A grand tasting of the various properties owned by the Antinori family organized by Summergate and hosted by the Italian Ambassador, Mrs Riccardo Sessa and Alessia Antinori. Wines were available from Umbria and Tuscany (the original Antinori home) as well as Piemonte (Prunotto) and Puglia (Tormaresca), both also under Antinori control.
The tasting itself was held in the Italian Embassy and drew a good crowd of invited guests from the diplomatic, journalistic, F&B and wine trade worlds. The majority of the wines were red with only three whites on show. We offer our notes here of those three whites together with the rest of the selections from Umbria and Tuscany. A further post will contain the wines from Piemonte and the Puglian reds.
2005 Castello della Sala ‘Campogrande’ Orvieto Classico, Umbria
Appearance: pale green with yellow tints.
Nose: largely light apple fruit.
Palate: apple fruit, pleasant acidity, light-bodied, not bad length.
Conclusion: made from 40% Procanico, 40% Grechetto, 15% Verdello, 5% Drupeggio and Malvasia, this is a crisp, food-friendly white for everyday drinking and affordable at 135RMB.
Rating: 15.5/20
2005 Castello della Sala ‘Bramito del Cervo’ Chardonnay, Umbria IGT
Appearance: medium gold.
Nose: peach and melon fruit, pleasant oak.
Palate: good fruit, some acidity here; good oak and quite good length.
Conclusion: after maceration, the must for this wine is exposed to French Allier and Troncais barriques to undergo alcoholic fermentation; but only a proportion of the wine receives malolactic fermentation in wood. This may account for the lifting acidity here. Quite well put together. Price 299RMB.
Rating: 16/20
2004 Tormaresca ‘Pietra Bianca’ Castel del Monte Chardonnay, Puglia
Appearance: medium yellow-gold.
Nose: appealing citrus and peach fruit, good oak.
Palate: pleasant acidity, strong fruit, deft use of oak and well-balanced.
Conclusion: this was probably the best white of the three on show. Well-made Chardonnay with an impressive balance of ripe fruit – no trouble ripening Chardonnay in Puglia – and good acidity (probably the element that is harder to achieve). This wine retails at 347RMB.
Rating: 16.5/20
2004 La Braccesca ‘Sabazio’ Rosso di Montepulciano DOC, Tuscany
Appearance: light to medium red-purple, clear rim.
Nose: appealing light red fruits (red cherry, redcurrant).
Palate: more pleasant red fruits, medium-bodied, good acidity, light on tannin.
Conclusion: this wine is a blend of 80% Prugnolo Gentile, 15% Merlot and 5% Canaiolo (NB Montepulciano grapes are not used to make this wine, nor are they used for Vino Nobile di Montelpulciano – if you want to drink Montepulciano, try Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from the Marches region). It only spends about 4 months in oak which might account for why we didn’t notice any oak here at first. Priced at 191RMB, this is an easy-drinking, food-friendly Italian red for more or less immediate consumption.
Rating: 16/20
2001 La Braccesca Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, Tuscany
Appearance: deep purple colour with slightly orange rim.
Nose: dark black and red cherry fruit, ‘tart’ nose, discernible oak but this is well-integrated.
Palate: lovely tannins here (moderate and spiky in nature), fine acidity, pleasant dark cherry fruit and good length.
Conclusion: this wine is aged in different sizes of oak barrel for 12 months (with a proportion in barriques). It’s lovely stuff. 347RMB from Summergate.
Rating: 17.5/20
2001 ‘Marchese Antinori’ Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG, Tuscany
Appearance: dark purple, slightly orange rim.
Nose: marked black cherry fruit, savoury oak, slight spice, complex.
Palate: medium-high chewy tannins, lovely acidity, strong fruit, good oak and very good length.
Conclusion: a blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the latter adding some richness and slightly darker fruit whilst the former dominates with its strong cherry quality. The oak in question is new, one-year and two-year old Alliers and Troncais French oak and the wine spends some 14 months in oak after blending. 450RMB and clearly very good.
Rating: 18/20 [but could be higher with time]
2001 ‘Pian delle Vigne’ Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany
Appearance: medium purple-red, slight orange rim.
Nose: complex red and black cherry fruit, some oak, savoury but with sweet fruits, complex.
Palate: very elegant with lovely closely knit but ripe medium-high tannins and beautiful Sangiovese fruit. Very balanced. Great length.
Conclusion: entirely Sangiovese, the wine spends some two years in a range of different sized oak vats and is also aged for a further year in bottle before release. This is clearly a very high quality Sangiovese (744RMB).
Rating: 18.5/20
Notes on the wines of Prunotto and the other Tormaresca reds to follow.
