TN: 2004 Brunellos

WINE TALK
1

2004 BRUNELLOS - Beltramo’s in Menlo Park, California (6/13/2009)

For me, these '04 Brunellos showed better than I would have expected. A few were clearly modern style, and showing an excessive (IMO) amount of oak. On the other hand, virtually all were showing admirable depth of fruit, balance and structure. The Uccelliera and Il Poggione were particularly impressive.

  • 2004 Fattoria dei Barbi (Colombini) Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Dark cherry color with pale meniscus; nice tart and dried cherry and graphite nose; very tart red fruit, black cherry, berry and oak spice palate with some depth, the oak becoming more obtrusive as it sits in the glass; medium-plus finish (89 pts.)
  • 2004 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; lovely boysenberry, blackberry and herbal nose; pretty, tasty, deep, ripe cherry, red fruit and boysenberry palate with balance; medium-plus finish (93 pts.)
  • 2004 Tenuta Friggiali (Centolani) Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; herbal, tobacco, tart cherry nose; focused, earthy, tart black cherry and toasty oak palate; medium finish (88 pts.)
  • 2004 Tenuta Friggiali (Centolani) Brunello di Montalcino Donna Olga - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; nice redolent, roses, dried cherry, ripe cherry and caramel oak nose; tight, rounded, dried cherry, tart cherry berry, raspberry palate with depth and pretty well integrated oak; medium finish (91 pts.)
  • 2004 Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Medium dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; rich dried cherry, roses, red fruit and baked cherry nose; soft, baked cherry, tart red fruit, vanilla oak, raspberry and brown sugar palate with sap and depth; medium-plus finish (93 pts.)
  • 2004 Il Poggione (Proprietá Franceschi) Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; nice, lifted strawberry, smoky oak, baked cherry nose; tasty, focused, tart cherry, tart berry, boysenberry, spicy palate with medium acidity; long finish (needs 3-5 years) (94 pts.)
  • 2004 Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Dark cherry red color and pale meniscus; big, redolent, baked berry, baked cherry, dried cherry nose; big, dried cherry, dried berry, blackberry, tart plum palate with depth; long finish (95 pts.)
  • 2004 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; nice, rich, blackberry, boysenberry and baked plum nose; tight, tart berry, plum palate with sweet tannins; medium-plus finish 91+ pts. (91 pts.)
  • 2004 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
    Very dark cherry red color; baked berry, plum, lavender, clove and sage nose; very tight, tart berry, black raspberry, bramble, clove and anise palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (needs 5-7 years) (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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I’ve actually had a few of those wines at Tre Bicchieri, and recall several that were of note to me, and seemingly to you as well. I recall the Il Poggione and the Valdicava in particular - not positive it was Tre Bicchieri, but I believe so, and I have notes to locate some of the former.

Perhaps I should abide by my own suggestions…

3

Thanks for the notes Richard, Il Poggione and Uccelliera are perennial favorites of mine and from the various reports I’ve read / heard it sounds like both knocked it out of the park in 04. Il Poggione can be found for $35-40 to boot :slight_smile: I typically ilke Canalicchio as well though the wine has never wowed me so I’ve stopped buying it as there are a good half dozen producers I prefer at the same price point.

I’m curious if you’ve had the 01 Argiano and what you thought? I thought it was far too internationally styled – overextracted / manipulated and to me came off as bitter and unrecognizable as Brunello, though I realize I’m in the minority on Argiano. I actually like Tenuta Nuova considerably better than Argiano, and Tenuta Nuova isn’t exactly stylistically in my wheelhouse.

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i remember reading Argiano wasn’t going to label their 2004 as BdM? obviously this was untrue.

5

Has anyone tried the 2004 San Filippo “Le Lucere”? I pre-sold my allotment and doubt I’ll even have a chance to try it. Anyone?

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it was the 03 where they declassified a whole bunch of BdM. Some made it through to the US labeled as BdM, but a lot of it was declassified

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Is this the same San Filippo as Fanti? I don’t see a reference to Le Lucere on Fanti’s website and the little I can dig up seems to indicate they are different wineries, though a few CT tasting notes for the Le Lucere reference the Fanti.

I don’t find much about the winery other than a listing w/ no info on Skurnik’s site and a touch of info on De Grazia’s site.

Any insight would be appreciated.

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Veronica, here is my note from tasting it at a Mark De Grazia tasting back in January:

taste: Great round feel with lovely and balanced tones of leather, dark red cherries, all sorts of berry tones, black spices, and dark herb tones. Good tannins that aren’t in the way, but definitely there

overall: A real lovely young brunello. Nice and round with a good firmness to it. While young, this was fairly accessible which would be expected from Fanti. It doesn’t have the super big fruit that Fanti can bring and is a very well balanced wine that should turn out beautiful in time (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker





it should last a while too. The little info I got on this from the de grazia tasting was that this is by fanti. I’ll see if I can possibly dig up the tasting book for it and see if it has more info

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I have tasted a few 2004s. In fact, for those that followed my posts on Parker, I told people for months to buy Uccelliera Brunello, only to be met with skepticism over there by those who asked why I was pushing that wine. I pushed it, because it is awesome.

San Filippo Lucere was very good when I tried it, but it did not wow me. Argiano is great as well. Good to hear about Il Poggione, Richard. Antonio loves that wine, and I trust him.

Thank you for the notes, in general. Do you think 2004 is classic, Richard? Or a newer style of wines compared to 1990, 1997, 1999 or 2001?

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Daniel,

You were sure right about the Uccelliera. That was a clear must buy.
I don’t consider myself enough of an expert on Brunello yet to properly answer your question about '04 being a classic vintage. There were definitely 3 or 4 new style wines in this particular lineup, and a fair amount of upfront, but deep fruit. I’ve tasted newer style '01s, '99s and '97s too. Hopefully someone who is more of an Italian expert than I am will have a useful perspective.

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Thanks for the notes Richard.
I really appreciate the pictures. This is one of many regions I don’t know but am curious about, and it is very helpful to see the labels of the wines you are describing.

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Thanks Scott. I enjoy bottle (and food) pictures myself, but I’ve also found them an immensely practical way to ensure that I don’t misidentify a wine when I’m writing up the TN. Almost every time I do a tasting, and do my best to identify a particular wine in my contemporaneous notes, I find that if I hadn’t take pictures of the bottles, there’s at least one bottle, when it came to distinguishing it from a similarly identified bottle on CellarTracker, where I’d find I’d need to know a particular cuvee or other obscure designation on the bottle that was at least recorded in the picture.

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Richard.

Thanks for your notes. I am tremendously thankful to have you on this board as I value your palate a lot. Although I don’t have you selected as a favorite on CT, you are absolutely one of the tasters who reviews most of the same wines I drink. Your notes are always an important reference point for me.

Keep up the good work.

SP

P.S. I love Brunello and wanted to ask you if you’ve already tasted Lisini from the 2004 vintage, if so, what are your impressions?

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SP,

Thank you for the very kind words. (BTW, I see you don’t list anyone on CT as a “favorite author.” What’s up with that? :wink: )

I haven’t yet had a chance to sample the '04 Lisini. It looks to be fairly popular so far, though, with CT reviewers.

You clearly have an excellent palate, as I can see from CT that you and I drink (repeatedly) a lot of the same things. [highfive.gif] If life brings you in the vicinity of the SF Bay Area, it would be fun to do a dinner.

–Richard