Brunello 2019 vintage report

Dark cherries, cooked plums, a touch of iodine and walnuts. Dark cacao, nutty and warm. Beautiful structure. Elegant, ethereal. Lacy. Pretty, dainty, fresh. Oodles of fruit - borderline perfection. Red cherries, bountiful acidity, tasteful tannins. Perfect ripeness. Soft, elegant, velvety. Wow, just wow. Spice, coffee, nuts, fruit - this does everything.

Lots of red fruit on the nose, some very red cherries, glacé cherries with a subtle bitter almond elegance. Beautiful elegance on the palate, with seriously intense tannins that somehow still manage to be elegant and soft and velvety. Concentrated, intense, really absolutely divine. Tannins are chalky and textured, grippy and exciting. Lovely weight. Beautiful acidity. So much tannic weight and concentration on the finish like eating a teaspoon of cacao powder - and then asking for another one. A triumph for Montosoli.

Quite jammy red fruit. A tiny hnt of flintiness. Lots of crushed red beriees, raspberries. Far more fruit forward than I would have expected from a Riserva, with none of the drying tannins or bolshy alcohol. Tannins are there, with a subtle smoky-sweet woody nuttiness. Hazelnuts, almonds. Real charm and character. Supports the fruit rather than detracts. Touch of spice, balsam. Great complexity. Ends on some beeswax. Really an exciting wine!

Spice, but a little more mace and cloves. Rich, chocolatey. Lovely black cherries. More spice. Silky, velvety smooth texture. Beautiful weight, with an ethereal, almost lacy delicacy that just starts on the nose and lasts all the way to the finish. Chalky tannins, intense but not excessive.

Intensely herbal, coffee, cacao. Lots of juicy ripe cherries on the palate, crunchy, fresh, juicy - beautiful weight and concentration. Real creaminess - presumably coming from the oak. Pretty saline finish. Really struggling to find anything to criticise here - it is rich, ripe, concentrated, high acidity, recognisably Sangiovese. It is ready to drink (if you're in a hurry), but has the complexity and concentration and structure to last really well. Beautiful wine, ending on menthol and dark cherries...

Tobacco, cedar, balsam, very very subtle pot pourri and a touch of black cherry, bramble. Vanilla, herbal, rich, spice. Lovely richness on the palate, with a borderline soupy alcohol providing sweetness and balancing the rather consequential tannins. Le Gode know what they're doing. Black chocolate, inky, intense, concentrated. Yummy.

Opulent fresh, juicy cherries on the nose. A hint of dark chocolate, violets - very typical. Really beautiful and elegant. Softly extracted tannins, with a creamy nuttiness. Really elegant, with a freshness and balance that really outshines many of the wines. Power, beginnings of spice and complexity. Concentrated, intense, judicious maceration.

Dark morello cherries. A hint of kirsch. Some spice, a little spirity. Nice richness, almost bready, brioche, toast, pretty and soft. Lovely delicate tannins, crunchy but with a dainty prettiness to them. Good concentration, some real complexity. Quite sharp chalky tannins, nice velvet texture. Lasting tannins, firm and grippy. Can't fault it. Beautiful balance.

Intense spice, black chocolate. Pretty soft red fruit pippy tannins. Really lovely richness, balance of fruit. Fantastic tannins with just enough weight, slightly pencilly, cedary. Lovely intensity of fruit, great complexity. Really an exciting wine that for me encompasses the structure of Brunello - exactly what I'm looking for, minus a little bit of cherry fruit.

Dark, inky, floral, cherries. Intense pot pourri, like opening a bottle of perfume - but not in a VA way. Slightly lifted alcohol on the palate. Lots of silky acidity, beautifully elegant with a clean, concentrated, very well-cut edges structure. More cherries, slightly cedary tannins. Nice intensity. Tannins grow as the wine opens up. Ripe, elegant, ethereal, floral, cherries. Great Brunello typicity, maintains traiditon with the tannins and floral notes, somehow has a very modern acidity and tannic structure. Very lovely.

Spice, cedar, tobacco. Some stone fruit. Hedgerow fruit, sloes. Spice. Nice velvety tannins. Really lovely weight and extraction, good intensity of fruit. Can't fault it - nice cherry fruit, classic weight and intensity, beautiful typicity. Really rather lovely wine.

Pot pourri, dried roses, rosewater, dried violets. A little figgy. Some VA. Lots of red cherries. Red fruit, pretty red cherries. Lovely intensity, crunchy tannins. Complex, concentrated, intense, interesting. Combines the old-worlde charm of slightly figgy over-extracted fruit with elegance and balance and charm. I think the key is that this doesn't feel like an acidified VA bomb, it's just balanced, and doesn't do too much of aything.

Rich, intense citrus notes on the nose. Some black cherries. A hint of spice. Lots of black chocolatey fruit, without quite the minerality or salinity to be inky, but still has that darkness and richness. Some plums on the finish. Very atypical, but has everything I want in terms of complexity, concentration, intensity. Very lovely.

