94 and 93 out of 100 from Wine Advocate: our Brunello flies skyward

94 and 93 out of 100 from Wine Advocate: our Brunello flies skyward

Monica Larner, super taster for Italy for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate the most important wine guide in the world, rewards Brunello and Brunello Prime Donne 2010

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Before I talk about the ratings of my two wines I would like to say two words about Monica Larner . She is American but lives in Rome and speaks perfectly Italian. She is a workaholic and tastes with great concentrations for hours. A few years ago she began publishing her ratings on Brunello before all others and being often criticized for this by some bloggers. <<Don’t worry>> I told her << Brunello is born at midnight on the first of January; from that moment it is in your right to ask to taste and the Consorzio’s duty to organize the tasting>>.

It is a risk to express an opinion for first regarding a de nomination that is followed by the whole world. But she has this courage and she has proven it also in emphasizing the wines from the south of Italy. Not only is she courageous but she is bale to foresee new trends and leave the old behind. These gifts she shows in an artful way in the introduction to her Brunello 2010 tasting putting in evidence the two spirits of this wine: the elegant side that looks towards Burgundy (large barrels) and the powerful side that looks towards Bordeaux (barrique). Brunello’s Yin and Yang, the cool nights and the sun.

This concept photographs perfectly the reality of the Montalcino wineries and the

greatness of the Sangiovese variety, so versatile that in 2010 expresses a  << wonderful combination of freshness and structure >> uniting the characteristics of two vintages that Monica loves greatly <<the ageing ability of the 2006 and the intensity, the richness and the balsamic notes and the tannins of the 2007>>. For this reason she has awarded 100/100 to two Brunello: Marroneto Madonna delle Grazie and Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova. A real triumph for Montalcino.

Casato Prime Donne’s Brunello is surely among the most elegant, those that come from the cooler side of Montalcino and that age in barrel, so are among the Yin.

Here are Monica Larner’s ratings published in Robert Parker’s “Wine advocate”

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2010 rating 94/100

<< makes a big and pleasurable impact on all the senses. First it hits the nose with a wonderful medley of ripe red fruit, spice, tar, tobacco, leather and dried. The wine is impeccably made and the fruit is outstanding. Ultimately your patronage of this brand depends on if you like this bold softer style. If you do this Brunello delivers satisfaction in spades. Fleshy oak tones of cinnamon and clove round off the finish. It is extremely soft to the touch this wine can be enjoyed in the near or long-term>>

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2010 PRIME DONNE rating  93/100

<<This is a dark and well-extracted with dark tones of cherry and blackberry backed by leather tobacco and tar. The fruit on display is sweet and plump and you definitely get a sense of the wines youth and its potential to evolve. Donatella Cinelli Colombini has done a very good job of matching her bolder wine making style to the high quality of fruit on display here. Plush end notes of sweet spice, cinnamon and toasted vanilla give the wine and International twist. I found the Prime Donne to be slightly less expressive than the base Brunello 2010. The wine needs a little longer to open>>