Friday 15 August 2014

1964 Brunello di Montalcino - Fattoria Dei Barbi & Biondi-Santi

Time to open the only two bottles I have of Brunello from the greatest vintage ever! :-) You will come to embrace it eventually...:-)


1964 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Fattoria dei Barbi
A mature, dry, medium deep nose with notes of dried red currants, cranberries, dry leather, bonfire and a dry barnyard note. On the nose this seems to have gone a bit too far. Laid back and a tad hollow.
But the taste! Feels definitely much younger and fresher, with notes of ripe red cherries, forest floor, saddle leather, rosehips and violet pastilles. Long and fine, and with a nice warmth, and a fine sweetness. Perfectly integrated tannins with still a bit of a bite. This is really fine in the mouth, but sadly not on the nose.
87p   (tasted 2014/08)



1964 Brunello di Montalcino, Biondi-Santi
This, on the other hand, showed exactly opposite - a fine nose and a dull taste. It has a deep, sweet, concentrated nose with lots of ripe red and black cherries, fresh rosemary, dark chocolate, leather and a fine earthy aroma. Very, very good.
The taste is big but rather hollow, with notes of lingonberries, dry liquorice, red currants and a earthy touch. The tannins are pretty forward still but they are dry and ungainly also. With food it worked well, but not so much on its own.
86p   (tasted 2014/08)

I then blended a 50/50% mix, to see if I could get the best of the both wines. Did it work? No, no, no. The nose was a blur and the taste was a tedious mix of sweet and dry red fruits with dry tannins on the side. This blend would have scored in the 65p range.
There goes my blending career... :-)

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