Lots of ripe cherry fruit. Some cooked strawberries. Surprisingly, a subtle hint of reduction. Some leatheriness and spice. Cinammon. Nutmeg, ginger - lots of spice. Surprisingly high alcohol on the palate, cut through with a very vibrant, energetic herbal menthol freshness. Very chalky tannins, quite drying, mouth-coating. A little high on the alcohol and extraction, but balanced by concentration, intensity and complexity. Really beautiful wine that is categorically not ready to drink.

Tar, violets, slightly burnt black coffee. A little clumsy and one-dimensional on the nose. Herbal verging on medicinal spice on the palate. Nice balance, good weight - really grows on me. Not a cherry fruit bumb like many of the wines, instead relying on silky texture and softly-spoken power. Delicate, ethereal - but therefore either perfectly ready to drink now, or so closed that it needs years. Either way, yeah I'd finish the glass.

Restrained on the nose. Herbal, spice, menthol, cedar, eucalyptus, floral pot pouri. On the palate, quite a clean, elegant, vibrant and pleasantly crystalline structure - has an energy and a youthfulness to it that aren't just aren't all that common in Brunello. Tannins are strong, muscular, Italian, chalky, but still softened by that sweet herbal spice. Modern and exciting.

Pretty cherry nose. A hint of violets, black chocolate. Floral. Roasting coffee. Really lovely silkiness on the palate, with prettily extracted tannins and plentiful acidity. Zippy, juicy, fruit-forward, high acidity. Really beautiful purity of fruit with an electric minerality and vibrant freshness, despite the weight and tannins. Really beautiful.

Quite a bit of youthful spice and vanilla on the nose. A hint of reduction. Beautifully fresh fruit at first, pure and exciting. Well-extracted Italian tannins with an intense ripeness and juiciness to them. Lasting chalky tannins. Pretty, energetic, fresh.

Intense herbal, floral, garrigue. Violets. A touch of reduction. Lots of cacao, coffee, torrefied nuts. Crunchy. Very intense, very moreish, a little blunt and clumsy. Good intensity, nice concentration, good amount of fruit. Lasting raspberry and barely ripe cherry finish. A bit brutish - needs time.

Crunchy, juicy red fruit. Some red cherries. A hint of tannic structure, lots of herbal spice. A touch menthol and medicinal, with quite a bit of sweet oak coming through on the palate. Really very modern and approachable. Nice richness, good intensity. Good ripeness, lots of chocolate and rich structure. Velvety structure. Maybe a bit softer and rounder than expected for Brunello, but that makes it so much more accessible and enjoyable. Really quite a lovely wine - but is it recognisably Brunello?

Lots of red cherries. A tiny hint of flinty reduction. Pretty floral, herbal menthol. Elegant, crunchy. Tannins have a serious zest and youthfulness to them, lots of red berries. Cool, crisp, vibrant, energetic - crystalline. Lovely concentration and complexity. Really quite a beautiful wine, combines the intensity of Brunello with the youthful charm of a fresh and juicy Sangiovese. Ready to drink, can wait. Rather pretty. Great acidity, nice intensity.

Menthol, garrigue, spice. Extremely interesting on the nose, lots of complexity, multi-dimension - more and more layers of interest. Tannins are a little on the heavy side, well-extracted. Serious, intense - worthy of a Riserva, but the tannins are so drying this is a little difficult to even taste - don't touch for at least a decade. Big fruit, lots of alcohol and tannins. A bit old-fashioed.

Rich, intense, almost jammy red cherry fruit. Some spice. Nice intensity. Acidity pretty, lightly floral, not too high. Lots of red cherries. Pretty red fruit. Chalky finish. Elegant, well-made, benchmark.

Some red berries, a hint of liquorice. Beautiful intensity of red fruit, with a crystal clear menthol herbal charm cutting through the wine. Alcohol quite high, tannins classically drying - but I'm finding the herbal intensity and minerality really intriguing, it's made me stop and think without breaking from typicity

Very ripe, almost jammy cherry fruit on the nose. A touch of violets, some floral herbal notes. A tiny hint of reduction. Surprisingly fresh, youthful, fruit-forward. Nice energy. Tannins are pretty, well-extracted, with an elegance to them despite the power and weight. Generous maceration and extraction, good intensity of fruit. Very well-made, very well-structured, high quality - but with a charming simplicity to it that many of the single-vineyard Brunellos.

Dark chocolate, dark cherries. Quite reductive at first, with dark sombre leatheriness, dark morello cherries, a touch of spice. Tannins drying and clumsy. Beginnings of complexity and mult-dimensioned fruit with spice, texture and structure. Old-fashioned, traditional, classic. A bit bumbling. High acidity, nice enough, but ultimately lacks the energy that I expect from this price point.

Raisins, figs, spice, dried citrus peel. Tannins are warm, velvety, a little leathery. A bit drying and old-fashioned.

A touch of reduction. Some black cherries. HInts of liquorice, violets, tar, spice, cedar. Classic Sangiovese acidity, chalky tannins - well-extracted, but still nicely balanced by the fruit and a pretty, ripe floral fruitiness. Nice balance. Classic. Not quite forgettable, but solidly reliable, middle of the road