-
2004 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Vigna di Pianrosso - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino (1/30/2010)
Upon opening very tight, opened slowly but still wound up after 4 hours. Fresh red fruits, sweet earth, some spice, hints of milk and honey on the nose. Whiffs of flowers. Very concentrated but ultimately flawlessly weighted and structured with tremendous acidic lift that provides so much detail and energy without sticking out or being the slightest bit imbalanced. The epitome of richness married to elegance and balance and lift. Perfect ripeness. Surely Brunello struggles to reach the aromatic complexity or terroir driven expression of great Barolo or Burgundy, but this is nonetheless a flawless wine that can provide every bit as much pleasure and be just as stunning a compliment to the right meal.
Posted from CellarTracker
Sounds fantastic, Josh! The '04’s in Nebbiolo are quite aromatically incredible, I must say - it’s what got me into Italians.
The ‘milk and honey’ component is perhaps the first time I’ve heard that used as a descriptor - very interesting, and something I will perhaps make note of if I run into it.
I split this w/ a buddy over pizza. It’s hard to describe, but to me good traditional chianti and brunello from good ripe vintages can have this slight whiff of creamy sweet character, not vanilla but vaguely in that direction, that I always think of as milk and honey, almost like honeysuckle. Maybe I’m on crack, and maybe it’s better just put as “overflowing fresh creamy fruit with no oak getting in the way” but I get it from time to time, or think I do, in wines.
No, I know the flavor you mean Josh. The 04 Ciacci sounds very nice. Too bad I’m not buying Brunello much these days…
I’ve exercised unusual restraing with 04 brunelli, in bold contrast to 04 barolo and barbaresco, but I did buy a case of this. Thanks for the note, makes me think that I can live vicariously through it but may bust one out if I can clear the snow off my grill and grill a porterhouse… Thanks for the note
Nice to see some '04s already showing well. Drank an '04 Argiano last night and it flopped.
My only flop on 04 Brunello so far was a bottle of Conti Costanti. Not sure what was going on but I wasn’t convinced that it was a representative sample. I’ve had good experiences with Uccelliera, Il Poggione, Livio Sassetti so far, and now also Ciacci “Pianrosso.”
I’m glad it worked out well for you, but personally I can’t imagine opening a Brunello that’s less than 10 years old. I have had tough tannic Brunello older than that. It certainly is lovely stuff when it is “on.” I get a kind of violet - fennel seed note, a lovely sweet scent in the bouquet when it’s good. I will note that long decanting can make opening younger Brunello worthwhile.
Frank, in my experience excellent, riper vintages of Brunello combined with good producers will yield wines that will drink pretty well for a good while on release. I’m leaving 01’s alone at this point but wines like Ciacci, Costanti, Pertimali, Altesino, Fanti, etc drank well for several years. I like to check in on wines when I buy several bottles, so I’ve been working through 04 Brunelli. Just one dud so far and I still think it wasn’t representative.
I’m certain, as well, that as winemaking and cellar practices have continued to modernize around the world, this has benefited the youthful approachability of Brunello.
I’ve found the 04 Brunelli in their youth more of a mixed lot… To my palate, some of this modernist winemaking comes with a price, a wine that is less distinctive and the wood too overt for me… But I do find that it takes a long long time for Brunello to come around, so I might be wrong. I’ve bought 04 barolo and barbaresco with more conviction, there seems such a clarity and concentration of beautiful fruit and many of the producers seem to have dialed back the wood… or perhaps shipped it off to Montalcino