Brunello Thoughts
I recently attended a wine tasting at a restaurant in Portland, Maine. It was held at a local restaurant and attendance was quite strong. This was a portfolio tasting for Vias Wines. A good friend of mine works for them and sent me an invitation imploring me to attend. He commented that there would be wines available that they don’t usually open or taste.
I was in Portland on an errand and decided to attend, I really didn’t have a lot of time and tried to stay focused and taste the Italian portfolio only. There were some good wines, some great wines and some simply amazing wines. For me the wines from Argiano were over the top, the brunello received 94 points in the Wine Spectator and it was worth every point and every penny they were charging for it.
I don’t have any Argiano wines on our wine list and I’m going to have to rethink my position on their wines. I learned several of the techniques used by their winemaker, one of which is to de-stem the grapes; but not to crush them. Leaving the grapes whole and giving them a cold soak, starts the maceration process within the actual grape before fermentation begins, providing an explosion of flavors. I also learned this was winemaker Hans Vinding-Diers first vintage made completely by himself. Hans took over for Giacomo Tachis back in 2003 and has spent a lot of time identifying the terroir and grand crus of Argiano. The results of his labors is amazing, the proof is in the bottle.
I’ll be traveling to Montalcino next week, I’m visiting several Tuscan properties. I’m looking forward to drinking Brunello and spending time enjoying this beautiful countryside. Drinking wine in Tuscany always seems to taste better, maybe it’s just me. I’m looking forward to having lunch in Montalcino and enjoying a great bottle of Argiano Brunello. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find an older vintage made by Tachis and enjoy it side by side with a current vintage produced by Hans Vinding-Deirs. This would certainly qualify as a lunch to remember.
Brunellos are definitely a little pricey these days, it seems with the cost of the Euro rising and the quality improving each vintage, the cost of a good bottle of Brunello is on the rise. The good news is, Brunello producers make a baby Brunello called Rosso di Montalcino. It isn’t as mature and elegant as Brunello, in a great vintage they are amazing bottles of wine and cost a third as much. Treat yourself, it’s graduation season, bring your college graduate in and introduce him or her to a unique and special experience they’ll never forget and jump start their appreciation for fine wine.
Dick Varano
One Comment to “Brunello Thoughts”
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And I was just wodneirng about that too!