BRUNELLO OF THE YEARS TO COME (AND ONE OF THE WORST YEARS IN THE PAST!) - Casa Middachten (16-5-2008)

I found a small vertical of Sesta di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino in my cellar. All vintages of which the Brunello di Montalcino still has to be released. A nice opportunity to taste what these vintage have in store for us!

In addition to this I've thrown in a '02 Brunello di Montalcino after we tasted the RdM. A wine made in the worst vintage for Montalcino since a long time. But last year I found this actually a very nice wine. This was confirmed by the group. Indeed, a very nice Brunello.

The wines where tasted blind. The bottles where opened 2 hours before the tasting, poured down to the shoulder.

• 2004 Sesta di Sopra (Sestadisopra) Rosso di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino
  Ruby colour. Full tones of cherry, berries and some blackcurrant with hints of tobacco. Following trough medium-full bodied with some good fruit and chewy, smooth, tanins. Medium finish. Nicely balanced and smooth, but still well structured. Drink now - 2011. (89 pts.)
  
• 2005 Sesta di Sopra (Sestadisopra) Rosso di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino
  Ruby/red colour. Full tones of cherry and some hints of black fruit and leather. Medium bodied with fresh fruit and smooth tanins. Medium finish. Getting into its drinking window right now. Drink now - 2010. (88 pts.)
  
• 2006 Sesta di Sopra (Sestadisopra) Rosso di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino
  Ruby/red colour. Full tones of cherry and berries with hints of tobacco and licourish. Full bodied with fresh acidity and chewy tanins. Medium-long finish. Needs to integrate more, but after a few hours starting to settle down already. Quite similar to the '04, Perhaps even slightly more depth if it integrates a bit more over the next 1-2 years. Drink 2009 - 2012 (89 pts.)
  
• 2002 Sesta di Sopra (Sestadisopra) Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
  Ruby colour, light amber at the rim. Full tones of currant, cherry and berries with hints of leather. Full bodied and smooth with refined tanins. Medium-long finish. Nicely balanced, and typical BdM character. Not at all the dilluted and one-dimensional wine that characterizes the '02 vintage. Drink now - 2010. (90 pts.)
  

The vintage '04 and '06 will be great BdM vintages. My guess is that '06 will be slightly better. The tanins where a bit more layerd and the aromas slightly more complex at this stage. Both are somewhat like 2001. The '05 vintage is less powerfull, but still nicely balanced with more ripe fruit.

3 out of 4 agreed that the '04 was the best one right now. The other one choose the '06. All agreed that the '02 BdM left the three RdM in the shade. This was my first vertical since many years. The one-for-one comparisons seemed to show bigger differences than my initial scoring after tasting every one of them. In particular the '02 Brunello was a class on its own. Perhaps even more like 91 or 92pts compared to the 89pts for the Rosso '04 and '06.
Posted from CellarTracker

Great notes, Jochems, thanks.
Interesting perspective with the '02 BdM.
Though clearly not the same wines, I agree that the Rosso's give a 'peek' into what an upcoming vintage has to offer. Well done!

Great notes.

The Sesta di Sopra is one of the best of the 2002 Brunello's I've had, glad to see you liked it as well. I haven't had their Rosso, but I'll keep an eye out for one.