Travel Log #9: First Impressions of 2015 Brunello

My son Jack and I spent this past weekend tasting a few dozen 2015 Brunellos from top producers in Montalcino while visiting vineyards and cellars. We came away with a pretty awesome opinion of the vintage, which will be released in January 2020.

We also organized a dinner for 42 producers at the Enoteca la Fortezza in Montalcino where winemakers brought bottles of their 2015 to share.

We’re planning a much larger and more serious sit-down tasting in a few weeks, but we can already say that 2015 is a great vintage. It will rank among the best recent vintages in the region, and will be compared to the likes of 2010, 2007, 2006, 2001, and 1997.

So many of the wines we tasted showed a beautiful depth of fruit and endless length. They are dense and rich wines, structured with masses of tannins yet finely textured and comprehensive in the mouth. The tannins seem to melt into the wine. I have never seen this before in a young vintage of Brunello and few other sangiovese-based wines.

There’s also a transparency and brightness to the best of 2015 that gives the reds a chance to beautifully communicate their respective terroirs and styles. This was particularly true in estate-specific and single-vineyard Brunellos.

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By: James Suckling | JamesSuckling.com