Celebrating Brunellos, a Stunning Amontillado and Exploring Alsace: Weekly Tasting Report (June 15-21)

This weekly report is a sort of celebration for Brunello di Montalcino for me. I went for three days last week to visit some of the top estates there with Associate Editor Claire Nesbitt. It gave me a reset on Brunello since I had not been there for over three years.

We visited many of the top producers featured in this report, including Casanova di Neri, Eredi Fuligni and Siro Pacenti. And it made me think after not going there for so long that the region is really exceptional for sangiovese. It reminded me of why I fell in love with Brunello di Montalcino back in 1983, when I first visited there.

Just seeing the town of Montalcino, you quickly understand how unique the area is. The tiny medieval village sits on top of a large mountain where the village rests while the vineyards are planted mostly on the slopes. As recently as 20 years ago, the grapes from the warmer southern vineyards were used to make wine to blend with the cooler northern vineyard-based wines. The south gave the wines richness while the north gave freshness.

Now, it seems like a different situation. Of course, some southern vineyards are higher altitude and in fresher areas. However, many currently believe, including me, that vineyards with northern and eastern exposures have a distinct advantage over the south, especially in this crazy hot and dry weather from global warming. The current vintage of Brunello on the market – 2017 – illustrates this. Most are very rich and big with lots of body, alcohol and tannins. Personally, I prefer more balanced and fresher Brunellos such as 2018, or 2016 and 2015. The 2018 Brunellos will be released on the market in January 2023.

My trip with Claire to various Brunello wineries included tasting barrel samples from 2021, 2020 and 2019. The 2019s showed lots of pretty fruit and balance and seemed a little more generous than the 2018s that I have rated from bottle so far. Meanwhile, 2020 Brunellos from barrel, or cask, show lots of ripeness because of the hot grape-growing season. They also lack a little structure. But the 2021s I tasted were very different and showed serious tannin structure and richness due to a warm growing seasons and reduced crop levels (up to 40 percent less) from spring frosts.

We also did a number of mini-vertical tastings of various top Brunello producers. That’s why you will notice past vintages from the top producers mentioned above, even a delicious 1983 from Eredi Fuligni. I think that the 2016s we tasted needed more time in the bottle, but all the other Brunellos were drinking well, considering their state of evolution.

READ MORE: TOP 100 WINES OF ITALY 2021

There are lots of other Tuscan wines to check out in this report, from Chianti Classicos to Super Tuscan reds.

This report also includes recent releases from Roberto Voerzio, the magical winemaker of  the Langhe. He made what is perhaps the best wine of the good but not great 2018 vintage for Barolo: Roberto Voerzio Barolo Cerequio 2018. There’s also his stupendous old-vine barbera, Roberto Voerzio Barbera d'Alba Pozzo dell'Annunziata 2017, and magnum-only Barolo, Roberto Voerzio Barolo Torriglione 2017.

STUNNING AMONTILLADO

In our Hong Kong tasting office, plenty of wine styles from Spain, Chile, Italy, France and Greece this week bowled us over. Gonzalez Byass’s recent release, the Gonzalez Byass Jerez Tio Pepe Cuatro Palmas Amontillado NV, from the “saca” of 2021, is a truly stunning, concentrated and profound Amontillado – super intense, salty but bright, and tangy on the palate with an endless finish.

The extremely rare, aged sherry started its life as a fino, with 50-plus years of average aging, and ended up being filled from a half cask out of the four Solera butts selected by the winemaker.

Besides this unique sherry, one of the best-rated wines we rated in Hong Kong came from Vega Sicilia, the iconic Spanish producer whose new release lived up to our high expectations. Coming from a rainy and challenging 2013 vintage, the Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Unico 2013 showed us a fresher and “vulnerable” side of Unico, with an almost ethereal quality and decadence to the nuanced fruit and complexity.

Technical director Gonzalo Iturriaga believes it harks back to the more classic vintages of the 90s with fresher acidity and lower alcohol levels, and those wines still age beautifully today.

The 2022 edition of the Reserva Especial Unico, a cross-vintage blend of Unico from 2009, 2011 and 2012, is a nuanced and savory expression with layers and layers of complexity that evolve in the glass, then extending to an expressive palate with dusty tannins and a persistent finish. According to Iturriaga, 2009 gave the wine its complexity, 2011 gave it structure and 2012 gave it more vibrancy and brightness.

If you find it difficult to get Vega Sicilia Unico or Reserve Especial Unico, then try the more affordable Pintia Toro 2018, which is a great buy and a more eclectic expression of Pintia, combing freshness, power and depth. Iturriaga said that he loves this vintage for Toro, as it was an Atlantic year, which gives the wine freshness, verticality and finesse from a region known for its power, concentration and ripeness.

We also tasted some stunning mencias from Losada, one of the go-to producers in the region, delivering some of our great-value favorites, including Losado Vinos de Finca Mencia Altos de Losada La Bienquerida 2020 – a racy, textured Bierzo mencia showing depth, perfume and velvety and fresh tannins and blue fruit and flowers. Altos de Losada El Cepón 2020 was a close runner-up.

Meanwhile, some outstanding Cavas made in the Brut Nature style gave us a chance to tap into Cava’s march toward drier, premium quality offerings. Can Sala and Bolet, among a few others, made the top-scoring wines from this category we tasted.

READ MORE: OUR TOP 100 WINES OF 2021

Senior Editor Stuart Pigott continued his annual exploration of the predominantly white wines of Alsace. "A combination of changing consumer preferences and climate change are continuing to push the region's reorientation towards properly dry and more elegant wines," he said. “Sometimes this leads to some pretty radical new wines, like the two dry pinot gris from Melanie Pfister."

For Stuart, the most exciting of these is the Mélanie Pfister Pinot Gris Alsace Silb 2019, which has as much power as many Grand Cru wines of that excellent vintage. But in contrast to the majority of them, which almost invariably have at least a hint of sweetness, it is bone dry. "That really makes it so much more flexible, because you can use it as you would an elegant chardonnay," Stuart observed.

Stuart was also impressed by the very cool and restrained but concentrated and silky Mélanie Pfister Pinot Noir Alsace Hüt 2019, one of many exciting new pinot noir reds from the region. "Together with the very classic dry Mélanie Pfister Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Engelberg 2019, these wines really seal her position as one of the region's most important rising stars,” he said.

Stuart is currently in Alsace to get a better grip on the 2020 and 2021 vintages and their quality level. However, before he left it was late releases of prior vintages that most impressed. The Bott Frères Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé 2018 was a striking example of this.

"2018 was the warmest growing season ever recorded in Alsace, but this wine has a remarkable elegance and is still so fresh," Stuart said. “You could cellar it for a decade or more, but it is really delicious now. That's exactly how Alsace Grand Cru wines should be on release."

Watch this space next week for more in-depth comment on the new vintages in Alsace, as well as on other great wines from around the world.

– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman; Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor; and Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.