Andrew Jefford is joined by Bruno Besa and Michael Palij MW for a hugely successful and high-scoring tasting of 2019 Brunello di Monalcino, a vintage that came as a very welcome relief in southern Tuscany after the heat-scorched 2017 and the difficult 2018, and which is perhaps even better than the widely celebrated 2016.
This is an extract from an article first published in WFW84. For full tasting notes and scores for all 45 wines tasted by the panel, subscribe to The World of Fine Wine.
It was clear, from the first flight: The wines were darker than usual. A lowered gaze, perhaps; a sense of brooding intent. Color alone is an inadequate guide to quality, of course, but it’s not insignificant either. There was clearly more polyphenolic matter than usual in the 2019 Brunello offerings, and it had clung to the wines through their long aging process (at least two years in wood and four months in bottle, with the wines coming to market in the fifth year after harvest).
Then we began to sniff and to taste. And to smile, delightedly—and soon the keyboards were clattering, as we tripped, stumbled, and struggled to verbalize our enthusiasm for this challenging but immensely rewarding tasting. “A truly memorable day at the office,” concluded Bruno Besa after tasting “this remarkable flight of outstanding wines.” Michael Palij MW found the wines “looking very smart indeed […]. Almost without exception, these are wines to recommend and to cellar.” Bruno loved “their intrinsic complexity, stylistic uniformity,
This Article was originally published on World of Fine Wine
