2015 Brunello en primeur
The 'picture-perfect' vintage
It is very easy for outsiders to make horribly wrong judgements about a vintage from their August holidays in a region or just from reading early journalist assessments. But in 2015 all the reports have stood up to later scrutiny. In general those perfect-looking grapes just before harvest have indeed made lovely wine with great intensity, good acidity and proper Sangiovese dry tannins. Those tannins are pretty fine though, making wines that are delicious early on, but will nevertheless develop for a number of years. The bunches were small and the grapes thick skinned because of the early summer heat. But modern, light extraction and the long ageing that Brunello di Montalcino undergoes, together with the perfectly balanced fruit has made what are generally some fabulous wines.
Of course Montalcino isn’t a homogenous zone – that is its main attraction. With hugely varying altitude, many different little valleys and mesoclimates not everyone will have been able to exploit the overall conditions but everything I have tasted so far has enormous depth of fruit and an intensity I haven’t seen for a while. If you cast your mind back to those gorgeous 2015 Rosso di Montalcino wines a while ago, you’ll know what I mean. We’ll guide you through the 2015 Brunellos this Spring.