A tasting of 15 Brunello di Montalcino in the 2010 vintage

A tasting of 15 Brunello di Montalcino in the 2010 vintage. Decanted for sediment and back in the botlle 2-4 hous before tasted, the potentially greatest wines were tasted last. Good corks, all wines bought upon release and stored in cellars under my control.

General impression; lots of good wine, simpler bottlings drinking great, top wines in need of another 5-10 years.

Some quick impressions (I managed the tasting and the logistics):

Il Poggione: Nice acidity, slightly earthy and round. Won’t get any better, good.

Caparzo: Corked

Altesino: Floral, berries, smooth and fresh. Charming and elegant.

Campi di Fonterenza: Brambles, nice grip and silky friuit. Very pretty.

Poggio Antico: Juicy and easy to drink. Perhaps slightly short and a little rustic?

Castelgiocondo: Past it. Lacks nerve.

Mastrojanni: Elegant fruit, hints of juniper, some vegetal notes. Good length and fine balance, drinking well.

Uccelliera: Very fine and minty fruit with exellent concentration and length. Finely judged and balanced tannins.

Pian di Conte Riserva Talenti: Very concentrated, major wine. Excellent length and firm tannins, potential.

Pieve Santa Restituta: Crunchy fruit, minerally. Some mint as well, slightly tight finish. Pretty intense, potential.

Piave Sta Restituta Rennina: Tight and challenging, young with great intensity and focus. Come back in 10 years.

Pomona Villa Poggio Salvi: Nice fruit, surprisingly accessible,

Argiano Riserva: Young and tight with some oak notes. Pretty, red fruit. Very good, will get better.

Campogiovanni Il Quercione: Mint and cherries, fresh acidity. Good length and well handled tannins, slight oak. Needs time.

Biondi-Santi Il Greppo: Corked. The shortest cork of all the wines.

Picture shows some of the opened wines. The logistics made a better picture difficult.

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Thanks for sharing, that looks and sounds llke a good evening!

I have a few cases of various 10’s and have begun to rip the cork on a couple. To date, my favorite BdM continues to be a 2010 Pertimali Livio Sassetti. For my palate, just an amazing bottle of vino…

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Thanks for sharing your notes. Good to see Altesino and Mastrojanni perform well.

Did any one of the wines stand out for being more ‘weird’ or distinct from the others? I ask because I tend to enjoy Brunellos more when they step away slightly from traditional flavors.

Great summation. Glad the Uccelliera showed so well, I love their wines and their winemaker.

Shame about the Biondi-Santi.

Two corked wines out of 14 is about par for the course with Italian reds in my experience. People on here keep acting like I’m crazy when I say that, but it just keeps happening again and again. Several times the rate as compared to American wines in my experience.

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Thanks for sharing your notes. Glad Il Poggione and Altesino showed well

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