2010 Brunello di Montalcino, Scopetone, Tuscany, Italy

2010 Brunello di Montalcino, Scopetone, Tuscany, Italy

Product: 20101105139
 
2010 Brunello di Montalcino, Scopetone, Tuscany, Italy

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Description

Compared to the whiter tufo soils of La Serena (Cerbaiona) on the north east corner of Montalcino, Scopetone is located in the north-west, below the city walls, on friable red chestnut soils mixed with more typical rocky galestro/alberese elements. In June 2013, pre-bottling, I noted their wine as having compact, tight clove red berried perfume, a hint of eucalyptus/balsamic/black pepper, as being more complete than 2009; with suave, pretty cassis, liquorice, tobacco fruit, molten tannins ‘fondo’ (depth).

Last year: it presented as a ‘gioiellino’ (a little gem), with soft perfumed pepper/clove/cassi fruit, racy, nuanced moreish. Last week (late Jan ’15): distinctly rose/Chinato, medicinal/iodine, fabulous rose raciness, a flowing thread of cassis, compact, linear neat.
David Berry Green

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate94+/100
The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino shows ethereal tones of licorice, dried cherry and pressed violets from the outset. These are quintessential Sangiovese aromas that ground this wine to an impressive sense of varietal pureness. Its ace card is elegance and this is especially well played in the 2010 vintage. Another quality of the wine is the beautifully delicate way it evolves in the glass to deliver slow moving tones of licorice, cola and grilled herb. This Brunello shows a medium build followed by very long persistence. You don't get power or muscle here, instead you get elegance and finesse. It should be great to see how this wine evolves over the next 10-15 years.
Monica Larner - 28/02/2015 Read more

About this WINE

Scopetone, Tuscany

Scopetone, Tuscany

This is one of Montalcino’s hidden treasures. Unknown to many, Ferruccio Biondi – credited with “inventing” Brunello – planted his first Sangiovese on the best location he could find in the region. That was not the now-famous Tenuta Greppo estate, however, but rather the Scarnacuoia cru – where we find Podere Scopetone’s vines today.

This tiny, hallowed site, replanted in 1978, gives a taste of the region’s origins. Its soils are some of the area’s oldest due to the exfoliating exposure of this treacherously steep slope. Since local couple Loredana Tanganelli and Antonio Brandi acquired it in 2009, they have given new life and new meaning to Brunello’s original vineyard. They’re building a reputation for making some of the region’s purest, most desirable wines. Their total production is a tiny 2.5 hectares. They farm organically, though you won’t find certification on the label.

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Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino

Along with Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino is Tuscany's most famous DOCG and the region's boldest expression of Sangiovese. Located 30 miles south of Siena with the hilltop town of Montalcino as its epicentre, its 2,000 hectares of vines are naturally delimited by the Orcia, Asso and Ombrone valleys. Brunello is the local name for the Sangiovese Grosso clone from which Brunello di Montalcino should be made in purezza (ie 100 percent).

The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG has a whale-like shape: at its head, at 661 metres above sea level on ancient, stony galestro soils facing east and southeast lies the town of Montalcino, where the DOC was founded. As you follow the spine south towards the tail, the vineyards lose altitude – those around Colle Sant'Angelo are at 250 metres – while the soils become richer with iron and clay. Further east, in the shadow of the 1,734 metre Mont'Amiata lies the village of Castelnuovo dell'Abate where the vineyards are strewn with a rich mix of galestro, granitic, volcanic, clay and schist soil types.

While Brunello di Montalcino's climate is mildly Mediterranean, thanks to the sea being a mere 20 miles away, the elevation of the vineyards provides an important diurnal temperature variation (ie hot days and cool nights). This benefits the grapes by maintaining acidity levels and extending their ripening time. The howling tramontana wind can also play an important role in drying and concentrating the fruit.

Historically, the zone is one of Tuscany's youngest. First praised in 1550 by Leandro Alberti for the quality of its wines, it was Tenuta Il Greppo who bottled the inaugural Brunello di Montalcino in 1888. By 1929, the region had 925 hectares of vines and 1,243 hectares of mixed crops, while in 1932 it was decreed that only those wines made and bottled within the commune could be labelled as Brunello di Montalcino. Since then, the number of producers has risen from 11 in 1960 to 230 in 2006, while over the same period the vineyards have expanded from 1,000 hectares to 12,000. The region earned its DOC in 1966, and was upgraded to DOCG in 1980.

Brunello di Montalcino cannot be released for sale until five years after the harvest, or six years in the case of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. During this time the wines should be aged for at least two years in oak, followed by at least four months in bottle (six months for Riservas); maximum yields are 55 hl/ha. 

Rosso di Montalcino is declassified Brunello di Montalcino, released for sale 18 months after the harvest.

Recommended producers: Costanti, Fuligni, Lisini, San Giuseppe, Soldera, Cerbaiona

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Sangiovese

Sangiovese

A black grape widely grown in Central Italy and the main component of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano as well as being the sole permitted grape for the famed Brunello di Montalcino.

It is a high yielding, late ripening grape that performs best on well-drained calcareous soils on south-facing hillsides. For years it was blighted by poor clonal selection and massive overcropping - however since the 1980s the quality of Sangiovese-based wines has rocketed upwards and they are now some of the most sought after in the world.

It produces wines with pronounced tannins and acidity, though not always with great depth of colour, and its character can vary from farmyard/leather nuances through to essence of red cherries and plums. In the 1960s the advent of Super Tuscans saw bottlings of 100% Sangiovese wines, as well as the introduction of Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, the most famous being Tignanello.

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