Beautifully ripe and intense, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino never feels overdone or too heavy. In fact, it treads with the lightest of footprints imparting delicate tones of rose petal, forest berry, white cherry, balsam herb and sweet almond as it flutters over the senses. The main message here is elegance and this wine is profoundly eloquent on the subject. The mouthfeel is tight silky and enduring. Delicate mineral notes give focus and definition to the finish. This is a classic Brunello from an iconic vintage.
Every once in a while, along comes a wines that rocks your foundations. My new year opened with one such a wine: Alessandro Mori's 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna Delle Grazie. In a single sip, this wine restored my confidence in Sangiovese, Montalcino and in my favorite Tuscan wine appellation that has recently experienced so many awkward growing pains. I felt like I was drinking liquid Sangiovese in its most divine incarnation. The wine is permeated with energy, purity, luminosity, elegance and power. Il Marroneto is one of the historic estates of Montalcino and in fact the 2010 vintage represents its 30th year of only-Brunello production. I have tasted its wines regularly for the past 20 years and have not always been this enthusiastic about its results. But the magic of the iconic 2010 vintage seems to have blessed the special Madonna Delle Grazie vineyard cru, fittingly located near a 12th-century chapel on the hills not far from the northern wall of Montalcino. The vineyards were planted at 350 to 400 meters above sea level in various phases from 1975 to 1984 and are in their prime production years right now. The wine making philosophy is traditional with a focus on large oak casks (2,500 liter or 660 gallons) made from Slavonian oak for 41 months. It spends an additional ten months in bottle before release. This is what the great wines of Montalcino aspire to be. |
