Month: March 2024

By: Raffaele Vecchione (Founder and Editor of WinesCritic.com)

An in-depth analysis of a rich, sunny vintage with over 150 Brunello di Montalcino 2019 tasted.

  2019 is assuredly a vintage that will be remembered over the years thanks to the perfect amalgam of technological and phenolic maturity and the sheer quantity of grapes the producers took to the winery.

  This extraordinary year,  at a historically difficult time, which raised many doubts about climate change and the seasonal trends it brings, arrived like Manna from heaven for National and International producers and wine merchants.

The waiting was over, Brunello di Montalcino finally signed its name on the register and it did it in grand style.

  The 2019 followed two difficult vintages; the 2017 was decisive, vibrant and distinguished itself with a solid acidic impression and some slightly herbaceous matrices. (https://www.winescritic.com/brunello-di-montalcino-2017-la-maestria-dei-produttori-viene-fuori-nel-difficile-millesimo/)

  The rainy 2018 which was difficult to manage cultivation wise was pleasant with great harmony albeit unstable and rather fragile in some expressions.

  2019 was everything producers look for in a vintage. A sunny year, sometimes hot, dynamic and rich, solid and layered, complex and territorial. The right amount of well distributed rain contributed to the maturity of the grape without ever being cause for alarm. The harvest, which went smoothly during a window of time when the weather was mild and dry, framed an almost perfect picture for the winemakers.

  In 2019 the most memorable event was the exceptional absence of storms (hail, frosts, drought or excess rain) which we have unfortunately become more accustomed to over the last few years.

  A few rain showers, perfect for lowering the temperature and reinvigorating the grapes, arrived in the middle of July and August without doubt contributed to making this a great year.

  In the glass the vintage is distinguished by notable material in the sip, thanks to a perfectly centred grape harvest; lively tannins, rigid at times but noble and fine nonetheless thanks to the quality of the fruit and the producer’s interpretation of the right amount of refinement in barrels of different dimensions.

  The finale is always fresh, harmonic and balanced, highly appreciated from the start.

  Over the last few years we are witnessing wines being bottled earlier than the classic time during which the major part of producers usually bottle. They are trying to bottle before the classic month of September, bringing it forward to July or even March or April in order to benefit from the longer period in the bottle before the new vintage is released onto the market,at the same time this keeps the freshness and character of Sangiovese more fragrant and tasty.

  New containers are arriving in the wineries, there’s a crazy search for wooden barrels which are taller rather than wider (refinement vats), these are useful because they increase the contact surface of the wine to the most noble part of the wood.

  The production is also helped by the  great enthusiasm and willingness to work on expressions which are born from the territory, in particular from single vineyards.

  The ever more expert merchants are looking for territorial wines which are easily to recognise and trace back to the vineyard. This concept of the vineyard allows us to take some prerogatives in order to understand the evolution of a single parcel over time which is rigorously vinified whilst carefully maintaining maximum attention towards truly bringing out its unique particularities.

  The primary analysis during the tastings of 150 Brunello di Montalcino allowed us to place it alongside the great vintages of 2010, 2015 and 2016. Maybe the right mix between the different vintages would bring us something new and unexpected in the structure of the 2010, the power and astringent character of the 2015 and the class and elegance of the 2016.

  It has an agile and sinuous movement and is immediately striking to the taster by showing the right amount of material and freshness.

  About ten wines would have been on the podium to contend for the title of best wine of the vintage.

  In the end the one to win the highest recognition and take home a perfect score was Giodo, a union of balance, class, elegance and quality of material.

  Demonstrating the right concentration and the right determination in the alternation between fruit and citrus which always distinguishes the great Sangiovese. It will continue to grow over time and will give the best of itself from 2025 onwards.

  The painstaking work done by Bianca Ferrini and Riccardo Ferrari, respectively owner and agronomist/oenologist of the winery was perfectly directed by Carlo Ferrini, the World famous consultant oenologist.

  Behind him the fantastic competitive challenge between three Titans. Renieri and Fuligni are incredible wines which tell the story of the greatness of the vintage in different manners. Renieri is spicy and decisive, creating remarkable salivation which makes the expression absolutely gastronomic and pleasing with the edgy traces which distinguish a thoroughbred Sangiovese.

  Fuligni has an auster character, composed and rigid at times, a wine that we need to understand and read in an introspective manner to truly appreciate the quality which distinguishes it. There’s no need to shout and in the 2019 vintage the symphony is regal and dashing.

