Costanti 1982 Brunello di Montalcino

WINE TALK
1

Bought this bottle a year or so ago and was nervous it would be dead or die off soon.

The top of the cork was slightly moldy. I pulled it with a Durand. It was stained within about a third of an inch of the top and slightly crumbly. An initial whiff of vinegar had me concerned but my initial taste was a surprise. It was in excellent condition. No hint of age from the color and it reminded me of a young, high quality Chianti on the nose and palate, say a 2009 Fontodi Chianti Classico. Extremely fine tannins.

After about 10 minutes in the glass, it became a bit simple.

About half way through the bottle (about 20 - 30 minutes), the mineral notes just bloomed. An intense iron note emerged and quickly blended with the rest of the aromas and pure sangiovese flavors returned. The tart black cherry notes went deep but the ample acidity kept it alive and dancing on the palate.

Great bottle to encourage me to age these beasts.

It was a beautiful pairing with a rich duck ragu.

2

:slight_smile: my oldest Costanti is an '06. Ideally I hoping to drink mine at around age 15 I’m thinking.

3

That’s my rough plan. There is a chance some of the Costanti I bought on release (the oldest is 2004) will make it to 30 but I doubt it. [cheers.gif]

4

That is so cool how that changed in the glass for you so much. Never had a Tuscan that old, sounds like maybe I should?

5

Great note. I’ve had a few from the 90s (and all were exceptional) but nothing from the 80s.

6

Markus, I drink a ton of old Tuscan wine. Traditionally styled Sangiovese can age with the best of them–not just the icon producers Soldera and Biondi-Santi, but Chiantis and IGT’s you can get for less than $100 like Monsanto il Poggio Riserva and Flaccianello. When they’re good, they show dusty cherry, leather, smoke, and earth, with really lively acidity. But since they weren’t always seen as collectible, provenance is everything–if you don’t know where a bottle is coming from, expect about half of them to be heat damaged or oxidized.