2010 Italy

The 2010 harvest at Badia a Coltibuono was later than normal, certainly later than in 2009, giving more complex, cooler  wine that has had the benefit of a longer hang-time in which to gradually ripen its aromas and flavours. The nose is focused with sapid black cherry and clove notes, while the fine, traditional and elegant palate, replete with bright acidity and light, has more of a loganberry feel to it. Complete. Drinking 2013 - 2018.
David Berry Green

Until 31st August 2017 this product is discounted by up to 40%. Prices shown include discount; no further discount will be applied at checkout.

This stunning passito, a sweet wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice, exudes characters of ripe citrus and honeyed lemon on the nose. The palate is incredibly concentrated while the finish is rich, poised and balanced.
Katherine Dart MW, Berrys Bros. & Rudd

Savoury flavours of tilled earth, sweet spice and dense blackberry and cassis fruit. Very fresh and perfumed, but with real substance beneath. Excellent acidity and tannins throughout.
Fine Wine Team

Isole e Olena's 2010 Cepparello is magnificent. In particular, I admire the way the wine fleshes out in all directions, with seemingly endless layers of dark, mineral-infused berry, plum and pomegranate notes. A primal wine in need of significant cellaring, the 2010 is easily one of the highlights of the year. Bright, saline notes support the precise finish. Today, the 2010 is naturally quite backward and undeveloped, but it should be a gem in another 5-10 years. This is an especially dark, structured Cepparello built for the cellar. The 2010 brightens up with time in the glass, but it remains one of the darker, more brooding wines made in the estate's history.
Antonio Galloni - Aug-2013

Typifying the refined, soft sandy and herbal character of Neive’s Basarin vineyard, one that lies at 320 meters above sea level, Marina’s 2010 vintage is finely poised, but with darker presence; the nose showing neat cinchona bark, clove and strawberry fruit aromas. It is pulpy and sensual, with delicious rose-hip notes and pacy, broader, fleshy red fruit that stems from only free-run juice, the firm but molten fruit tannins providing ample support. The product of 28 days on the skins and 24 months in 100% large 25hl slavonian oak botti. Emphatic.
David Berry Green

The 2010 Solaia is even better than the Tignanello. Here, too, it is the wine's energy and sheer vibrancy that stand out most. Blackberry jam, graphite, tar, espresso, violets, crushed rocks and spices all take shape in the glass. The 2010 is a wine I have followed since its infancy, and it has never failed to deliver the goods. Earlier this year I had a chance to taste every vintage of Solaia back to the inaugural 1978. It is still early, but there is little question the 2010 is one of the greatest – if not the single greatest Solaia ever made
97/100 Antonio Galloni - Aug-2013

The grapes for Gaja's flagship Barbaresco are sourced from 14 unique vineyard sites across Barbaresco. The wine spends an average of 12 months in barriques followed by 12 months in large wooden casks. A very elegant wine which ages well, it can be appreciated within a few years of bottling.
David Berry Green

An 8 acre vineyard was bought by the Gaja family in 1934 and sits on a hilltop with southern exposure. Named after Angelo’s grandmother it produces a wine of matchless elegance and power; full, rich, structured and with an enormous weight of ripe fine fruits.

Il Poggione is one of the stars of Brunello, despite this it is always incredibly reasonably priced. Every year we sell through our allocation quickly and 2010 I think it is a case of blink and you will miss it! Il Poggione is a wine that reflects the more modern end of the styles in Brunello, it always has rich, lush fruit and in 2010 it is perfectly held in check by a cool freshness. Alongside the lovely cherry fruit, there are floral characters and toasted spice a wine with a sensual character.

Pale pinky red, this is very much Manuel’s ‘dainty’, scented Barolo from the triangular plot of La Serra, high up on the La Morra escarpment, and it is characterised by wafts of indian spice, tobacco and rose-red berried fruit. A little shy and retiring when young, there’s a hint, a glint of pretty red at its core, plus classic notes of liquorice.
David Berry Green

The ever charming Manuel Marchetti has crafted yet another beautiful Barolo from his prized plot in La Serra. There are lifted aromatics of rose petals, menthol and redcurrants on the nose, with very precise and seamless tannins on the palate. All very tightly coiled at the moment, this will reward some time in the cellar and will blossom into a benchmark Barolo.
Fergus Stewart - Private Account Manager

Stella fawns over her wines, each vintage a ‘new child’, not wishing to let them out of her sight until she’s satisfied they’ll cope! Hence 2010 has become a Riserva, to be physically released out into the world, ripping it from her grasp (!) only in early 2016.

However Stella has given us the opportunity to offer the 2010 Riserva out, providing our customers can wait. I would: just its colour fills you with warm anticipation: broad, compact, serene, red garnet, from rim to rim, filling the glass. On the nose it’s composed, with noticeable crystalline aromas that surely stem from her mix of galestro, calcite, volcanic, alberese and alluvial soils.