  Pietroso is exciting in the deep traces which alternate between the fruity character of cherries and sour cherries mixed with candid notes reminiscent of the freshness and elegance of magnolias, gardenias and hawthorn.

  In the Olympus of expressions which are more unique than rare is Madonna delle Grazie, produced by Il Marroneto it steals the scene with captivating nuances and the mastery of a select few. It’s the tannins profile which is exciting, dense and compact, absolutely integrated from the start.

  On the same footing we find Vignavecchia di San Polo, it’s the best expression ever made in the winery, the method and the Venetian rigour have born great fruit and given satisfaction with a wine which is precise and essential with character to sell.

  Still tying on points (98) are different profiles and different visions from producers who have their fingers on the pulse of great wine production.

  Piero, Vigna del Suolo, Giovanni Neri and Vecchie Vigne respectively, then Talenti, Argiano, Casanova di Neri and Siro Pacenti are all incredible wines which border on perfection of execution and underline the depth of the vintage.

  A heartfelt thanks to all the producers who participated in our tasting and who welcomed us during the harvest period.

By: Tod Stewart

As with everything, wine is not immune to the whims and vagaries of tastes and trends. In fact, some of the most historically popular (and important) wines have practically fallen off the modern wine aficionado’s radar. Yes, sherry, m’dear, I’m talking to you. The good news is that your moment in the spotlight may be returning.

  Sherry sports the distinction of being an incredibly significant yet incredibly misunderstood player in the wine game at the same time. This is likely due to a double whammy of being unfairly associated with “grandma’s wine” and erroneously associated with something sweet. The sweet stuff your (probably British) grandmother once drank (or maybe still does) isn’t what most Spaniards would regard as sherry. In fact, sweet, or “cream,” sherry is a decidedly English concoction developed to satisfy a certain palate. Most “true” sherries are really quite dry (fino sherry is perhaps the driest wine commercially made). But let’s back up a bit. What exactly is sherry?

  Sherry is the product of a demarcated area of southern Spain’s Andalusia, close to the Atlantic Ocean. It’s important to stress that authentic sherry is Spanish. Period. Full stop. Sure, “sherry style” wines are produced around the world, but the real deal comes from Spain. Yet considering the influence of the British on the development of the sherry trade and with sherry firms sporting names like Duff Gordon, Osborne, Williams & Humbert and John Harvey & Sons, you might be tempted to think it’s made in England. Andalusia is a hot region with little rain. The chalky albariza soil plays host to the white Palomino Fino grape variety (along with some Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel planted in the less favorable barros and arenas soils).

  While unique soils and grape varieties are the cornerstones of sherry’s character, the production methods and maturation process really give the wine its character.

  Sherry begins life as a dry white wine, which is then lightly fortified (usually to about 15 percent alcohol via the addition of a grape spirit and wine mixture) and is left in barrels filled only two-thirds full. A typical table wine would oxidize under these conditions. But the damp sherry cellars filled with oxygen-rich Atlantic air create ideal conditions for the development of flor – a yeast blanket that covers the surface of the wine and both protects it from deterioration and eliminates harmful, vinegar-producing bacteria.

  The wines designated as fino, the lightest and driest style of sherry, go on to mature for a year or so. The flor allows finos and sherries based on the fino style, like amontillado and palo cortado, to mature, for the most part, biologically since the flor does the aging. Barrels with little or no flor are given additional fortification and designated as oloroso. These wines are given an extra dose of alcohol and allowed to age oxidatively, as oxygen does the aging.

  After the cellar master determines which barrels are going to result in what, the wines are introduced to soleras for final blending and maturation.

  A solera is basically a series of barrels. Each contains the same style of wine but of differing stages of aging. Fully mature wine is tapped off the bottom barrel. This barrel is topped up with slightly younger wine from the barrel above, which is topped up with even younger wine from the barrel above it. New wine is introduced to the first barrel in the chain. (Then it tells two friends, and they tell two friends and so on. Sorry, but that paragraph just set itself up.)

