Brunello di Montalcino 2005, my first bottle.

WINE TALK
1

My first Brunello di Montalcino from the 2005 vintage, I had it yesterday. Was looking forward to this one as the 2005 vintage is one of my favorites in Piemonte and would it also be great in Tuscany?

The Brunello Consorzio has an vintage quality evaluation and give the 2005 vintage 4’ out of 5* and the 2004 vintage 5*? 2006 and 2007 also has 5* and the 2008 has 4*. Consorzio del vino Brunello di Montalcino Montalcino" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

4* has also the following vintages 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003.

I remember after the 2004 harvest the producers was going crazy, could not get their hands down. Vintage of the century … this was after the very wet 2002 and hot 2003, then came an fantastic vintage. In Piemonte the Barolo and Barbaresco 2005 has been on the market for a while and I have had several, great vintage with all the aspects I like in a wine.

In Montalcino everyone speaks about the 2007 vintage another vintage of the century, I have tasted a few, but several Rosso di Montalcino 2007.

Well, back to the Brunello di Montalcino, that is just released. What I do not understand is why the Consorzio compares the 2005 with the 2003 in stars, it can not be compared at all.

What is your opinion?

Ciao
Birger

2

Birger,

I am not at all as familiar with 2005 Piedmonte as I am with 2004, which is what got me into Barolo in a big way. I’m wholly unfamiliar with Tuscany '04 and '05, but to your reference about '05 in Piedmonte, are you stating you prefer it to '04?

3

Two points:

  1. It seems every wine region in the world is falling over itself to label a recent vintage “vintage of the century.” That phrase has jumped the shark while simultaneously beating a dead horse to death again.

  2. I think of Brunello in sort of bifurcated, traditional v. modern terms. The modern '04s I’ve had have been disappointing. I tend to have more hope for a vintage that is not as “perfect,” so I’m hopeful that '05 Brunello will provide value. Certainly they will be headed for some bargain bins, considering the hype surrounding '04, '06, and '07.

4

Hi Tod,

I prefer the 2005, for me it is a much better vintage.

In the last 5 years I have attended the Barbaresco a Tavola, amazing event where is is possible to taste 22-25 different wines from the new vintage. In May I go again and this time it is the 2007 vintage [dance-clap.gif] [drinks.gif]

Ciao
Birger

5

I am a great fan of both 04 and 05 in Piedmont, and I think I will be a fan of 06 as well but have tasted only a little. The vintages are not identical but to me both are very high quality. My observation has been that in many areas of S Europe, 04 produced slightly rounder, riper wines that are strinkingly approachable young despite their structure in comparison to a slightly more classical 05 where more structured wines are not as giving in youth. This has been my overall impression in Piedmont, the Rhone, Bandol, Priorat, Campania and other places as well, so it won’t surprise me at all if that is the case in Brunello. In all of the areas I listed, I like both vintages quite a lot, btw. Certainly the 04 Brunelli are, to me, quite accessible in their youth with generous baby fat.

6

I just returned home from tasting many '05 and '04 Brunelli here in NY and the distinction betweeen vintages is very clear. 2005 is a fine vintage but it lacks depth of fruit and earth. This same circumstance causes it to show very nice minerality and perfume at this time. Most of the producers today were pouring the 2005, 2004 normale and 2004 riserva. Next to the 2005, the '04 stood out as a wine of great strength, depth, beauty and longevity.

I believe the '05 is a vintage to snatch up, at a likely discount, and drink sooner rather than later. With '04 before it, and '06 / '07 behind it, the '05 is likely to be somewhat overlooked.

7

I’m thoroughly confused by the references to Piedmont - a great vintage in one area doesn’t even remotely imply that the other area was great.

Regarding the ratings, the Consorzio is a marketing body too - a good vintage almost always gets 3+ or 4 stars. Of course such a limited system can’t say anything about the style of the vintages - what they’re saying (setting aside the desire to move wines) is that they feel 2003 and 2005 are similar in quality. After all, what CAN you really take from a 0-5 star rating of an entire region with about 200 producers?

8

Hi,

Yesterday I tasted 17 wines with 7 friends, all wines tasted blind. Among the wines was 4 Brunello di Montalcino, 2 from 2004 and 2 from 2005.

All 8 of us rated the 2005 vintage higher than the 2004 vintage [training.gif] [truce.gif]