Very nice to see this forum active and thriving once again. I’ll celebrate by posting some Tuscany tasting notes from january 2006.
Chianti Classico 2003 Agr. I Fabbri di S&M Grassi
Quite closed on the nose. Drinking well but not very firm in the mouth, slightly simple taste of cherry stones. Some dark berries and forest floor. Quite well structured and OK length. I would give it a couple of years to open up, a quite good basic Chianti.
Chianti Classico 2003, Isole e Olena
More obvious on the nose, classic sweet-and sour berry aromas, but also hints of oak and cocus, slightly sweet vanilla on the finish. I think this has too much oak, I miss the classic, earthy, food-friendly Sangiovese, not quite my style despite the fact that this usually is one of my favorite estates.
Chianti Classico 2000, Felsina
Nose with leather and tobacco, tight. Acifidic with sour cherries and exotic wood, slightly developed. Good length, traditional style, Felsina is occupying a progressively larger part of my Tuscan cellar selection (along with Selvapiana). Very good.
Chianti Classico 2000, Fontodi
Cherries and leather on the nose. Sweet-and sour in the mouth, cherry pits and very good length and balance. Slightky oaky though , I would have liked it even better if the oak had been toned down somewhat. At the expensive end for a classico normale though.
Badia a PassignanoChianti Classico Riserva 2000, Antinori
Lots of fruit, sweet cherries, blackberries and good tannins, buts lacks some acidity on the finish and lacks some of the vibrant nerve a good Chianti needs. Noticeable oak as well. Very well liked by a Norwegian critic – but I find this too atypical and not what I look for in a Chianti.
Vino Nobile de Montepulciano Asinone 2000, Poliziano
Oaky as well but the producer in my opinion succeeds better in integrating and balancing the oak. Slightly over the top oaky for now, but this has the stuffing to develop and integrate. Some tobacco, fresh, slightly earthy fruit with cherries and minerals, concentrated with some blackberries as well. Fine balance and freshness. Give it 3-4 more years I guess.
Chianti Rufina Bucerchiale 2001, Selvapiana
Leather in the nose, also some pure and sour cherries. Some tobacco in the mouth, fresh. Long and well balanced, quite minerally in the finish with cherry pits and good tannins. Very good – but slightly less fruity than a bottle drunk a few months earlier.
Chianti Classico 2001 Fonterutoli
Very dark and fruity wine. Good length with fine tannins. Lots of cherries, a very good wine, the oak is well covered in fruit here. Very modern in style though.
Chianti Classico Riserva San Petri 2001, Vicchiomaggio
Beautiful fruit, slight hint of oak and fudge but not overpowering its freshness and balance. Very transparent style with beatiful cherries, a very fine compromise between traditional Chianti and modern, fruitforward winemaking.
Vigna Sorbo 2001, Fontodi
20% Cabernet Sauvignon and in my opinion it’s noticeable with some blackberries and stable/cellar, but otherwise pure, red berries and wet earth, pure and stylish fruit on the nose. Fresh and well balanced in the mouth, fine length, some wet leather. Good and delicate but perhaps not for Sangioves purists – I have to admit I have a problem making up my mind about recent releases of Fontodi.
Flaccianello 2001, Fontodi
Se above, Fontodi is becoming more modern and I doubt we will be seeing wine like the Flaccianello 1991 that developed well over 15 years in the bottle. Red berries, slight mint, juniper and garrigues (I use this in the meaning sunburnt and windswept mediterranean bushes – my English is’t quite up to this). Very good but quite atypical, quite sweet fruit. Fine tannins and fresh finish, bitter berries and fine finishing balance. Very good but does it make me think Tuscany? I’m in two minds about this wine. One one level it is simply delicious. But will it keep despite the fine tannins? I have a few bottles so perhaps one day I will let you know.
Fontalloro 2001, Felsina
Again wet leather with garrigues on the nose. Light and well balanced wine with pronounced tannic bite, cool fruit and minerals, very classic and in need of time to open up, like most Felsinas need time. Very promising.
Le Pergole Torte 2001, Montevertine
Extremely pure nose with bright, pure fruit. Very light colour. In the mouh very precise fruit that nearly overpowers all impressions of acids and tannins, laser sharp. Incredible balance and integration.
Brunello di Montalcino 95 Riserva, Poderina
Nose with pronounced dark Valrhona chocolate filled with sweet cherries. Slightly chocolatey on the taste as well, good length but slightly plump fruit, though still well balanced. Opulent, the complete difference to the preceding wine.
Brunello di Montalcino 97, Talenti
Forest floor, cherries and stables. Good acids and fine tannins. Fruity style with good concentration, not overextracted. Very good.
Brunello de Montalcino 95, Machioce
Earth, juniper and brambles. Slightly unclean, dries up somewhat, slightly vinegary. Is this wine too old or is something else going on?
Brunello di Montalcino 97, Poggio Antico
Minerally, cool nose with sweet-and-sour berries. Excellent freshness and balance with lots of fruit and friut stones pips, perhaps slightly short on the finish but develops very well in the glass, very good wine.
Brunello di Montalcino 99, Poggio Antico
Delicious nose, deep and quite similar to the 97. Pure, precise fruit with minerals and stony fruit, quite similar in the mouth but with more precision and focus and greater length. Really excellent.
Brunello di Montalcino 99, Talenti
More smoke and tobacco here, very sensual fruit with well integrated tannins. Long, soft and rich. Fruiter and note quite as precise as the Poggio Antico 99, but still classic Brunello and just as good, maybe even better.
Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 99, Casanova de Neri
Very compact nose with sweet cherries, very compact fruit core to taste but with impeccable balance. Well integrated oak. Very long. Glorious wine with rich fruit drinking well now.