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Spread over 5 cold days of winter from February 17 to 21, the event organised by the respective Consortia was a gastronomical and oenological treat with over 800 wines and plenty of local food to savour. The journey starts from Florence and terminates at Montalcino with a day’s stop over in Montepulciano, taking the visitor through the various expressions of Sangiovese.
The tastings are different than the En Primeur of Bordeaux where the barrel tasting takes place in early April and based on the experts’ opinion, the prices of the vintages are released by the producers/ negociants.
Chianti Classico Collection 2009
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| Wine Tasting with Susanna Grassi, partner of I Fabbri Estate in Lamole, Greve in Chianti |
Chianti Classico is perhaps the most well-known Italian wine, within and outside Italy, with 29% being consumed by the Americans and 27% remaining within Italy. It is also perhaps the most imitated wine in the world. With 597 producers including 345 bottlers it has a diverse range and style of wines to offer.
You can trust the Italians to be innovative enough to convert an old and unused railway station like Stazione Leopolda in Florence using an architect and converting it into an expansive private tasting area where over 200 persons can taste in solitude, though each table is shared by 4 tasters. Highly competent sommeliers poured wines in the requested set of four labels at a time out of a selection of 358 different wines.
The star of the wines tasted at the Collection was the 2006 vintage, although 2005 and the latest 2007 were very much present too. One could taste the barrel sample- Anteprima- of the 2008 vintage for about 80 wines.
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| Wine Selection for the Gala Dinner |
The gala dinner on the first night with about 350 persons attending, was a marvel- and an event that brought to mind the regal Grand Crus dinners of Bordeaux during Vinexpo. The Menu listed over 150 wines that could be selected and ordered for the sommeliers to bring to the table shared by producers and tasters.
The second day had the additional arrangement of the tasters meeting the producers on 143 tables in the adjoining mega size room, perhaps carved out of the railway platform. Whether one liked to taste in the privacy of his table or preferred to meet and discuss wines with the individual producers, the mix-and-match gave one a good option with most producers present in person.
The event is being held annually since the early nineties and was the first of the triumvirate to host the tastings, informed Marco Pallanti, President of the Consorzio Chianti Classico, who is also the owner of Castello di Ama, a premier estate. ‘The consorzio spends about 10% of the annual budget on this activity alone, Pallanti informed delWine. Reluctant to disclose the exact figures, he did concede that about € 300,000 are spent by the Consorzio for the 2-day leg of the 5-day event.
Anteprima del Vino de Montepulciano 2009
If Sangiovese is the king of grapes used in the Chianti Classico blend where 80-100% of the red fruit may be used, Montepulciano must use 70-100% of the varietal, known as Prugnolo Gentile here, according to the law of this appellation formed in 1966 (In 1980, the Vino Nobile was granted the DOCG status, same as Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino).
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| Tasting Rosso Montepulciano DOC 1993 Poliziano |
It is a much smaller area- about 20% the size of Chianti Classico vineyards, (about 2000 hAs compared to the 10,000 hAs) with a much smaller Consortium having 233 members and 90 bottlers out of which even smaller number of around 40 were present at the Anteprima for the tasting of the barrel sample of 2008 and the recent release of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2006.
Avignonesi, Boscarelli, Carpineto, Dei, Fattoria del Cerro, Fassati, La Braccesca, Lodola Nuova, Poggia alls Sala, Poliziano, Salcheto, Angelini and the all-powerful co-operative Vecchia Cantina were only some of the better known producers who were present to showcase their wines in the morning.
Though the emphasis at the event is on Vino Nobile which is also longer aging wine, the younger and more affordable Rosso was available at the stands and the wineries visited in the afternoon and evening for dinner. In fact, during a visit to Poliziano, the passionate owner Federico Carletti who runs his estate with Carlo Ferrini as the consultant winemaker insisted his Rosso can age for more than 10-12 years. He accepted my request to let us taste some old vintage as sfida (challenge) and after a few minutes of absence returned with a bottle of 1993 Rosso from his wine library. Though one won’t want to store it so long before opening the bottle, it was perfectly drinkable and well-balanced wine even though it had lost part of its freshness.
