TN: 1998 Ciacci Piccolomini, Pianrosso

I just got back from Tuscany and had the pleasure of visiting Ciacci winery. It was an absolutely incredible experience. Luckily we had a guide because the place would have been absolutely impossible to find in the hill town of Castel Nuova. Just before going, we had lunch at the castle in Montilcino, which is a big enoteca. I got a bottle of 2000 Ciacci Fabius and the wine guide who never had it before, loved it. We made our way to the winery through the very narrow town streets and found the place which is marked with a tiny inconspicuous sign. The host was a nice German lady who spoke decent English. First she brought us to a vista that overlooked the vineyards. The view from above down onto the valley was beautiful.We then toured the cave which was amazing, parts of it being from the 13 or 1400's. We tasted the 1998 Brunello and I agree that it is a very good Brunello from a tough year and thought it was a 91-92 pt wine with excellent balance and complexity. The other wine tasted was their Cab blend Ateo which was also quite good.

They had some 1997 Brunello and a 1997 Riserva so I bought them along with 3 Fabius. I agree that the 1997 Brunello is a great Brunello and after striking out on obtaining some from the States, I was happy to obtain some. The host gave me a 375 ml of the Fabius, gratis, which I gave to our tour guide since he liked it so much at lunch. Overall a great experience.

Cork: Cork came out clean but seemed a bit dry, with saturation on the tip. The neck level was low compared to the other four bottles purchased. Color: In the glass was garnet in color, fading to lighter color around the rim. Nose: The wine had the nose of cherries and crushed flowers. Poured some in the glass.In the glass had sharp scent of alcohol, which opened with time into cherry & crushed flowers. Taste: In the mouth was silky and coating with fine tannins. Cherries and crushed flowers turning to plum on the finish. Score: My score: 92. 09/21/2004

Cork: came out clean Decanted for 2+ hours in Reidel crystal decanter before serving in Ravenscroft stemware. On the nose, glorious perfume of violets and cherry with soft sweet tannins and a tasty finish that begged for another sip. Liquid heaven! Score: 95! 6/15/05

quote:

Originally posted by Brettay:
It's solid ruby/garnet color

This is one of the darkest Brunello's that I have ever tried. Completely opaque, with a thick, dark stain on the end of the cork. While tasty, this is not your typical traditional Brunello.

quote:

Originally posted by louzarius:
This is one of the darkest Brunello's that I have ever tried. Completely opaque, with a thick, dark stain on the end of the cork.

This was an interesting comment I made because I opened another bottle last night, and it had absolutely no resemblance to my last bottle. I believe the last bottle I opened was about a year ago. It was very dark and very closed.

Last night's bottle was very typical Brunello. Light ruby/garnet color, no bricking at all on the edges, the cork was hardly stained at all. Very odd that these two bottles could be that different. They were both out of the same case purchased in Italy.

This wine IMO is just entering it's drinking window. Has great structure and finesse, and is drinking very well right now. No decanting, popped and poured. Delicious! 93 points.