good news, everyone! The 1997 rocks. In fact the scent right out of the gate was the same meaty funk that was so enticing about the '01, though it settled down after that and turned into a really pure expression of the fruit with a nice slice of acidity. There is still plenty of tannin here but it’s soft and plush and isn’t clamping down on the wine. The '97 vintage got a lot of knocks for being overhyped but this has the mark of a great vintage all over it in its balance and sophistication. Looking forward to enjoying my '01s years down the road!
Good to hear Keith, but I’m still worried about my 01’s … the bottle I sampled showed not just as a wine in a weird place, but as a microbially unstable wine, something which tends to get worse not better. Hopefully time will prove me wrong in that assessment though, no one likes a bum wine.
Nice to hear but I drank all but one of my '01s early on. Became like the house wine for a bit although on the high side for a house wine.
That was my concern, too, after tasting it a few months ago. This wasn’t in an awkward stage. It looked like it might be undergoing a rapid but excruciating death ritual.
Certainly it was clear from day one that this was not a wine of squeaky-clean fruitiness, but I never experienced the chemical issue others are talking about so can’t even guess what it might be. Is it VA? Something else?
I also am currently in the camp that the '01 is just going through a phase, but I’ll guess we’ll see the results soon enough. Has anyone pulled a cork on this recently?