2007 Banfi Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino is a DOCG appellation within the Italian wine region of Tuscany. The vineyards of the appellation surrounds the town of Montalcino. Geographically, Montalcino lies about 120 km south of Tuscany. In the early days it was believed that the grapes produced within the appelation was a individual grape variety called Brunello, but in 1879 it was determined that the grapes were in fact Sangiovese. To be able to call the wine a Brunello di Montalcino today, the wine must consist of 100% Sangiovese grapes and all grapes must be grown in the Brunello di Montalcino appellation.

Castello Banfi is one of the big producers of Brunello di Montalcino wines. They have a wide distribution, so there is a good chance you'll see a Banfi at your local wine shop. They produce a total of 15 different wines. The Brunello di Montalcino is their basic Brunello. THey have 170 hectares of vineyards devoted to the wine.

Tasting note on the 2007 Banfi Brunello di Montalcino

The nose shows lot's of florality, cherries and some licquorice.  Blackcurrants, cherries, earthiness, chocolate on the palate. A medium plus palate where the fruit is quite ripe. Blueberry, some stemmy tannins and dry finnish. Decent length. With little air, the wine opens up and the florality takes over. The wine is so floral. Big floral notes. The fruit gets more dried out as well. It is young, ripe and big. Lacks some balance and freshness. 89 points

Saved 1/3 of the wine in the decanter and let it stay in room temprature for 3 days. The wine has now calmed down, but it's not gone. Red and dark berries on the nose. More light to medium bodied. Some cherries, cigar and dried plum on the finnish. Quite long. A more wine for my palate at this stage, but still 89 points if I was to score it at this stage and in an objective manner.

This wine has scored big with some of the wine critics. Sucking gave it 94, Wine Enthusiast 92 and TWA gave it 91 points. It's not that suprising. I think these critics tend to like the bigger, riper style more than I do.