  This constant blending, referred to as “dynamic maturation” (as opposed to “distressing maturation,” which is what I’m personally experiencing), results in a supply of fully mature wine that is always consistent. Stylistically speaking, finos and their ilk tend to be lighter and more delicate, while olorosos are darker and nuttier. Cream sherries (e.g., Harvey’s Bristol Cream) are typically blends of sweet wine with drier wine before being sold to old people in the UK. Serve finos cool, the others less cool. Also, don’t forget they are wines, so treat them like wine and not like, well, not like whatever stuff you keep sitting open in a dusty decanter on the mantle for eternity.

  Even if you understand sherry’s complex creation cycle, you still aren’t out of the woods when it comes to fully comprehending the stuff. And honestly, the industry itself is partially to blame for a lot of the confusion.

  I mean, just as you are getting the concept of “dynamic” aging and how it results in uniformity of the finished (and non-vintage, I should add) wine, you run smack into sherries proclaiming to be a 20-year-old or a 30-year-old. Having made peace with the claim that fino sherries are light, fresh and delicate and should be consumed within six months, you are hit with something called a “very old fino.” This happens right after you’ve been told that an amontillado is, more or less, an aged fino. Huh? Oh, yeah, and don’t forget manzanilla, which is a fino aged near the sea (And how “near” counts for near?). What’s a palo cortado (and why are there three levels of the stuff)? The verdict seems to be constantly out. And what is PX? Sounds like a virus. Is “amoroso” a sherry or an aphrodisiac? Is cream sherry a dairy product? And what are we to make of a “Palo Cortado ‘Almacenista’ Solara Matured by Vides 1/50”? Did Torquemada use this stuff to extract confessions? “Cardinal Fang, make the heretic learn about sherry!”

  Luckily, developing a taste for sherry is a fair bit easier and more pleasurable than actually understanding it on a technical level. But, for some, it might not be the smoothest ride.

  Sherry is a bit of an acquired taste. In my university years, I had read about the wonders of dry fino sherry long before I ever had the opportunity to taste it. And when I did, I couldn’t believe people actually drank it, let alone waxed rhapsodic about it. It can indeed have floral overtones, but in general, fino sherry is an oxidized, high-alcohol number that smells not of a particular vinifera but, depending on the style, of sea spray, bitter almond and green olive. Darker styles like oloroso and amontillado lean toward notes of walnut, sultana raisin, fruitcake and yes, varnish. In other words, not pinot grigio. Thank God. Sherry remains staunchly traditional and demands that you conform to it rather than vice versa. Like other complex forms of art, you often don’t fully appreciate it until you’ve looked at it, listened to it or tasted it a number of times. You mature; so does your palate.

  So, what’s the future looking like for a wine as complex and traditional as sherry? For some answers, I spoke to Victoria González-Gordon López de Carrizosa, from the historic González Byass, a legendary sherry bodega (and creator of the now legendary Tio Pepe brand) with roots stretching back into the 1800s. 

  “Since the sherry ‘glory days’ of the 1970s and 80s, producers have adapted significantly to the changing demands of international markets,” she emphasized, noting that while volume sales are still important in traditional markets like the UK and Holland, González Byass has focused efforts on moving away from volume production, aiming instead at high quality, premium sherries. “Much emphasis has been put on education,” she notes, as sherry is a wine that needs to be understood: its particular production methods, styles and versatility.”

  She reveals that “change has been constant since the turn of the century, as sherry producers have looked to establish sherry as quality, world-class fortified wine. As a result, the Consejo Regular Jerez, the governing body for sherry, is initiating changes across the board in order to prepare the region for the future. This includes expanding the production areas for sherry, which will allow more wineries to promote their wines as sherry. In addition, new grape varietals are being approved for production, responding to the demand for native varietals and those that can adapt to the changing climate – and to allow for more innovation in the future. Another important factor is a change in regulations so that different wines and styles are more easily understood by the end consumer.”

  Creative bartenders, it would seem, may be the engine driving sherry’s future popularity.

  “It is clear that mixology is helping us reach new, younger consumers,” González-Gordon López de Carrizosa confirms. “We believe this is an important way to communicate the versatility of sherry. In markets like the USA and Canada, it is great to have our sherry ‘name called’ or specifically mentioned as an essential ingredient in a well-made cocktail. We are proud to have González Byass sherries featured in cocktails on top mixology lists and in the very best bars in major, trend-setting cities around the world. Often, this experience can be the first and very important step to introducing our wines to consumers and giving them a chance to learn about this fascinating drink.”

  As they say, what goes around comes around, and it seems the time is now for a bit of a sherry renaissance.