We just had the good fortune of visiting the winery, where we did a tasting of the 18 and 19 Brunello, along with the 18 Pianrosso and the 15 Pianrosso Riserva Santa Caterina. They were all excellent, but the 18 and the 19 were such contrasting styles. For me the 18 has an elegance and a silkiness that gives it a very warm, plus, sensuous and refined element, the 19 though it's considered a great vintage, had a rustic quality and a tremendous amount of personality. It felt like a farmer in dungarees compared to a 19th Century Italian gentleman in a fine suit.
This bottle was even better than the bottle we had at the winery largely due to the fact that we let a breathe for at least six hours, and we're sipping it on our hotel terrace in Venice, at the moment, which doesn't hurt!
This beauty has a gorgeous nose of tobacco and dark berries with a hint of spice, and the moithfeel and body is just lovely. It emanates smokey plum, dark berries, a nice dollop of spice, a little bit of an herbal quality and a really pretty finish. I never knew that it would be possible to enjoy a big Brunello this young, but with the breathing time this is a really great bottle.
The Pianrosso and the Riserva were crazy delicious, though barely discernible in their infancy.
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It took three or four hours to really open up and settle down, but once it did it was quite a pleasure to drink. Lots of cherry on both the nose and the palate, and a lovely touch of sandalwood.
We're not talking about a highly complex wine here, but for the money it's a very pleasant hint of red Burgundy, with pretty fruit, a very nice mouthfeel, and quite a decent finish.
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This wine has improved substantially since my last tasting. I did decant it for three and a half hours and that likely helped. It had a very highly perfumed quality with gorgeous floral and spicy elements. On the palate dark berries, pomegranate, more spice, and quite a lot of tobacco, a very pleasant level of funk with some barnyard elements, wet grass, smoke, dried beef, utterly charming, really plush, and a very voluptuous mouthfeel. Grippy with good volume. The finish was dry, and delightful. This wine had a real sense of substance, purity and quality.
It is starting to show well, and I would love to see what it's going to be like five or six years from now. Outstanding wine for a vintage which was not excellent.
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2018 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino
5/20/2024 - spidermark Likes this wine: 93 Points
We just had the good fortune of visiting the winery, where we did a tasting of the 18 and 19 Brunello, along with the 18 Pianrosso and the 15 Pianrosso Riserva Santa Caterina. They were all excellent, but the 18 and the 19 were such contrasting styles. For me the 18 has an elegance and a silkiness that gives it a very warm, plus, sensuous and refined element, the 19 though it's considered a great vintage, had a rustic quality and a tremendous amount of personality. It felt like a farmer in dungarees compared to a 19th Century Italian gentleman in a fine suit.
This bottle was even better than the bottle we had at the winery largely due to the fact that we let a breathe for at least six hours, and we're sipping it on our hotel terrace in Venice, at the moment, which doesn't hurt!
This beauty has a gorgeous nose of tobacco and dark berries with a hint of spice, and the moithfeel and body is just lovely. It emanates smokey plum, dark berries, a nice dollop of spice, a little bit of an herbal quality and a really pretty finish. I never knew that it would be possible to enjoy a big Brunello this young, but with the breathing time this is a really great bottle.
The Pianrosso and the Riserva were crazy delicious, though barely discernible in their infancy.
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2019 Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne
5/5/2024 - spidermark Likes this wine: 91 Points
It took three or four hours to really open up and settle down, but once it did it was quite a pleasure to drink. Lots of cherry on both the nose and the palate, and a lovely touch of sandalwood.
We're not talking about a highly complex wine here, but for the money it's a very pleasant hint of red Burgundy, with pretty fruit, a very nice mouthfeel, and quite a decent finish.
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2017 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
4/28/2024 - spidermark Likes this wine: 93 Points
This wine has improved substantially since my last tasting. I did decant it for three and a half hours and that likely helped. It had a very highly perfumed quality with gorgeous floral and spicy elements. On the palate dark berries, pomegranate, more spice, and quite a lot of tobacco, a very pleasant level of funk with some barnyard elements, wet grass, smoke, dried beef, utterly charming, really plush, and a very voluptuous mouthfeel. Grippy with good volume. The finish was dry, and delightful. This wine had a real sense of substance, purity and quality.
It is starting to show well, and I would love to see what it's going to be like five or six years from now. Outstanding wine for a vintage which was not excellent.
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