The tasting itself was held in the Italian Embassy and drew a good crowd of invited guests from the diplomatic, journalistic, F&B and wine trade worlds. The majority of the wines were red with only three whites on show. We offer our notes here of those three whites together with the rest of the selections from Umbria and Tuscany. A further post will contain the wines from Piemonte and the Puglian reds.
2005 Castello della Sala ‘Campogrande’ Orvieto Classico, Umbria
Appearance: pale green with yellow tints.
Nose: largely light apple fruit.
Palate: apple fruit, pleasant acidity, light-bodied, not bad length.
Conclusion: made from 40% Procanico, 40% Grechetto, 15% Verdello, 5% Drupeggio and Malvasia, this is a crisp, food-friendly white for everyday drinking and affordable at 135RMB.
Rating: 15.5/20
2005 Castello della Sala ‘Bramito del Cervo’ Chardonnay, Umbria IGT
Appearance: medium gold.
Nose: peach and melon fruit, pleasant oak.
Palate: good fruit, some acidity here; good oak and quite good length.
Conclusion: after maceration, the must for this wine is exposed to French Allier and Troncais barriques to undergo alcoholic fermentation; but only a proportion of the wine receives malolactic fermentation in wood. This may account for the lifting acidity here. Quite well put together. Price 299RMB.
Rating: 16/20
2004 Tormaresca ‘Pietra Bianca’ Castel del Monte Chardonnay, Puglia
Appearance: medium yellow-gold.
Nose: appealing citrus and peach fruit, good oak.
Palate: pleasant acidity, strong fruit, deft use of oak and well-balanced.
Conclusion: this was probably the best white of the three on show. Well-made Chardonnay with an impressive balance of ripe fruit – no trouble ripening Chardonnay in Puglia – and good acidity (probably the element that is harder to achieve). This wine retails at 347RMB.
Rating: 16.5/20
2004 La Braccesca ‘Sabazio’ Rosso di Montepulciano DOC, Tuscany
Appearance: light to medium red-purple, clear rim.
Nose: appealing light red fruits (red cherry, redcurrant).
Palate: more pleasant red fruits, medium-bodied, good acidity, light on tannin.
Conclusion: this wine is a blend of 80% Prugnolo Gentile, 15% Merlot and 5% Canaiolo (NB Montepulciano grapes are not used to make this wine, nor are they used for Vino Nobile di Montelpulciano – if you want to drink Montepulciano, try Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from the Marches region). It only spends about 4 months in oak which might account for why we didn’t notice any oak here at first. Priced at 191RMB, this is an easy-drinking, food-friendly Italian red for more or less immediate consumption.
Rating: 16/20
2001 La Braccesca Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, Tuscany
Appearance: deep purple colour with slightly orange rim.
Nose: dark black and red cherry fruit, ‘tart’ nose, discernible oak but this is well-integrated.
Palate: lovely tannins here (moderate and spiky in nature), fine acidity, pleasant dark cherry fruit and good length.
Conclusion: this wine is aged in different sizes of oak barrel for 12 months (with a proportion in barriques). It’s lovely stuff. 347RMB from Summergate.
Rating: 17.5/20
2001 ‘Marchese Antinori’ Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG, Tuscany
Appearance: dark purple, slightly orange rim.
Nose: marked black cherry fruit, savoury oak, slight spice, complex.
Palate: medium-high chewy tannins, lovely acidity, strong fruit, good oak and very good length.
Conclusion: a blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the latter adding some richness and slightly darker fruit whilst the former dominates with its strong cherry quality. The oak in question is new, one-year and two-year old Alliers and Troncais French oak and the wine spends some 14 months in oak after blending. 450RMB and clearly very good.
Rating: 18/20 [but could be higher with time]
2001 ‘Pian delle Vigne’ Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany
Appearance: medium purple-red, slight orange rim.
Nose: complex red and black cherry fruit, some oak, savoury but with sweet fruits, complex.
Palate: very elegant with lovely closely knit but ripe medium-high tannins and beautiful Sangiovese fruit. Very balanced. Great length.
Conclusion: entirely Sangiovese, the wine spends some two years in a range of different sized oak vats and is also aged for a further year in bottle before release. This is clearly a very high quality Sangiovese (744RMB).
Rating: 18.5/20
Notes on the wines of Prunotto and the other Tormaresca reds to follow.
Labels: 2001, 2004, 2005, Antinori, Brunello di Montalcino, Chardonnay, Chianti, Featured Tastings, Italy, Montepulciano, Orvieto, Piemonte, Puglia, red, Sangiovese, Summergate, Tuscany, Umbria, white
posted by Wine Dragon
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