A unplanned Brunello study, courtesy of the boys! Despite being the lowest tiered among the wines of the night, I was drawn to the Valdicava Rosso the most. I was rooting for it essentially - tasting to see if what short time we had could have unravelled the tightly-knitted palate to match the sublime nose. Aromas of high-toned cherries and plums, cedar-spice, tobacco leaf, dried flowers and herbs, and a whiff of shiitake. It’s complex, yet I felt it offered poorer delineation than the Stella Brunello. In fact, all the other wines did too - a function of storage perhaps, or was the Stella just in a different league? Alas, the palate never caught up too. It started with nothing but drying tannins, and developed into a spicy-tannic character, eventually giving way to ripe red fruits and a really dusty-tannic finish. I can’t say that was all so enjoyable, but it certainly provides a compelling reason to age this Rosso.
"A misunderstood traditionalist" - at least that's what I gather from my research of Valdicava. The producer of the revered Madonna del Piano often gets lumped into the modernist category of Brunello due to the typically "obscene" concentrations in their wines, yet uses very traditional vinification techniques like elevage in large Slovenian oak. Can't really make any conclusions from this experience alone, but with all the information in hand, it's safe to say that these are very long-lived wines.
A unplanned Brunello study, courtesy of the boys! Despite being the lowest tiered among the wines of the night, I was drawn to the Valdicava Rosso the most. I was rooting for it essentially - tasting to see if what short time we had could have unravelled the tightly-knitted palate to match the sublime nose. Aromas of high-toned cherries and plums, cedar-spice, tobacco leaf, dried flowers and herbs, and a whiff of shiitake. It’s complex, yet I felt it offered poorer delineation than the Stella Brunello. In fact, all the other wines did too - a function of storage perhaps, or was the Stella just in a different league? Alas, the palate never caught up too. It started with nothing but drying tannins, and developed into a spicy-tannic character, eventually giving way to ripe red fruits and a really dusty-tannic finish. I can’t say that was all so enjoyable, but it certainly provides a compelling reason to age this Rosso.
"A misunderstood traditionalist" - at least that's what I gather from my research of Valdicava. The producer of the revered Madonna del Piano often gets lumped into the modernist category of Brunello due to the typically "obscene" concentrations in their wines, yet uses very traditional vinification techniques like elevage in large Slovenian oak. Can't really make any conclusions from this experience alone, but with all the information in hand, it's safe to say that these are very long-lived wines.
Mar 1st, 2022
Alex Jones 
Marketing/Development Kunni/Westerly Wines
8.8
Medium bodied and easy to finish. Fruity with dark cherry, blackberry and white pepperish spice. Drink up.
Medium bodied and easy to finish. Fruity with dark cherry, blackberry and white pepperish spice. Drink up.
Jul 15th, 2017
Sour red cherry. Miss, underbrush. Bracing acid. Fruit on the front lines but not much depth.
Sour red cherry. Miss, underbrush. Bracing acid. Fruit on the front lines but not much depth.
1 person found it helpfulDec 16th, 2017
Delicious. More so with meat than red sauce. Some dark, mineral inflected aromas. Very savory and dry on there palate, there really is something to serious, central Italian wines that most others co countries don't approaxh on terms of texture.
Delicious. More so with meat than red sauce. Some dark, mineral inflected aromas. Very savory and dry on there palate, there really is something to serious, central Italian wines that most others co countries don't approaxh on terms of texture.
1 person found it helpfulSep 6th, 2015Browning rim. Flat aromas and dried out fruit. A bit over the hill and lacking the acid/tannin balance that gives Tuscan wine its distinctive bite. Too bad I served it fit my wife's birthday dinner.
Browning rim. Flat aromas and dried out fruit. A bit over the hill and lacking the acid/tannin balance that gives Tuscan wine its distinctive bite. Too bad I served it fit my wife's birthday dinner.
Jan 29th, 2017
Bold! Svelte tannins and mouthwatering acidity envelope flavors of fallen autumn leaves, dried earth and dried cherries.
Bold! Svelte tannins and mouthwatering acidity envelope flavors of fallen autumn leaves, dried earth and dried cherries.
Jan 19th, 2016
Montalcino, Siena, Tuscany, Italy
