To wet the whistle:
1996 Pierre Moncuit Champagne
A gutsy, full-bodied, nutty and biscuity champagne, interesting and mature, it tasted a little off-dry
Flight one: The 21st Century Brunello (acute paranoia schizophrenia blues?)
2003 Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino
Cherry, sweet melted chocolate, some tannin but not a lot of grip; low acid-international style – this could come from anywhere; smooth and a bit innocuous, would be good with a juicy steak
2003 Ciacci Piccolomini Pianrosso Brunello di Montalcino
A little bit more exotic, unctuous and velvety; nice and expansive on the palate; seductive wine
2001 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino
More interesting nose/attack of cured meats with animal/gamey overtones, more nuanced and complex than the other two with notes of violets and spices
The Ciacci narrowly edged the Poggio for wine of the flight
Flight two: The Super Tuscans: (the Michel Rolland show)
2001 Masseto
Miss January 2011 (de-forested with silicone implants). Mind-blowing nose (‘sex in a glass’), lashings of new oak and jammy fruit; exotic spices and chocolate-y nose; big and expansive on the palate and an extravagant finish. Importantly this is not unbalanced or over the top. This is still a pup but has a spectacular future ahead of it. Some say this is a 100 point wine. I say how would this stack up against Lafite or Petrus? Justifiably and comfortably wotn.
1999 Ornellaia
However; for current drinking this is the wine to have. More mature, Bordeaux-like and resolved, luscious fruits, silky, velvety, refined, polished, and simply delicious. My wotn, second overall.
2006 Ornellaia
Big slug of raw oak, lashings of raspberry fruit, this is ever so young and un-constituted. The view on the table was that it might surpass the 1999 in time.
The Masseto was voted wine of the flight by all but two of us – Jacques and I who voted for the 1999 Ornellaia
Flight three: A 1990s Medley:
1999 Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino
I got quite a whiff of alcohol on this but it was smooth and svelte, chocolate and cherries, hard not to like this and went down very well. Overall voted third best wine.
1997 Antinori Tignanello
Unfortunately corked. I let the side down badly.
1997 Felsina Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva
Fully resolved, but by no means over the hill, nuanced with notes of leather, timeless.
The Frescobaldi was voted wine of the flight
Flight four: A 2004 Medley:
2004 Saffredi Maremma
This is a seriously impressive Super-Tuscan, less exuberant than the Masseto but not far behind. Tons going on here, with chocolate notes, exuberant fruits and spices, without being over the top or unbalanced. An unsung hero and my third best wine of the night...
2004 Fuligni Riserva Brunello di Montalcino
Quiet an elegant style for Brunello, cherry and spices, nice finish
2004 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva
Nice Chianti, leather cherries and spices, already drinking nicely.
The Saffredi was narrowly voted wine of the flight.
Conclusion:
This was an interesting and impressive set of wines. The Brunellos were enjoyable and as Jacques observed they are best drunk with a big juicy steak. But in my opinion they suffer from an identity crisis…many I have recently tried have morphed into a somewhat innocuous and anonymous international style with low acidity. They could come from Argentina, Chile, South Africa or Spain. I think this may be because their appeal has been usurped by the more precocious, exuberant and much cheaper Rossos (di Montalcino). The old style Brunellos usually needed ten years to come round…they skulked in the corner while the Rossos strutted their stuff… so now many of them have become somewhat ‘spoofulated’ – even sometimes illegally so with the (alleged) addition of merlot. These are not ‘bad’ wines, just not particularly attractive at the price point. Most Brunellos sit uncomfortably between Super-Tuscans and Chianti Classicos, neither of which suffers from an indemnity crisis.
From this selection the wine I really want is the 1999 Ornellaia (it would be nice to have the Masseto but it is prohibitively expensive); the 1997 Rancia I already have. Many thanks to Chairman Jacques – and Vice-Chairman Pierre – for organizing.
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