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| Individual Tasting of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines |
Though one could taste only the Nobile or Rosso at the Ante-prima tasting, there were Super Tuscans from many producers as we discovered during a visit to Dei, co-owned and run by Maria Caterina Dei who is as passionate about singing as wine making and belted out a few numbers with the jazz band she had arranged for the evening, regaling the audience also with her 2001 and 1999 Vino Nobile and Super Tuscans with food prepared by a young chef from Rome.
The 2008 is a rather special vintage, the details of which were given through an A/V by the star oenologist Renzo Cotarella of the Antinori group which owns La Braccesca in this area. It might taste uni-dimensional but this vintage will evolve well with time, he concluded.
Benvenuto Brunello 2009
Top of the pops was decidedly the last tasting- a tasting extravaganza at the Fortezza di Montalcino. This is where the latest released vintage was available for tasting; 2004 in this year. This is also an event to look for the number of stars awarded to the previous vintage- out of a maximum of five, decided by wine professionals and winemakers.
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| Tasting Brunello di Montalcino with the producers |
This year 146 producers showcased their wines. Each presented the Brunello di Montalcino 2007 with a few even selecting their higher end Brunellos. Notably participating were Altesini, Banfi, Barbi, Caparzo, Castiglion del Bosco, Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Poggio Antico, Tenuta Grepponi Mazzi and Tenute Silvio Nardi were present with their special selection. Also available for tasting were 35 Riservas 2003, which also had been released last month. (Riservas can be released a year after the Brunello which are released on the 5th January, a year after the regular Brunello is released
The baby Brunello, technically called Rosso di Montalcino presents its latest manifestation at this congregation of wine journalists, professionals, restaurants and buyers for 2 days. Released on the 3rd January a year after the harvest, 2007 version was available for tasting- all 116 labels from the 148 participating producers.
Conspicuous by their absence were producers like Biondi Santi, the oldest, senior-most and most respected producer, Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera and Pieve Santa Restituta Rennina owned by the ‘Piedmont Prince’ Angelo Gaja. But the event made one feel like a child left in Toys “R” Us. With around 300 wines being showcased, apart from the juicy, sweet, Moscadello di Montalcino and the more pedestrian Sant ‘Antimo ( an appellation that allows wines to be made from diverse grapes from Montalcino and around, especially the nearby village of Sant Antimo) , the tasting was a wine-connoisseur’s dream.
No wonder the tasting hall seating around 250 people was quickly filled out early morning and one had to hold on to the seats using multiple internationally accepted excuses, however frivolous.
The one common refrain from the journalists seemed to be that almost all the 2004 Brunellos was so uniformly excellent that it was difficult to spot a poor wine- there wasn’t any. A few did deviate from the 4/5 stars on both sides of the spectrum though (at least I felt so). The 2004 had been justifiably rated as a 5-star vintage (so is 2006 and ’07). The 2008 vintage managed 4 stars at a ceremony on the second morning which had turned out clear, brilliant, beautiful and crisp with a lasting impression. The tile celebrating the number of stars awarded was placed on the wall of the 13th century old Townhall in downtown Montalcino for the locals and tourists alike.
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| Taste that Brunello di Montalcino 2004 |
The Riserva 2003 might not have been disappointing but was certainly overshadowed by the 2004. Still closed and expressive of more oak than might be desirable, it will get better during the next 2-3 years, but like the rail-road tracks, it will not be able to come closer to the regular Brunello 2004 which may even show more promise. Among my personal favourites based on blind tasting were San Giacomo, Villa I Cipressi, Talenti, Villa Poggio Salvi, Agostini Pieri, Capanna, Donatella Colombini, Fuligni, Il Poggione, Innocenti and La Poderina.
With the well planned and executed event, the Consorzio del Vino Brunello Montalcino, organisers of the event sincerely said to each participant, ‘Benvenuto’
What Next
Tuscany has another region- a more recent development where Tuscan winemakers have been rushing in during the last few years. Morellino di Scansano DOC has been upgraded to DOCG from the 2007 vintage.
It might only a matter of time when the Consorzio starts hobnobbing with the troika and want to join in for the annual tastings. One has to wait but carry on tasting and let the organisers of the event decide.
Subhash Arora |