A glorious, multifaceted nose with dark strawberry and cherry fruit, clove, spice, balsam and roses. Sublime. Deep and expansive on the palate with terrific sap and density coupled with a sense of weightless power. Texturally this is the iron fist in a velvet glove. It’s rich, yet detailed, focused, and incredibly long, finishing with some clamping somewhat bitter tannins that keep this from being truly monumental. Fantastic by most measures. Sadly my last bottle. Drinking wonderfully right now. (96 pts.)
I have never had the official Brunello, but the first VDT Rosso (which was a blend of 2 vintages of Brunello) ist terrific, and a screaming deal. I really backed up the truck.
Thanks for reading everyone. This was a pretty special bottle, and among the growing list of producers I love but no longer buy. ‘04 being my last vintage. I’ve not had any post Molinari era Cerbaiona. Diego Molinari’s wines are fantastic and a special treat anytime I open one of my dwindling stash.
Yup, wonderful stuff and hard to find (and pay for). The 2015 VDT Rosso, the last vintage he made, supposedly is the Brunello juice, if you can find it.
I opened a bottle of the 2015 VDT Rosso last June for research purposes. Consistent with what Joshua wrote, the entry in my spreadsheet is “2015 Rosso di Montalcino (Declassified Brunello)”. On day one, I was repaid with wave after wave of fine grain tannins. The fruit was mostly in hiding. Later in the week, a dense core of red fruit finally emerged. Obviously, I should have waited. I plan to open my only other bottle circa 2030. I’m also on the hunt for some earlier vintages of the Brunello.