TN: 1999 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino

WINE TALK
1

Venturing out of my comfort zone tonight, I took one of these to an Italian restaurant in the area.

Opened and let air in the bottle for 3 hours before drinking. Very nice nose of cherries and earth. On the palate, a lot of sweet cherry and leather, the latter of which was unexpected. As it aired some more in the glass, the leather faded, some dustiness showed up, and the cherries went from sweet to a bit of sour cherry. The tannins built at the same time.

I had no idea what to expect of this wine, but I was very happy with the way it showed. Based on this bottle, I think it is drinking at its peak right now, but will stay that way for a couple of years. While it will probably develop some more secondary flavors with some more time, I like it just the way it is now.

2

Bruce, I think you’re still a tad early in terms of “peak drinking” with this one, but I have also been surprised recently with the relative accessibility of this wine given the vintage. That said, I would bet that it’s still got at least another decade ahead in terms of primetime drinkability, and I would not be surprised at all if it developed further nuances with time.

3

Bob,

I expect that you are right. But what I meant was that it was at its peak for me, as I like the wine at this stage. It has just enough secondary flavors to go along with the bright fruit. It should develop more nuances as you say, but I’d hate to lose the expressive fruit that might be lost as that happens. I mentioned that it should probably continue to develop those secondary flavors so that those that prefer more age on their wines would know that they had time to wait. Your opinion confirms that, so I am happy to have expanded my knowledge with this wine. [cheers.gif]

4

I picked up 4 of these on closeout ~3 years ago and they were drinking so well that I drank them all within about 18-24 months. I agree that it’ll go more than a couple more years… 10 might be stretching a touch but not a lot.

Caparzo doesn’t seem to be most complex or long lived Brunello but has always been a solid producer to me and I’ve enjoyed every bottle I’ve had!