Score: 92/100
Despite being made from 100% Sangiovese grapes, this wine is a blend of wines from six small vineyards covering about 10 hectares and surrounding the “Casato Prime Donne” in Montalcino, a stone edifice built in the 16th century by Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors.
It was aged for little over two years in in oak casks and barrels
So how good is this 2011 Prime Donne Brunello di Montalcino?
Tasting Notes:
The wine is dark shiny red.
The nose is bursting with aromas even without swirling the glass. So let’s try and deconstruct this great complexity.
Before you agitate the wine, it’s dominated with intense rather grassy notes: hay, stalks, blond tobacco but also deeper tones of dark cocoa and dark cherry liqueur.
Move the wine a little, and the aromas that were already jumping out of the glass, go literally dancing around the opening of the glass as the wine swirls, making themselves available to your senses in a frantic yet harmonious ballet.
Vanilla and smoke from the oak valse with dark berry fruits, and the spices float around making the scene shine and sparkle: cardamom is obvious and strong, backed up by clove and nutmeg.
Old cherry, coffee, and orange liqueur. Dried herbs. Descriptors that suit the aroma of this wine are endless. You’ve got it: it’s deep and complex.
The palate is rather full bodied, with relatively low acidity, granulous tannins that are smooth up to the mid-palate but end up on a drying feel. Long and layered complexity on the finish.
Overall
A powerful, warm, and intensely scented Sangiovese. Full of sun and concentration, it delights with the myriad of flavors and aromas it is able to deliver.
You could spend a night debating with friends around what it smells and taste like. Or more simply match it with delicate yet tasty meat dishes and enjoy.
Tuscan cinghiale (wild boar) or the very traditional local chicken liver paté is what obviously comes to mind as a perfect local match. But anything meaty, rich, and herbal will work.
Enjoy
Please let me know your thoughts