Visit to La Braccesca (Antinori) in Italy
16 Mar 2017- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Dinner and a tasting of four vintages of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva – Vigneto Santa Pia … all wines are aged in barrel for 18 months and 18 more in bottle:
Arrival at the estate ...
The Tasting Set-up ...
The Wines and How They Stack Up ...
2007 Vigneto Santa Pia
Aromas – Charcoal, smoke and ash
Palate – soft, big, frim, dark fruit: cassis, blackberry with graphite, smoke, and herbal notes; acidity is quite high and the tannins bite back
2008 Vigneto Santa Pia (my favourite)
Aromas – cassis, strawberry, balsamic and tobacco
Palate – lovely, fresh red fruit with tobacco and mineral; the tannins need taming but it does have a long elegant finish
2009 Vigneto Santa Pia
Aromas – coffee, licorice, strawberry but with a strange underlying note of turpentine
Palate – rich, full and spicy with notes of cassis, plum and black cherry; it also has a thick almost chewy finish
2010 Vigneto Santa Pia
Aromas – vanilla, cedar, with black and blue fruit
Palate – smoky, cherry, cassis, blackberry, big fruit but still needs to evolved because it is mildly aggressive with tannins and a good amount of acidity
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Also tasted the 2011 Bramasole Syrah from the Cortona region for those who don’t believe Syrah and Italy belong together – think again ...
2011 Bramasole Syrah (Cortona)
- 12-14 months in a mix of 60% new French oak and 40% one year old oak -
cassis, raspberry and other dark fruits with white and black pepper;
fresh and just a beautiful bottle made from select parcels – (~50,000 bottles made) … Rating: ****+
