Well, just another day in the wine biz, tasting awesome wines. Today we had the chance to retaste in of my favorite wines. This is the Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino, 2010 vintage.
If you aren't familiar with it, Brunello is made from the Sangiovese grape, which is also used in the production of Chianti.
Montalcino is a town located in Tuscany, a little South of Florence.
This is a pretty special bottle, in that it is from the 2010 vintage. That year is windely considered to be one of, if not the best, vintage ever. It was a nearly perfect growing season, with perfect ripeness.
This is a medium to full body red, with good berry cherry fruit, and dusty earth notes. The cool thing about Brunello is that it can age for a long time, up to 20 years or so for great bottling. After aging, more notes of olives and dark fruits are prevalent . A good Brunello will cut around $35 and up. The real value is found with the Rosso di Montalcino, made with younger vines, and can be found for $15-20. this Brunello can be found for around $40 USD.
Looks enticing. Do you have any idea at what price this specific bottle would come?
I don't know much about Italan wines, asides from the cheap CHianti's I drank as a highschool student there. But I'll be keeping my eye out for a Rosso di Montalcino from now on.
Sorry, thought I put on there. A bottle would run $40ish.
Sangiovese has become one of my favourites so far. I'll keep my eyes open for this in the bottle shop and give it a go.
It's a great grape, definitely one of my favorites!
Ah Brunello one of my favourites. Do you know what makes a wine to be able to age? I almost never see it written on a bottle.
It won't ever be written on the label. The main things that make a wine ageable...
big tannins
High acidity (many whites are excluded however)
Higher sugar levels (sweet Riesling can age for a long time!)
Alcohol content does play a part, to an extent. Fortified wines are over 17% ABC (Alcohol By Volume), and an age almost forever. The oldest wine I've tasted was an 1895 Madeira wine. Excluding fortified wines, there is kind of a sweet spot for ABV and age ability. In my opinion the danger zone is between 14-17% ABV. Those wines can age for several years, but nothing long term (over 10 years).
The vast majority of reds, for me, should be held for a couple of years before drinking. In other words, don't go out and buy a 2016 Cabernet, look for a '12 or '13, something with a few years on it. You gotta let the wine have time to settle into itself.
Hope that helps!! 😊
That certainly helps! So wine with a lot of alvohol percentage like barolo ripasso and amarone are great for aging. Actually i think i have drank a few amarone's a little bit too early.
DING DING DING!! WE HAVE A WINNER FOLKS!! Yes, perfect example is Amarone. Although many Amarone have high tannin, it tends to also be higher in alcohol, they will age forever.
Interesting story, I did an Amarone tasting in a large group with a Master Sommelier years ago. She mentioned that the current vintages of the great Amarone will still be drinking when everyone in the room was dead, assuming it is cellared properly. WOW!! Most people drink them too young. In a perfect world, after 10 years would be a good start.
Keep in mind, just because it ages for a long time doesn't mean it won't eventually go bad. There is a plateau, you gotta hit that. And as they get older, the fruit is less fresh and bright. More dark notes and "non-fruit comonents" come out. Think tobacco, earth, dark cocoa, pencil shavings..blah blah blah... LOL!! I get on a roll sometimes. Sorry for the long way around saying yes. LOL!!
Splendido!
Thanks for reading it!!! I'm ready to get a live lobster and drink some good wine after reading your last post! 👍