There’s gunpowder, graphite presence; a mass of emphatic herbal, red berried fruit, along with a coiled, juicy heart of cranberry/strawberry ‘gelato’ (ice cream!) flavours. Immense focus, with beautiful refreshing juiciness. Not a hair out of place!
David Berry Green

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

The hugely anticipated 2010 vintage lives up to the expectations I have of this famed property. The nose is brooding but reveals notes of parmesan rind, dark fruit, forest floor and coffee bean. The palate is delicate and yet concentrated with a strong wild strawberry character, fine tannins and a hint of leather. On the finish there is sweet fruit, freshness and balance. The wine will age gracefully and should drink well for a few decades at least. 2010 Brunello is not to be omitted from one’s cellar and there is no need to look further afield than this great estate for a superb example from a magical vintage.
Chris Pollington – Private Account Manager

The Biondi Santi property is steeped in history and following a degree in Oenology from Perugia University, the incumbent Franco Biondi Santi has taken on board the subtle art of wine-making learned at the side of his father, whilst simultaneously seeking to expand the estate’s holdings. The hugely anticipated 2010 vintage lives up to the expectations I have of this famed property. The nose is brooding but reveals notes of parmesan rind, dark fruit, forest floor and coffee bean.

The palate is delicate and yet concentrated with a strong wild strawberry character, fine tannins and a hint of leather. On the finish there is sweet fruit, freshness and balance. The wine will age gracefully and should drink well for a few decades at least. 2010 Brunello is not to be omitted from one’s cellar and there is no need to look further afield than this great estate for a superb example from a magical vintage.

From the whiter, nutrient poor, mineral rich soils that characterise the upper half of the Serralunga ridge, Serra is much paler red in colour, the nose restrained, slender, sapid, and sandalwood infused, of salted cranberry and thick skins – notes that reminds one of the east-facing, high altitude, breezy spot, that leaves you invigorated. Still in its formative stage, the palate is a mass, an array, of sensations, flighty, racy acidity and pace. A suggestion of almond rose? Needs time.
David Berry Green

The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is fabulous. Dark cherry, lavender, mint, hard candy and a host of balsamic-inflected notes soar from the glass as this towering, structured Rivera shows off its personality. This is one of the more tannic, backward Riserva of the vintage. As such, demands patience. Just as extraordinary as it was last year, the Riserva once again shows just how magical this vintage was for Andrea Costanti.  Drink: 2022 – 2040
98/100, Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com, Feb 2016

The Costantis are an old Sienese family dating back to the fifteenth century. They appear in the history of Montalcino as being involved in major event which led to the creation of the Republic of Siena in 1555. Fast forward to 1983 when a very young Andrea Costanti took over the family firm and started building the estate into the successful Brunello producer that we know today.

The winemaking style lies somewhere between the arch-traditionalists and the modernists with fermentation in stainless steel with two weeks maceration on the skins, followed by 18 months in 500 litre French oak barrels and 18 months in Slavonian oak botti, before 12 months in bottle before release, with another year in bottle for the riserva.

Given that Gianluca is from Vergne it’s only logical and re-assuring that his single vineyard Barolo should come from the village’s top vineyard: Bricco delle Viole; the fruit coming from his second, west-facing parcel at close to 460 meters above sea level, up above and behind the garage-like cantina/winery. Less complex, perhaps without the addition of other vineyards, it makes up for it in the clarity of expression of Bricco delle Viole. Dark, with rich, almost mulberry fruit, there’s a whiff of eucalypt, tobacco, ‘sandalo’ and incense – the latter reminding us of its proximity to La Morra (and to La Serra). There’s more volume than the Barolo, and more kirsch and tamarind characters, with a firm but molten tannic structure. Great texture and poise. What a debut. Bravo Gianluca!
David Berry Green

Focussed, yet forever gentle and restrained, it’s a kernel of sage, dried rose, clove and loganberry; the fruit from his Castiglione Falletto vineyards of Valletti and Villero ensuring the noblest and silkiest of perfumes, complementing that of La Morra’s Gallinotto. On the palate sits elegantly briary bracken-like fruit; very suave, fluid, with plenty of nuance and savouriness. At its core a glint of red currant fruit. Very promising. A classic Barolo.
David Berry Green

Mario’s wines are always incredibly charming, supple and eloquent of the vintage; the 2010 is absolutely no different. This is very reminiscent of a Premier Cru Chambolle-Musigny, such is the purity and delicacy of the fruit and the finesse to the tannins. The palate has wonderfully sweet, pure fruit which has notes of almond and graphite. This is a hugely enjoyable wine and will drink surprisingly early, 2017 onwards, but I have no doubt that it will see many a year in the cellar.
Gary Owen - Private Account Manager

Marcarini’s Brunate sums up the vineyard’s natural amphitheatre shape and stature. With notes of hay and cigarillo, this compact, brooding, opaque wine is broad with a black molasses texture. Still in its youth, the bracken tannins need time to resolve themselves. Don’t be in a hurry.
David Berry Green