2007 Azienda Agricola Cordella Brunello di Montalcino
Short decant. Transparent Crimson. Nose of red dusty cherry, gravel, herbal with sage, thyme and a hint something roasted. Palate is balanced, precise and unmistakingly sangiovese, more savoury than fruity but still with red fruited typicity. Juicc acidity frames the flavor profile and builds into a medium+ finish of herbs, spices and tobacco with finely knitted skin-derived tannins. Nice and traditional. Elegant. Not a large scaled wine, this seems ready to go with a short decant, although developing positively still after 3-4 hours and holding up well on the next day. 92p
2011 Castello di Camigliano Rosso di Montalcino
Translucent ruby, clear rims. Meh… Sangio nose of sour red cherry, candied cherry, a touch of barnyard, and spicebox. Palate is fresh and alive with more sour and macerated cherry, ending in a spicy finish. Medium lenght. Fairly typical Rosso di Montalcino. The last glass went into a bolognese sauce, as by that time it was fairly uninteresting for me. 87p
2009 Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Dark ruby. Im not generally a big fan of amarone but this is hitting a lot of the right buttons. Crushed blackberry, ripe raspberry and strawberry, macerated red cherry flows effortlessly from the glass with a vein of minerality and floral expression which i dont normally associate with Amarone. No prune or raisiny flavors or notes here. Palate is wonderfully smooth, liquid velvet despite being so full powered, and retaining excellent balance between acid, fruit and tannins. the 16,5 % ABV is kept in check by the massive concentration of fruit, but it is a bit hot towards the finish which is the only drawback presently. All the right stuffing is in place here, but it needs serious time to integrate the elements and flesh out on the midpalate. Very primary but good upside potential. Not very food friendly at present, goes best with cheese or chocolate
On day 3(!) there was a glass leftover in the bottle which i kind-of forgot and had stored on the kitchen table since last night. Hands down the best glass in the entire bottle. The heat on the finish was gone, revealing incredible lenght of the flavor, and the fruit has fleshed out nicely on the midpalate gaining both weight and complexity. Makes me even more hopefull for the future of this wine and i will keep my two bottles stored away for atleast 6 years. 94p
2008 Antinori Chianti Classico Marchese Antinori Riserva
PNp. Dark ruby. Develops nicely over time in the glass, aromas open up and reveal classical notes from this bottling. Good sangiovese notes of red and dark red cherry, ambient spices. Cabernet character showing through alot in this vintage, cool green bell pepper, tobacco leaf, bay leaf, herbs. Palate is velvety and smooth on the attack with dark red berry fruit infused with tobacco notes and leather fleshing out on the midpalate and the finish is medium long with red cherry and plums. Tannins are there with good grip providing structure but acidity is already quite smoothened out. probably not a long lasting vintage but good now and probably the next 5-7 years. More modern in style than the 06 and 09 vintages but i am not having trouble locating the tuscan feel in this wine. Nice. 91p
2008 Fattoria della Talosa Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva
Pnp. Dark ruby with crimson hue. Clear edges. Nose is immediately revealing tons of sour and dusty cherry, gravel, leather, tobacco leaf. Palate is full and savoury, primary in its expression but carrying plenty of authenticity and terroir. Excellent moutfeel if somewhat coarse in its youth, tons of well balanced fruit, sweet and savoury at the same time carried with good acidity and medium+ lenght ending in firm, textured tannins. Needs a few years to integrate the wood into the fruit, but already damn delicious. 93p
2005 Cerbaiona (Molinari) Brunello di Montalcino
bright translucent ruby. Brief decant, maybe 45 minutes.
Immediately on the nose there is some weird notes of cabbage, onion, and nail polish. Underneath there is red cherry, cranberry, some tobacco and sois bois. However, these fairly offputting aromas linger on the nose even after a few hours. The palate is relatively simple, and quite muted and flabby. Some red fruit, more onion and herbaceous flavor. Finish is short without noticeable tannins.
Clearly this bottle is off somehow, not undrinkable, but definetely flawed. Maybe there is a lot of bottle variation with this producer, this is my first of 2 bottles. NR
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