1997 Brunellos en route

A report from Montalcino

by Charles Laverick, cl@tastings.com

	Eredi Fuligni made the top-rated 1997 Brunello

The 1997 vintage has widely been coveted in most Italian wine regions. After slumbering for five years do the late released Brunellos live up to the expectation of the vintage? Having just got back from tasting all the 1997s in Montalcino, I would have to say, in a word, yes. The wines from the 1997 vintage are easily the finest of the last decade.

Going into the 1997 Brunello tasting, I have to admit that I was somewhat circumspect. In general I believe that the vintage has been over-hyped. There are lots of great wines to be sure, but the big, ripe, freakish nature of the vintage meant that the wines were not really in a classic mold. This is why I—and many Piemontese producers—actually prefer the 1996 vintage to 1997 in Barolo. By extension, I tend to think of 1995 as more classically Tuscan than 1997.

Many Tuscan wines in 1997 suffered from a degree of over-ripeness, particularly in Montepulciano, and many of the coveted wines from Chianti Classico, including the Super Tuscans, are of the softer, early maturing sort. The wines typically show higher alcohol levels and lower acidity levels than is usual. Because of this fact, my feeling about 1997 Tuscans, in general, is that they will not really be long-term cellaring wines.

Thus, when presented with the Brunellos from nearly every producer in the appellation last week, I was expecting big, fat, hedonistic wines with structures in a New World vein. Wrong, again.

The 1997 Brunello vintage is easily the best since 1990 and probably, from top to bottom, the greatest vintage in a generation or more. The wines have great structure with solid acidity and balanced alcohol levels. The best will easily cellar brilliantly for a decade or two. Of the 120-odd Brunellos I reviewed, a full one-third were outstanding and there were only a few truly poor examples.

This was clearly a vintage that made itself and even producers with less-than-stellar track records generally produced very good wines. This means that it will be hard to find a poor 1997 Brunello and there is a lot to choose from at the top. That being said, these wines should fly off the shelves as soon as they get here. You will have to act quickly.

What follows is a short list of my wines of the vintage. Insider Club members (only $20 a year) can access a full listing of all the 1997 reviews here. I should also note that I missed Biondi-Santi and Costanti, two producers that consistently rank among the best. I will follow up with them this summer.

Top '97 Brunellos
-95/100 Fuligni, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-95 Poggio di Sotto, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-94 Casisano-Colombaio, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-94 Piancornello, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-94 Salvioni, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-94 Valdicava, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-93 Castello Banfi, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino "Poggio alle Mura"
-93 Fanti, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-93 La Palazzetta, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-93 La Serena, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino
-93 Val di Suga, 1997 Brunello di Montalcino "Spuntali"

Most wine drinkers will never shell out $50 plus for a bottle of Brunello. For those of you who want to get a taste of Brunello without the price tag, try Rosso di Montalcino. It is the second wine from a Montalcino estate, typically made from younger vines or declassified Brunello. Unlike most Brunellos, Rosso does not require cellaring and will drink well on release. The vast majority are under $20 per bottle and offer some of Tuscany's best wine values.

The current Rosso vintage is 2000. It's not a great vintage, to be sure, but there are a number of tasty wines around. The best will give the newcomer a taste of what Montalcino is all about. My short list of the top 2000 Rossos follows.

Top 2000 Rossos.
-90/100 Castello di Camigliano, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-89 Castello Romitorio, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-89 La Fortuna, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-89 La Sernea, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-89 Siro Pacenti, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-88 Il Poggiolo, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-88 San Giorgio, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-87 Fanti, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-87 Mocali, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-87 Silvio Nardi, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-87 Piancornello, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino
-87 Il Poggione, 2000 Rosso di Montalcino

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